Venue: Minton's Playhouse
Town: Manhattan, US

Minton's Playhouse is a jazz club and bar located on the first floor of the Cecil Hotel at 210 West 118th Street in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City. It is a registered trademark of Housing and Services, Inc., a New York City nonprofit provider of supportive housing. The door to the club is at 206 West 118th Street and is marked by a small plaque. Minton's was founded by tenor saxophonist Henry Minton in 1938. Minton's is known for its role in the development of modern jazz, particularly bebop. Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, Kenny Clarke, Charlie Christian, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie pioneered be-bop in the club's jam sessions in the early 1940s. Minton's thrived for three decades until its decline near the end of the 1960s, and it eventually closed in 1974. After being closed for more than 30 years, the newly remodeled club reopened on May 19, 2006, under the name Uptown Lounge at Minton's Playhouse. Minton's operated until 2010, before re-opening as Minton's Playhouse in 2013. Minton's original owner, Henry Minton, was known in Harlem for being the first ever black delegate to the American Federation of Musicians Local 802. In addition, he had been the manager of the Rhythm Club, in Harlem, in the early part of the 1930s, a venue which Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller, James P. Johnson, and Earl Hines frequented. The novelist Ralph Ellison later wrote that because of his union background and music business experience, Minton was aware of the economic and artistic needs of jazz musicians in New York in the late 1930s. Minton's popularity and his penchant for generosity with food and loans made his club a favorite hang-out for musicians. Minton developed a policy of holding regular jam sessions at his club, which would later prove to be a significant factor in the development of bebop. Because of his union ties, Minton was able to ensure that musicians would not be fined for their participation in jam sessions, an activity that was prohibited by the union. Dizzy G