The Cotton Club - Harlem Renaissance - YouTube Haskins, James. 1) Duke at the Cotton Club. April 1932. ", Indeed, other Harlem nightclubs like the Savoy Ballroom, Lenox Club, and the Renaissance Ballroom were where black Harlem-ites truly felt welcomed. Walter Brooks, who had produced the successful Broadway show Shuffle Along, was the clubs nominal owner. The Creole Palace was a business created by and catered primarily to the African American population and as such employed light and dark-skinned dancers in a variety shows which offered most of the same fare as the original Cotton Club. But as much as we praise the club for bringing names like Duke Ellington and Lena Horne into the spotlight, the truth was that the Cotton Club functioned under a very thinly-veiled cover of racism and A-listers gobbled this up faster than prohibition booze. A Chicago branch of the Cotton Club was run by Ralph Capone, Al's brother, and a California branch in Culver City, California during the late 1920s and into the 1930s. The score was written by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler and featured the classic song Ill Wind.. The two arranged a deal that allowed Johnson to remain the clubs manager. The Broadway Cotton Club successfully blended the old and new; the site was new and the dcor was slightly different, but once a customer was seated it felt like a familiar place. Explore the Cotton Clubs history, as well as its performers and role in the Harlem Renaissance. Francis Ford Coppola's 1984 film The Cotton Club offers a history of the club in the context of race relations in the 1930s and the conflicts between Madden, Dutch Schultz, Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll, Lucky Luciano, and Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson. The Cotton Club Harlem was a vibrant community filed with culture and in the 1920 's was the Harlem renaissance. White gangster and bootlegger Owney The Killer Madden bought and took over the club in 1923the same year he was released on parole from what would have been a twenty year-long imprisonment at Sing Sing. The Cotton Club played a significant role in the careers of many famous Black musicians and performers. The Famous Cotton Club: the Aristocrat of Harlem. The entertainers who played at the Cotton Club were some of the most widely known blues and jazz performers of their time including Ethel Waters, Cab Calloway, Ellington and many others. New York: ca. The club is mentioned in the novelization of the 1998 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode Far Beyond the Stars. The Cotton Club of the late 1920s and 1930s helped to define the emergence of African-American culture in the period, coinciding as it did with the Marcus Garvey movement, W. E. B. DuBois's Pan African Movement, and the flowering of African American literature known as the Harlem Renaissance. It was situated in the center of Harlem, a historically Black neighborhood in New York city. Though the owners of the Cotton Club paid their entertainers well, those talents experienced their rise to fame at a venue that promoted the very stereotypes against them. Savoy Ballroom - Wikipedia The Cotton Club, at 142nd Street and Lenox Avenue in Harlem, was one . [33] The club in Lubbock, however, was home to more white artists than the Harlem club. [36] Taub opened the club to black servicemen. Add to Favorites Night Club Map Harlem Framed Canvas Print - Harlem Renaissance Jazz Music Dance Entertainment Swing Lindy Hop 18x12 24x16 30x20 36x24 (158) 858.53 NOK. The Cotton Club became famous for its unique productions, and then became even more so when radio station WHN began recording and broadcasting performances from the venue. To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member. With Richard Gere, Gregory Hines, Diane Lane, Lonette McKee. [1] Cotton Club of Harlem (1923- ) - Blackpast Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. The Cotton Club was built during the Harlem Renaissance, which, as History reports, saw an unprecedented blossoming of African-American art and culture, and an assertion of confidence and independence from white patriarchy. "The show was generally built around types: the band, an eccentric dancer, a comedian - whoever we had who was also a starAnd we'd have a special singer who gave the customers the expected adult song in Harlem. He would use the venue, which he had renamed the Cotton Club, primarily as a means to sell bootlegged alcohol. [18] The club also drew from white popular culture. Exceptions to this restriction were made in the case of prominent white entertainment guest stars and the dancers. Many famous namesincluding Ethel Waters, Duke Ellington, and Cab Callowaygot their start at the Cotton Club. In addition, the trip uptown to a non-white area in order to have an illicit drink was alluring for the upperclass, white clientele he was seeking. They were expected to be "tall, tan, and terrific," which meant they had to be at least 5'6" tall, light-skinned, and under 21 years of age. A 16-year-old Lena Horne appeared in the show as well under her real name Leona Laviscount. The score was written by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler and featured the classic song "Ill Wind." Opened in 1923, the Cotton Club on 142nd St & Lenox Ave in the heart of Harlem, New York was operated by white New York gangster Owney "Killer" Madden. The Cotton Club | Legendary New York Jazz Club The Cotton Club, Harlem Renaissance Attire, 1920's & 1930's Beaded Gowns, Shows at the Cotton Club were musicalrevues that featured dancers, singers, comedians, and variety acts, as well as a house band. [6][8], The club imposed a subtler color line on the chorus girls, whom the club presented in skimpy outfits. nightclub, New York City, New York, United States. The American bandleader and jazz musician Cab Calloway performing at the Cotton Club, 1939. Menu Collection. ca. Cotton Club Harlem - Etsy Norway The music was often orchestrated to bring to mind a jungle atmosphere. James Haskins, the Cotton Club (New York: Hippocrene Books: New York, 1994); http://www.cottonclub-newyork.com/. BlackPast.org is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and our EIN is 26-1625373. They were expected to be tall, tan, and terrific, which meant they had to be at least 56 tall, light-skinned, and under 21 years of age. Cotton Club Menu. The Cotton Club was a historic music and entertainment venue in the center of Harlem, New York. During the Harlem Renaissance, the happening place to be was the Cotton Club, located in the heart of Harlem. Ellington recorded over 100 compositions during this time and his musical talents ascended him to the top of the Jazz Age. Another notable "Cotton Club Parade" in 1933 featured Ethel Waters, and Duke Ellington performing Stormy Weather. Attacking his food with relish after the opening game of the World Series, Joe DiMaggio, NY Yankees star, dines at the Cotton Club on Oct. 6, 1937. The Cotton Club was a renowned jazz nightspot in Harlem, a historically Black neighborhood in New York City, during the 1920s and 1930s. Glamour, Gangsters, And Racism: 30 Photos Inside Harlem's Infamous During Halls performance of Ill Wind, a dry-ice machine was used to create a fog effect, the first time such equipment had been used on a stage. A small donation would help us keep this available to all. As with many New York City clubs of the time period, that meant the upper class of the city. [20], Stark and the club's owners were quite certain the club would succeed in this new location, but they realized that success depended on a popular opening show. A cornerstone of both the Jazz Age and the Harlem Renaissance, the Cotton Club was renowned for the caliber of its floor shows, which opened twice a year and featured some of the most important . [23] Stark paid Bill "Bojangles" Robinson $3,500 a week, the highest salary ever paid to a black entertainer in a Broadway production and a higher salary than had ever been paid to any nightclub entertainer. Ellington, Calloway, and Louis Armstrong returned to perform at the club in later years. Tap dancers Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Sammy Davis Jr. (as part of the Will Mastin Trio), and the Nicholas Brothers performed at the club as well. TRY THE DEMO - Great Gatsby Harlem Nights Cotton Club Jazz Age 1920s Roaring 20's Speakeasy Birthday Invitation (451) 143.07 NOK. In 1934, Hall starred in the "Cotton Club Parade 1934," the highest-grossing show ever to appear at the club. I learned from Ethel Waters, Duke Ellington, Adelaide Hall, the Nicholas Brothers, the whole thing, the whole schmear. As a member, you'll also get unlimited access to over 88,000 The story of one reverend who recorded thousands of marriage ceremonies for sailors and immigrants in New York City in the mid 19th century. Jimmie Luncefords band replaced Calloways in 1934. Hughes also mentioned how many of the neighboring cabarets, especially black cabarets, were forced to close due to the competition from the Cotton Club. The 2013 episode of White Collar titled Empire City features a version of the Cotton Club. The Cotton Club got a second location in California. In 1934, Hall starred in the Cotton Club Parade 1934, the highest-grossing show ever to appear at the club. The Cotton Club is featured in the music video for the song "Oye Como Va" by Cuban-American singer Celia Cruz. The Cotton Club Parade Program. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. The Cotton Club was opened under the name "Cafe DeLuxe" in 1920 by Jack Johnson, the first Black heavyweight boxing champion in American history. Cotton Club Menu. The Cotton Club was briefly depicted in the 1997 movie Hoodlum featuring Laurence Fishburne, Tim Roth, and Andy Garca as the site of a confrontation between Schultz (Roth) and Johnson (Fishburne). The original Cotton Club was at the height of its popularity from 1922 to 1935 but with the outbreak of the Harlem riots in 1935, the club never truly recovered. All rights reserved. Untapped New York unearths New York Citys secrets and hidden gems. The entrance was expensive for customers, so the performers were well-compensated. 913 Cotton Club Harlem Stock Photos & High-Res Pictures ", "No one was allowed to talk during the shows," remembered Ellington. In the New-York Historical Society Library were fortunate to have two ephemeral items from the Cotton Club: a program and menu from April 1932. The novelization mentions that Benny Russells parents met at the Cotton Club when Russells mother was a dancer there and gives some descriptive detail of the club. It was a whites-only venue, with a roster of Black musicians, comedians, dancers, and other artists performing every evening. Add to Favorites More colors Cotton Club Louis Armstrong Unisex T-Shirt Tee Harlem New York Jazz . Walter Brooks, who had produced the successful Broadway show Shuffle Along, was the club's nominal owner. Accessed March 14, 2012. Madden rechristened the establishment the Cotton Club, limited the audience to white patrons, entirely reworked the interior, and turned the club into the most popular cabaret in Harlem. The Cotton Club | Encyclopedia.com in Music Performance. Its like a teacher waved a magic wand and did the work for me. [24], In June 1935, the Cotton Club opened its doors to black patrons. The club closed temporarily in 1936 after the race riot in Harlem the previous year. It is believed that these tensions boiled over on March 19, 1935, in response to the arrest of a ten-year-old, dark-skinned Latino boy-Lino Riverafor alleged shoplifting. [16] The club gave Ellington national exposure through radio broadcasts originating there, first over WHN, then over WEAF, and after September 1929 on Fridays over the NBC Red Network, for which WEAF was the flagship station. When U.S. deputy marshals and federal dry agents raided the Cotton Club's Chicago location, they found a locked safe in the office. It closed in 1940. It reproduced the racist imagery of the era, often depicting black people as savages in exotic jungles or as darkies in the plantation South. ", 11 chapters | The Cotton Club was a New York City nightclub from 1923 to 1940. Discover the citys most unique and surprising places and events for the curious mind. The chief form of entertainment was the floor shows. "Cotton Club | The Handbook of Texas Online| Texas State Historical Association (TSHA)". This video gives a brief description of the history of the Cotton Club in the 1920s and 30s. The most extravagant revue in the clubs 13-year history opened on September 24, 1936 with Robinson and Calloway leading a roster of approximately 130 performers. In 1935, however, the tensions that the larger Harlem community was struggling with reached a breaking point. Stark and the clubs owners were quite certain the club would succeed in this new location, but they realized that success depended on a popular opening show. [15], The first revue that Ellington's orchestra performed was called "Rhythmania" and featured Adelaide Hall. The club featured many of the greatest African American entertainers of the era, including Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Fats Waller, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Nat King Cole, Billie Holiday, and Ethel Waters. Many genuine talents got their start at the infamously bigoted but popular speakeasy. Menu Collection. Since then the Cotton Club name has been appropriated by nightclubs around the world, including a re-creation of the original club in Harlem that opened in 1978. Other prominent entertainers, including Louis Armstrong, Ethel Waters, Lena Horne, Bill (Bojangles) Robinson, and the Nicholas Brothers also contributed greatly to the clubs success. "Black performers did not mix with the club's clientele, and after the show many of them went next door to the basement of the superintendent at 646 Lenox, where they imbibed corn whiskey, peach brandy, and marijuana. The revues featured dancers, singers, comedians, and variety acts, as well as a house band. That night, a riot broke out, beginning at the white-owned store where Rivera's arrest had occurred, but continuing on to other white-owned businesses in the area. James Haskins wrote at the time, Today, there is a new incarnation of the Cotton Club that sits on the most western end of the 125th Street under the massive Manhattanville viaduct. Cotton Club (Portland), Cotton Club (Las Vegas), an additional cotton club that opened in Lubbock Texas were all different locations of other Cotton Clubs. Lena Horne (Leona Laviscount) began at the Cotton Club as a chorus girl at the age of sixteen, and sang Sweeter than Sweet with Calloway. Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh, one of the most prominent songwriting teams of the era, and Harold Arlen wrote the songs for the revues, one of which, Blackbirds of 1928, starring Adelaide Hall, featured the songs "I Can't Give You Anything But Love" and "Diga Diga Doo," produced by Lew Leslie on Broadway.[2]. The Cotton Club Comes to the Ritz (film-documentary), "Cotton Club Grosses $45,000 in One Week", "Riverwalk Jazz Stanford University Libraries", https://www.idlehearts.com/quotes/author/lena-horne, https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b75021c05, 1931 German broadcast recording of a live performance at the Cotton Club, The Cotton Club "First and foremost in bringing Broadway to Harlem and Harlem to Broadway", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cotton_Club&oldid=1164299041, Haskins, James. lessons in math, English, science, history, and more. The entertainment at the club was considered "Black," meaning that Black performers were expected to embody stereotypes of Black identities and cultures for the enjoyment of white patrons. Madden used the Cotton Club as an outlet to sell his #1 Beer to the prohibition crowd. And if you liked this post, be sure to check out these popular posts: If there was a staple of Harlem nightlife in the 1920s and 30s, it was the Cotton Club. Photograph, 1920's. American bandleader and singer Cab Calloway leads an orchestra during a New Year's Ball at the Cotton Club in New York, 1937. The club gave Ellington national exposure through radio broadcasts originating there (first over WHN, then over WEAF, and after September 1929 on Fridays over the NBC Red Network, for which WEAF was the flagship station). The staff of the club were also all Black individuals. Cab Calloway and his orchestra took over as house band in 1931; they too had a long and successful run at the club. [1] These revues helped launch the careers of many artists, including Andy Preer, who led the Cotton Club's first house band in 1923. These smaller clubs did not have a large floor or music by famous entertainers like Ellington. ", meaning he wanted young women who were Black but with very light skin. The club was significant in several ways, including: But the club also reinforced significant racial stereotypes and unilaterally upheld segregation. Maude Russel and her Ebony Steppers at the Cotton Club, in the show "Just a Minute," 1929. On the stormy night of Nov. 8, 1972, at 7:30 pm, almost 400 subscribers in Wilkes-Barre, PA, experienced the future of television. At its prime, the Cotton Club served as a hip meeting spot, with regular "Celebrity Nights" on Sundays featuring guests such as Jimmy Durante, George Gershwin, Sophie Tucker, Paul Robeson, Al Jolson, Mae West, Richard Rodgers, Irving Berlin, Eddie Cantor, Fanny Brice, Langston Hughes, Judy Garland, Moss Hart, and Jimmy Walker, among others. April 1932. The novelization mentions that Benny Russell's parents met at the Cotton Club when Russell's mother was a dancer there and gives some descriptive detail of the club. At its prime, the Cotton Club served as a hip meeting spot, with regular Celebrity Nights on Sundays featuring guests such as Jimmy Durante, George Gershwin, Sophie Tucker, Paul Robeson, Al Jolson, Mae West, Richard Rodgers, Irving Berlin, Eddie Cantor, Fanny Brice, Langston Hughes, Judy Garland, Moss Hart, and Jimmy Walker, among others. Floor show from the famous Harlem night club, "The Cotton Club", featuring leggy row of chorus girls. The Cotton Club was in the center of Harlem, on 142nd Street and Lenox Avenue in upper Manhattan. Films such as Francis Ford Coppolas fictional The Cotton Club (1984) and Ken Burnss documentary Jazz (2001) brought the story to new audiences. [2] Sixteen-year-old Lena Horne was also featured on the bill. Coppolas film is discussed in the 2000 Ken Burns PBS documentary miniseries, Jazz. Ellington recorded more than 100 compositions during this period. Researchers Uncover 1,000-Year-Old Mayan Artifacts 80 Feet Beneath Ancient Ruins, The 'Saddest Elephant In The World' Has Died After 43 Years Of Solitary Captivity, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. The club's history is complicated and offers valuable insights regarding racial tensions and Black cultural change in the early 20th century. Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Giambrone welcome the the New Year by doing the "Big Apple" at the Cotton Club, 1937. The Latin Quarter nightclub opened in its space and the building was torn down in 1989 to build a hotel. The club served as the springboard to fame for Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, and many others. After Midnight is a 2013 Broadway musical revue about the music created during Duke Ellington's years at the Cotton Club.[45]. 1920's Dance Moves | Overview, Style & Steps, The Cold War & Civil Rights | Overview, Relationship & Impact, Theodore Roosevelt & the Progressive Era | Goals & Beliefs, The Dust Bowl | Definition, History & Causes, Heritage by Countee Cullen | Poem Analysis & Harlem Renaissance, Nativism in the Industrial Revolution | History, Immigration & Effects, Agricultural Adjustment Act | AAA Definition & History, 1920's American Culture | Overview, Lifestyle & Major Events. Lena Horne was one of the club's dancers. succeed. In 1922 the club was taken over by Owen (Owney) Madden, a well-known Manhattan underworld figure. Perhaps most notably, there was a West coast parallel to Harlem's Cotton Club with a few important differences. When the shows were over, author Steve Watson wrote that performers "visited the basement of the superintendent at 646 Lenox, where they imbibed corn whiskey, peach brandy, and marijuana.". Musical revues were created twice a year in hopes of becoming successful Broadway shows. Later this performance would also include Lena Horne, and Katherine Dunham in the film adaptation of Stormy Weather. They have been writing ELA and SS curriculum for almost ten years. Floor show from the famous Harlem night club, "The Cotton Club", featuring leggy row of chorus girls. In 1920, heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson rented the upper floor of the building on the corner of 142nd Street and Lenox Avenue in the heart of Harlem and opened an intimate supper club called the Club Deluxe. From his cell at Sing Sing, an upstate New York prison, Madden directed the renovation and re-opening of the venue as "the Cotton Club," a whites-only cabaret where he could sell alcohol for a profit during prohibition. 3) Langston Hughes. The Cotton Club | Legendary New York Jazz Club Featured Events About the Cotton Club Within a few years after Prohibition was enacted, a number of prosperous clubs had opened in Harlem. Harlem producer Leonard Harper directed the first two of three opening night floor-shows at the new venue. It had been opened by Jack Johnson, the first African American world heavyweight boxing champion,as the Club Deluxe (or Club De Luxe) in 1920. Indeed, the "plantation-themed" decor and the "jungle music" Madden required of musicians captures it quite succinctly: the club wanted to recreate some of the worst elements of American history on the grounds of entertaining white audiences. Plus, the ending of the prohibition era meant that the venue no longer offered a unique combination of access to alcohol and entertainment. Updates? The Duke also had a hand in the Cotton Club later relaxing its segregation policy even if only slightly. Although almost all of the performers and servers at the venue were black, Maddens Cotton Club exclusively catered towhite patrons; even the families of headlining black performers werent allowed in. A Chicago branch of the Cotton Club was run by Ralph Capone, and a California branch was located in Culver City during the late 1920s and early 1930s, featuring performers from the original Cotton Club such as Armstrong, Calloway, and Ellington. The Latin Quarter nightclub opened in its space and the building was torn down in 1989 to build a hotel. Billy Rose, who runs the Casa Manana, pictured at the Cotton Club opening with Eleanor Holm, left, and film star Estelle Taylor, right, 1938. The club was closed in 1925 for selling alcohol, but quickly re-opened. Plus, get practice tests, quizzes, and personalized coaching to help you 5 out of 5 stars (168) $ 12.00. The first revue that Ellingtons orchestra performed was called Rhythmania and featured Adelaide Hall. "[27] Langston Hughes, a key figure of the Harlem Renaissance, attended the Cotton Club as a rare black customer. In 1934, Adelaide Hall starred in the "Cotton Club Parade," the highest-grossing show the club ever had. The Cotton Club was a whites-only establishment with rare exceptions for black celebrities like Ethel Waters and Bill Robinson. Harlem Renaissance | Definition, Artists, Writers, Poems, Literature The Cotton Club | PureHistory James Cromwell and his wife, the former Doris Duke, speaking together at New York's Cotton Club, Nov. 3, 1936. Owney Madden, who bought the club from heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson, intended the name Cotton Club to appeal to whites, the only clientele permitted until 1928. In the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the fictional Ink and Paint Club is based on the Cotton Club.[44].
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