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.
the Tin Pan Alley.NYC
VIDEO'S-ONLY PAGE
Several of the videos described on this page, also exist elsewhere on the site, but if you
want to come back to view one again, they are all here on this page
(no need to go searching the site for them.)
New Video!
Ilana Meredith, vocalist
Joe Rutkowski, keyboards
Jim Mackin, historian
Highlights of the “Words and Music” free outdoor concert, presented by the Tin Pan Alley American Music Project at
The Ritz-Carlton New York, NoMad, on
August 31st, 2023.
Introduced by George Calderaro, director of the
Tin Pan Alley American Music Project
Watch highlights from of August 31st’s Outdoor concert in front of the Ritz-Carlton New York, NoMad" Tin Pan Alley songs on this video by Irving Berlin, George and Ira Gershwin, Harold Arlen Yip Harburg and Billy Rose, and others, performed to perfection by songstress Ilana Meredith with Joe Rutkowski on Keyboards. MC and Historian Jim Mackin weighs in on the origins of the songs and Tin Pan Alley’s composers and lyricists.
Ilana Meredith has a gorgeous voice and delivery and hits a bullseye every time - whether performing a torch song, ballad, or uptempo number. Seasoned multi-instrumentalist, Joe Rutkowski has the chops to bridge many styles. Historian Jim Mackin, interweaves historical stories and anecdotes about Tin Pan Alley's songwriters amidst the tunes to create a unique and refreshing take on the history of American popular music and its origins.
RT approx. 15 minutes
CLICK ON PICTURE FOR VIDEO
Recent Videos
Michael Garber
at the Lambs Club reads from and talks about his book
"My Melancholy Baby"
A talk at the historic theatrical society, the Lambs Club. Co-sponsored by the Tin Pan Alley American Popular Music Project.
Those associated with those two institutions helped make American popular music what it was during the early twentieth century, creating the style of the Great American Songbook.
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Marilyn Lester
NightLife Exchange 4.18.23
"A glorious marriage of two artistic worlds"
Tin Pan Alley ... GOIN' DOWNTOWN!
RECORDED LIVE AT PANGEA
RESTAURAUNT &
CABARET!
New Video!
Experiencing Tin Pan Alley: A Virtual Walking Tour: 1895 – 1915 and Beyond
With Miriam Berman
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In this virtual walking tour, author and guide Miriam Berman recreates the way in which the Tin Pan Alley sensation of sheet music publishing came about and how it functioned on West 28th Street in New York City. Berman focuses on several of the very first sheet music publishers who created Tin Pan Alley in the late 19th and early 20th century and illustrates their growth, interactions, and successes. These industry pioneers moved their businesses to 28th Street between Broadway and Sixth Avenue, and their work within such close proximity to one another created American Popular Music and the modern music industry. This dynamic illustrated talk with music showcases the global phenomenon of Tin Pan Alley that emerged from one short New York City block!
The careers and prodigious song-output of such Tin Pan Alley hit makers as Harry and Albert Von Tilzer, Charles K. Harris, Scott Joplin, Edward J. Abram, and many others are explored, including recorded samples of many of their most well-known tunes. Ms. Berman also chronicles the exact location and history of the dozens of hugely successful music publishers whose offices lined the legendary street. "Experiencing Tin Pan Alley: A Virtual Walking Tour" is a master’s tour of the history of this iconic single-block street throughout its heyday!
Miriam Berman is a historian, tour guide, and the author of "Madison Square: The Park And Its Celebrated Landmarks"
(RT 50:27)
See Highlights of Gabrielle Lee and
Robert Lamont's, sold-out performance held
at the Park Avenue Armory, benefiting ”Tin Pan Alley - the American Music Project"
Tin Pan Alley Day 2021
(Highlights of the Event in 35 minutes)
The first "Tin Pan Alley Day" celebration since the Lanmarks Preservation Commission officially granted Tin Pan Alley landmark status! And oh, what a time was had!
NYMM YOUTH PROGRAM
"Teaching Tin Pan Alley – Then & Now" with The Tin Pan Alley American Popular Music Project
Numerous songs including the iconic "Give my Regards to Broadway," "God Bless America" and "Alexander's Rag Time Band" were composed and published in Tin Pan Alley on West 28th Street between Broadway and 6th Avenue during the boom of the sheet-music business at the turn of the 20th century. This talk is a multimedia presentation by educator Lesley Doyel for children in grades 2-5 that focuses on two enduring Tin Pan Alley songs children began learning more than a century ago, and that people still sing today: Take Me out to the Ball Game and The Sidewalks of New York.
"Tin Pan Alley – Uptown & Down"
produced by Lesley Doyel and PN Fritsch
Sporting a lively soundtrack of Tin Pan Alley tunes played by incomparable pianist Richard Dowling, and produced in the communication style of the silent movie era, "Tin Pan Alley Uptown and Down", is a seven and a half minute history of the street on which American popular music was born. (7 1/2 mins - 2019)
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See the Video of the August' 2022
Poster House NYC's first-ever Block Party!
WEST 28TH STREET
IS OFFICIALLY CO-NAMED
WEST 28TH STREET/TIN PAN ALLEY!
Watch the video of the April 2nd Event!
"Harlem's Black & Jewish Music Culture: From Tin Pan Alley to America's Songbook"
Drawing from his research and extensive collection of sheet music and theater memorabilia, author and Harlem Historian John Reddick's talk weaves together the stories of Black and Jewish composers, publishers and performers of Tin Pan Alley that created the Great American Songbook” and American popular music.
Author and Historian
John T. Reddick
The Fight for a Landmark of
American Music History
Brief interviews on Tin Pan Alley Day, 2017, with many of those who helped lead the charge to finally secure landmark status to Tin Pan Alley from the LPC. Interviews with author and preservationist, David Freeland, historian, John K. Reddick, preservation activist Mario Messina, HDC's Dan Allen. Educator Lesley Doyel, and TPA Project Head, George Calderaro.
Six to Celebrate - Cultural Landmarks
Tin Pan Alley, ManhattanThe Historic Districts Council.
With HDC President
Dan Allen