Group of items from the New York City Jazz club Birdland. 3 items, various sizes. Birdland was a storied New York jazz club named in honor of Charlie Parker. It operated near 52nd and Broadway from 1949 to 1965. Offered here are three evocative pieces of Birdland ephemera, including:
Souvenir photograph of two sharply dressed young men at Birdland, in original illustrated Birdland folder. Folder size is 240x280 mm; 9½x11 inches; minor wear.
Handbill for "two big weeks . . . at the jazz corner of the world" featuring Count Basie and his 17-piece orchestra, plus Lester Young and his quintet, and a battle of tenor saxes between Lester Young and Paul Quinichette. 250x150 mm; 10x6 inches; horizontal and vertical fold, minimal wear, 24 July to 6 August [1952].
Birdland mailing list card completed in manuscript by a woman from Akron, Ohio. 75x95 mm; 3x3¾ inches; minor foxing.
These pieces have distinguished provenance. They were part of the famed Norman R. Saks collection, and later acquired by Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts, a jazz afficionado who told Modern Drummer magazine in August 1982: "When I had the honour to go to New York . . . all I wanted to do was go to Birdland and I was lucky enough to get there before it closed. . . . It's just something that really meant something to me as a kid, listening to Charlie Parker." In the Charlie Watts sale at Christies London, 29 September 2023, part of lot 524.
