Palladium Ballroom
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The Palladium Ballroom was a second-floor dancehall on 53rd and Broadway in New York City which became famous for its excellent Latin music. At the end of World War II people began moving from Puerto Rico to New York City in large numbers (NYC's Puerto Rican population was about 100,000 in 1940 and 600,000 in 1960) and the popularity of swing, foxtrot, big band, etc was waning.
In 1948, music promoter Federico Pagani approached Palladium owner Max Hyman about booking Latin music there (the photo above was taken by Palladium photographer, Harry Fine, showing Maxwell Hyman with his top Star performers, Augie & Margo Rodriguez, the couple who took the Mambo to unimaginable heights). The first booking, on a Sunday afternoon, was reportedly a huge success, quickly prompting the club to fill its schedule with Latin music. Machito (born Frank Grillo) (suggested listening: Dance Date with Machito and His Afro-Cubans), already an established new York act, played there frequently. The new Tito Puente orchestra, as well as that of singer/bandleader Tito (born Pablo) Rodriguez (listen to: Tito Rodriguez Live at the Palladium) grew tremendously in popularity on the strength of their bookings at the Palladium. Singer Celia Cruz, La Sonora Matancera, Beny Moré and his orchestra, and others came from Cuba to play there. Other established acts likely to have performed there include Arsenio Rodriguez, La Lupé, Daniel Santos and Miguelito Valdés (the latter sometimes called "Mr. Babalu" and known for his friendly rivalry with Desi Arnaz).
Very soon, Latino New Yorkers could be very proud of a highly visible night spot of their own in the heart of midtown, in addition to clubs such as El Club Caborrojeño far north on Broadway at 145th Street, the Broadway Casino in Washington Heights, El Cubanacán (114th and Lenox), the Park Palace and Park Plaza (upstairs and downstairs in the same catering hall on 110th Street and Fifth Avenue), and Gloria Palace on 86th Street and Third Avenue, as well as Bronx night spots the Tropicana (on either Westchester Avenue or Intervale Avenue and 163rd Street), the Tropicola (Homewood and Southern), Hunt's Point Palace (Southern and 163rd Street) La Campana (149th Street and Third Avenue), and the Tropicoro (on Longwood Avenue).
In 1950 the mambo craze that eventually spread across the United States began at the Palladium. At the height of its popularity, the Palladium attracted Hollywood and Broadway stars, especially on Wednesday nights, which included a free dance lesson. Club-goers of the era report seeing Marlon Brando, George Hamilton and others there. The Palladium was known not only for its music but for the exceptionally high quality and innovation of its dancers, fueled by weekly dance competitions. Ability to dance, not class or color, was the social currency inside the club.
By the early 1960's, tastes had shifted somewhat and it was clear a new sound was on the horizon (suggested listening: Mongo Santamaria's 1963 cover of Herbie Hancock's "Watermelon Man," as well as Joe Cuba's 1966 "El Pito," featuring a riff from Dizzy Gillespie, the catchy line, "never go back to Georgia"). The Palladium closed its doors in the spring of 1966 (two dates reported are April 15 and May 1 of that year). Dancers' and music fans' enthusiasm for the music was not diminished; many mention El Corso (near Gloria Palace on 86th Street and Third Avenue) and the Cheetah (52nd Street and Eighth Avenue) as the places "the scene" went next.
The dance floor and bandstand of the Palladium was lovingly recreated in the feature film Mambo Kings, starring Armand Assante and Antonio Banderas, in which Tito Puente played himself and Desi Arnaz Jr. played Desi Arnaz Sr. The movie's band, the Mambo Kings Band, also featured Ralph Irizarry, Machito's son Mario Grillo, and others.
