After the earlier years, what did emerge from this historic venue was a legendary jazz history. The likes of Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Count Basie, Billie Holiday, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Josephine Baker to even Mae West have made an appearance at the Cotton Club. The Club was renowned world wide and still is one of the most recognizable names associated with Harlem.
The hey day was enjoyed well into the 20′s and 30′s until race riots of 1936. The club shut its doors but soon opened on Broadway in midtown. By then the times did indeed change and the club could not keep its momentum. The Cotton Club of the Harlem Renaissance closed for good in 1940.
Today, there is a new incarnation of the Cotton Club which sits on the most western end of 125th street under the massive Manhattanville viaduct. The windowless block of a building has a less dramatic display out front but seems to be popular with tourists for Sunday jazz brunches.
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The photo you’re showing is the Cotton Club after it moved from Harlem its downtownlocation in the Time Square area. The architectural clue that appears in this and many “Cotton Club” pictures that are mis-identified are the building’s arched second-story windows which are not a feature in the club’s uptown theater building. The location pictured later became the Latin Quater, run by Lou Walters, Barbara Walter’s father.
Very astute observation. We’ll look into this and do a change out.
Thank you,
HW
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Hi I have a little hammer about 6.5 inch long from the Cotton Club and has a address of BWAY AT 48th STREET Circle 7-1000
Bill Robinson & Cab Calloway
An All Star Sepian Revue
Would like to know more about this, Thank You.
Bev,
Can you send a photo so we can do research?
Thanks
HW
Hi HW I will try to get a picture, but did find one on ebay right now. My has a green head and the words are much better, but it’s the same as what is on ebay, and mine is also 6 3/4 inch long. Any information would help Thank you
Who owned the original Cotton Club in Harlem?
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Heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson opened the Club De Luxe at 142nd Street and Lenox Avenue in Harlem in 1920. Owney Madden, a prominent bootlegger and gangster, took over the club in 1923 while imprisoned in Sing Sing and changed its name to the Cotton Club.
We’re looking for updates.
Thank you,
HW
There is some more information on the Cotton Club’s history here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton_Club_(New_York_City) . That’s where the sentences posted by “Harlem World Magazine” on March 8th (above) came from, it seems. Sorry to say we don’t have any updates, except to say that the phone number at the present-day location is 212-663-7980, and the Web site is http://www.cottonclub-newyork.com, and the site is registered to a J. Beatty, jbeatty748@aol.com. Trumpeter Eddie Henderson’s mother, Vivian Brown, was a Cotton Club dancer many years ago, along with her twin sister (they were billed as The Brown Twins), and Vivian had her own club later on, the Baby Grand on 125th St. (there’s a wedding photo of her in “Jet” Magazine, 1955, at http://www.flickr.com/photos/vieilles_annonces/1351414489). I believe Vivian Brown had strong memories and a collection of Cotton Club memorabilia, so you might want to talk to her son Eddie. He can probably be reached at the Hartt School in Hartford, Connecticut, where he teaches: 860-768-4454.
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I enjoyed reading about the Cotton Club. I hope you pursue the history of the Cotton Club in all of its revisions.
Right now it looks like BlogEngine is the preferred blogging platform out there right now.
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I am in the process of having a replica of the cotton club made in miniature and am trying to find photos of the inside of the original building. I’ve seen the youtube videos and stock photos. Any other leads would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Wat is Vivian real name the one in live with ric. Gere
Sherry, if you’re asking about the movie “Pretty Woman,” the character Vivian Ward was played by Julia Roberts. But this has nothing to do with the subject here, which is the Cotton Club.
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