From Speakeasy To Tin Palace Jazz

— 325 Bowery —

You are standing in front of the 1970s home of the Tin Palace, a vital part of New York's alternative music scene. Originally a Federal-style 3-story, built circa 1830, it was allegedly a speakeasy run by gangster Meyer Lansky in the 1920s. In 1970, writer Paul Pines and partners converted the rundown property into a club that presented Brazilian music and jazz, wanting "to build up a grass-roots place not to make a killing at the door." When writer Stanley Crouch and saxophonist David Murray moved in upstairs, they convinced Pines to add a Sunday avant-garde jazz series. Pines left in 1976, but Crouch continued the club's innovative spirit.
Until it closed in 1980, the Tin Palace was a destination for musicians and fans from around the world. The club continually fostered the most dynamic contemporary music, from Eddie Jefferson/Richie Cole and Shelia Jordan/Roswell Rudd, to Jimmy Guiffre, James Blood Ulmer, Leroy Jenkins, Roscoe Mitchell, Paul Bley, Steve Swallow and Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre. It staged the first performances of the long-lived World Saxophone Quartet."(sic)

-David Neil Lee, author, The Battle of the Five Spot

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