We have a detailed history of Tin Pan Alley thanks to invaluable information from the Historic Districts Council in their “Brief-ish History of Tin Pan Alley” written in 2008, and Michael Minn in his piece “Tin Pan Alley”, part of his “New York City” photography collection project. As both accounts cover both overlapping and different information, we present them both below. Many thanks to them both for their thorough and dogged research and insightful presentation.
Weekend kickoff, “New York Songs & Stories: 100 Years of Tin Pan Alley and Singing Strong!"
Friday, October 13, 2023, 6:30 PM
Museum of the City of New York, 1220 5th Ave, New York, NY 10029
Event Information
Museum of the City of New York Centennial Celebration
In celebration of MCNY's 100th birthday, join us for a performance of popular 1920s tunes by cabaret star Aisha de Haas (voice) and musical director Robert Lamont (piano). The concert will spotlight stories about the songwriters who were part of the cultural movement that emerged from Tin Pan Alley on 28th Street and spread to stages, bandstands and parlors worldwide. Presented in partnership with the Tin Pan Alley American Popular Music Project.
Tin Pan Alley blossomed into what we now call the American Songbook during the years surrounding the founding of the Museum of the City of New York. By that year (1923), now familiar names like Jerome Kern & Irving Berlin, Sissle & Blake, James P. Johnson & Cecil Mack, Vincent Youmans and the Gershwins all had major hit songs that were defining the sound and values of an America that would make the 1920s roar. Lamont and de Haas will perform ten musical gems from the years around Henry Collin’s founding of the Museum, from 1920 to 1925, to celebrate this major birthday.