Joined at the Hip: A History of Jazz in Twin Cities

Appendix 2

203 Appendix Music Venues over the Years The Near Northside was a center of jazz and night life almost devoid of racial barriers from Prohibition until the intrusion of Highway 55. Construction of this road, later named the Floyd B. Olson Memorial Highway , resulted in the destruction of entire neighborhoods. Lester Young’s family lived on Sixth Avenue North, and Frank Morgan’s parents were nearby. The Apex at 655 Sixth Avenue North dates back to at least 1933. It was doors away from the Clef Club, 637 Sixth Avenue North in the ­ Kistler Building, where the Halfway Club was up a flight of stairs and the Ebony Social Club was on the third floor. Club DeLiza was across the street. Not far down Highland was the Black Elks club and Ames Lodge, also known as the Musicians Rest. It became the Harlem Breakfast Club, a black and tan after-­ hours rib place, at 141 Highland Avenue in 1934. The Boulevard and the Hub were farther west on Sixth Avenue North near Dupont. Howard’s Steak House at 715 Sixth Avenue North was the stuff­ of legends, a hub of activity until the mid-­ fifties. It was also known as­ El Grotto and Howard’s Club Jazz Bar (in the early fifties), but its reputation was set in the 1930s, when Lester Young, the Pettifords, and traveling bands like Ellington and Eli Rice would hang out there after hours. Ma and Pa Pettiford ran the Old Southern Barbecue at 700 North Lyndale. The nearby Just Right Barbeque was said to have better ribs but no music. Many places around the country were called the Cotton Club. Minneapolis had at least two. The Cotton Club Chicken Shack at 718 Sixth 204 Joined at the Hip Avenue North, on the north side of Olson Highway between Lyndale­ Avenue and Lyndale Place, was the site of an infamous cop killing in 1928. It became known as Club Kongo in 1933 and just a year later was renamed Club Morocco. Other night spots within walking distance were Ben Wilson’s Gin Mill (1940s) on North Lyndale, the Kitty Cat Klub on Sixth Avenue North between Highland and Aldrich, the Nest at 731 Sixth ­ Avenue North, Peggy’s after-­ hours club, Rhumboogie (1945–46; previously the Maple Leaf) at 128 Highland, and the Wondervue on Sixth ­ Avenue North. The best known of the Twin Cities’ Cotton Clubs, of course, was also called El Patio, located at 5916 Excelsior Boulevard in St. Louis Park, where Lester Young, Rook Ganz, Boyd Atkins, and others played in the 1930s. Hennepin Avenue in Minneapolis ran the gamut from seedy dives to posh theaters, but it has always been a center for musical activity. Considered a gem among U.S. vaudeville houses, the Hennepin Orpheum opened at 910 Hennepin in 1921. The State Theatre, described as a “gilded pleasure palace,” was built the same year at 805 Hennepin. The Minnesota Theater at Eighth and LaSalle boasted its own orchestra. On the current site of Orchestra Hall on Eleventh Street sat the Lyceum, once home to road shows. Dating to 1905, it was the first building in the complex that would become the Minneapolis Auditorium. Most of the vaudeville theaters later did burlesque, notably the Alvin near Fifth and Hennepin. The Palace Theater at 414 Hennepin presented many of the big bands of the Swing Era. Musicians would hit the Avenue after their performances and find­ opportunities to sit in at the Camel’s Club, 520 Hennepin, or the Paradise right next door, or Lindy’s (aka Crombie’s). Also nearby was the Dome, which became Vic’s and later Osterberg’s, at 507 Hennepin. Lindy’s gave way to Augie’s, one of the first strip clubs, which was followed by the Copper Squirrel, the Gay ’90s, the Frolics, the Saddle, and the Roaring Twenties, each of which employed jazz groups. It wasn’t all scantily clad women, however. Herman Mitch’s Casablanca at 408 Hennepin had some of the best Dixie in town, as did the nearby Red Feather at Fourth and Hennepin and Williams at Ninth and Hennepin. Robert’s Cafe on East Hennepin also featured live music. In earlier years, a pair of labor temples on the east side of the Mississippi featured bands. Other establishments with music included the Poodle, Sleizer’s, Spud’s, and the Coco­ nut Grove over Brady’s, where you could “Walk up a flight [3.138.114.38] Project MUSE (2024...