he was as blue as jazz
he pomped his way down bleecker street as blue as jazz
the women hurt for the blue as jazz
they could taste his blue as jazz
they felt in their bodies his blue as jazz
they reached out for his blue as jazz
he pomped his way down bleecker street as blue as jazz
the women hurt for the blue as jazz
they could taste his blue as jazz
they felt in their bodies his blue as jazz
they reached out for his blue as jazz
he knew
he knew
the women could taste his blue as jazz
he knew
he knew
the women ached for his blue as jazz
blue as jazz
The Lone Sax -- Melissa Leslie-Quinones
When Anthony Bleecker deeded his 20-acre farm to the nearby city of Manhattan in 1808 Bleecker Street between Broadway to the Bowery already ran through his land. In 1817 lots were auctioned off, and the street name extended to what is now Sixth Avenue, and then in 1829 what had been Herring Street, which extended to Hudson St., was renamed Bleecker. One of Anthony Bleecker's poems ("On Revisiting the Cottage of Rosa in Early Spring, After a Long Absence") began:
ReplyDeleteSeven summers have flown, and once more do I see
The fields and the groves I deserted so long:
Scarce a bud yet appears on the winter-beat tree,
Nor a bird yet enlivens the sky with a song.
It would take more than a century before the street became famous as a nightclub district. The Village Gate operated there for 38 years starting in 1958 and featured most of the country's greatest jazzmen. Cafe Wha? opened in 1959 and became the city's premier folk music club, then in the late 1960s changed its name and featured Middle Eastern music, then became the Cafe Wha? again in 1987 and featured rock music by The Best Damn Band in New York City. CBGB (Country, BlueGrass, and Blues) opened in 1973 and became the center of the nation's punk and New Wave music until it closed in 2006. The Bitter End opened in 1961 and still features leading folk and rock musicians. Simon Edward plays "Downtown Bleecker," a saxophone piece, on his album "Midnight Sun." (It should also be noted that Dr. Strange has his Sanctum Sanctorum at 177A Bleecker.)