Kelly's Stables (New York)

Kelly’s Stables, also referred to as Kelly’s Stable, was a jazz club on Manhattan's 52nd Street in New York City, opened by jazz band leader Bert Kelly.

History

Following the success of his Chicago nightclub, Kelly's Stables, in Tower Town, one of the jazz hotspots of the 1920s,^[1] Kelly opened a second venue in New York.

141 West 51st Street

The original Kelly's Stable was located on 51st Street, near 7th Avenue.

137 West 52nd Street

Arthur Jarwood, who was a part owner in the 51st Street location, had also built O'Leary's Barn on West 52nd Street, which, in 1940, he sold to Ralph Watkins (1907–1979) and George Lynch. In March of 1940, O'Leary's Barn became Kelly's Stable — at 137 W 52^[2]

Musicians

Among the musicians who performed at the venue, Coleman Hawkins led a band in 1939 featuring Thelonious Monk, Oscar Pettiford, Miles Davis, and Max Roach as sidemen, with which he had been performing the standard first recorded by Louis Armstrong, "Body and Soul", and which he would soon record. Hawkins' cover is now considered "one of the best-known recorded jazz performances in history",^[3] and was inducted into the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences’ Grammy Hall of Fame in 1973.^[4]

Red Allen would have a six-week residency in 1941,^[5] and Hawkins would play the venue again in 1941, with Dizzy Gillespie spending a week in his band,^[6] and in 1943, when he shared the billing with Allen and Billie Holiday for a month’s residency.^[5]

Gillespie would return to the Stables shortly afterwards, as a member of Benny Carter's septet, also featuring John Collins, Charlie Drayton, Sonny White, Kenny Clarke, and Al Gibson.^[6]

The King Cole Trio would have a four month residency from January to April 1942.

References