By Michael Barbieri***October 23rd, 2021. It’s a chilly, overcast autumn afternoon in NYC. Still, some of the best and brightest in the worlds of live music and cabaret turned out to present a free concert in Flatiron Plaza, celebrating Tin Pan Alley Day! This was the day when New York celebrated the official landmark designation of Tin Pan Alley on West 28th Street!
For anyone who may not know, Tin Pan Alley is a stretch of West 28th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues in what is now the Flower District of Manhattan. There were five specific buildings on the north side of the street in which a number of music publishers set up shop starting in about 1885. This was the heart of the music industry at the time and soon became the birthplace of American Popular Music!
The event’s hosts, Klea Blackhurst and Robert Lamont, kept the show moving along beautifully and kept the crowd engaged with their ebullient energy. I arrived shortly after the show began, but I caught Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks, a wonderful 1920s and 30s jazz band with Danny Bacher on vocals. While they played, tap dancer DeWitt Fleming Jr. delighted the crowd with his moves. The Nighthawks then backed up the amazing Marilyn Maye who gave us a medley of New York themed songs, with Billy Stritch accompanying her on the keys. The medley, which included “New York State of Mind,” “I Happen to Like New York” and “New York, New York,” got a rousing response from the audience, and was a perfect choice for a day celebrating New York songwriters!
We were introduced to George Calderaro—director of the Tin Pan Alley American Music Project (TPAAPMP), Commissioner Anne del Castillo from the Mayor’s Office of Media & Entertainment, James Mettham – Executive Director of the Flatiron/23rd St. Partnership, NYC City Council Member Elect Eric Bottcher and others, many of whom either spearheaded the TPAAPMP or helped bring it to fruition. They joined Klea Blackhurst and Marilyn Maye onstage to unveil the official W. 28th St Tin Pan Alley street sign, which was honestly momentous and quite moving!
Maye shared the stage with the talented young Jennifer Poroye, who sang an inspiring “Lift Every Heart and Sing,” often called the African American National Anthem. Billy Stritch gave us a few wonderful numbers, including “They Didn’t Believe Me” and a medley of songs that dated back to the earliest days of Tin Pan Alley, including “Ain’t We Got Fun?,” “Bye Bye Blackbird,” “April Showers” and “Look For the Silver Lining.” And the fabulous Flatiron Building behind him was the perfect backdrop for all this iconic New York-based music! Stritch then brought up and played for the always incredible Natalie Douglas, who gave us glorious renditions of “Jonah Man” and “Love For Sale.”
Other notable performances came from Anita Gillette and pianist Paul Greenwood, who charmed us with Irving Berlin’s “The Secret Service Makes Me Nervous” and “Pack Up Your Sins and Go to the Devil.” Broadway actor Larry Marshall gave us “Somebody Else-Not Me” paired with “Nobody,” pianist Eric Comstock sang and played a medley of “After You’ve Gone” and “Some Of These Days,” which is a personal favorite of mine. My friend Aaron Lee Battle gave us “Darktown Strutter’s Ball/Shine On Harvest Moon” and Jennifer Poroye returned with a beautiful version of “Autumn in New York”—again, most appropriate for this clear, chilly October day!
All in all, it was a jam packed day. Other appearances included Terry Waldo & The Gotham City Band, Eric Yves Garcia, Willy Falk, Jill O’Hara, Sanborn McGraw and Cassidy Ewert with Byron Sommers at the piano, the TADA! Youth Theater Ensemble, Tony Waag and Members of the Tap City Youth Ensemble, and even the legendary Steve Ross. And not even a few errant raindrops that attempted to make their appearance could dampen the crowd’s enthusiasm.
Although the event ran about an hour longer than originally scheduled, the presentation was a huge success! In that respect, I’d like to commend the entire crew behind the scenes, including NLE’s own Marilyn Lester, who co-produced and stage managed the event, as well as the sound engineers who did a fantastic job, combating the often overwhelming street sounds usually heard in old New York!
So take a moment someday and visit the newly landmarked Tin Pan Alley on West 28th Street and see the birthplace of some of the finest songs ever written! If you “happen to like New York,” this is true New York history!
All photos by Michael Barbieri
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