Connie's Inn - New York City
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Connie's Inn

2221 Seventh Avenue at 131st Street
New York, N.Y. 10027








Connie's Inn - New York City  
   
   
The intersection of 131st Street and Seventh Avenue — a Harlem hot spot called "The Corner" — was the site of Connie's Inn, a popular nightclub located in the basement of 2221 Seventh Avenue. Connie's Inn was established in 1923 by Connie Immerman, a white bootlegger, during Prohibition, the period from 1920 to 1933 when the making and sale of liquor was outlawed in the United States. Its clientele included gangsters and molls, rumrunners, and bathtub bootleggers.

Connie's Inn attracted huge audiences with acts by Louis Armstrong, Moms Mabley, Fats Waller, Wilbur Sweatman, Peg Leg Bates, and Fletcher Henderson. Like its cheif rival, the Cotton Club, Connie's Inn featured African-American performers, but restricted its audience to whites only.
               
  Estey Organ Company "Grand Minuette" model
Estey Organ Company
Brattleboro, Vt. – Opus 2800 (1929)
Electro-pneumatic action
2 manuals, 23 stops, 3 ranks



Connie's Inn contained an organ built in 1929 by the Estey Organ Company, and was the first example of the "Grand Minuette" model. Estey's Op. 2800 had three unified ranks on 8" wind pressure, and all of its pipes were contained in a grand piano-type case that measured 8'4" long by 5'5" wide by 3'3" high. The case and piano-type bench of Op. 2800 were finished in Whitewood, ivory and gold.
               
Solo Melody (Manual II) – 61 notes, enclosed
16
  Bass Viol  
4
  Octave  
8
  Diapason  
4
  Flute d'Amour  
8
  Oboe (synthetic)  
4
  Violina  
8
  Clarinet (synthetic)  
2 2/3
  Twelfth  
8
  Tibia Clausa  
2
  Piccolo  
8
  Violin  
1 3/5
  Tierce  
8
  Saxophone (synthetic)        
               
Accompaniment Organ (Manual I) – 61 notes, enclosed
16
  Contra Violone  
4
  Octave  
8
  Diapason  
4
  String  
8
  Viola  
4
  Flute  
8
  Gedeckt          
               
Pedal Organ – 32 notes
16
  Violone  
8
  Flute  
8
  'Cello          
               
Accessories and Special Features
    General Tremolo   Current and wind lights
    Balanced Swell Expression   4 spare contacts – Solo
    Crescendo Pedal   4 spare contacts – Accomp.
    5-note Chimes [E, F#, G#, A#, B]   4 spare contacts – Pedal
               
Stop Analysis
4
  Open Diapason
61
8
  Stopped Flute
85
16
  Salicional
    85
   
Total
231
               
Sources:
     Carnahan, John. Factory Shop Order for Estey Organ, Op. 2800 (1929).
     The Estey Pipe Organ web site: www.esteyorgan.com
     Nelson, George. Organs in the United States and Canada Database. Seattle, Wash.
     "The Voices of African-Americans: The Harlem Renaissance and Hip-Hop Movements and the Search for An Identity, a Comparative Analysis." Presentation by Leye Moery, Ted Archer,and Quiana McKenzie. Washington and Lee University: Introduction to African-American Studies, Fall 2005.

Illustrations:
     The Estey Pipe Organ web site. "Grand Minuette" model.
     www.streetswing.com. Exterior.
     "The Voices of African-Americans". Interior.