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| El Grotto- 6415 s Cottage Grove. |
Not for decades has Chicago's Black community been able to dine in polished ambiance and elegance while seeing a top flight musical act or dance show.
For decades in clubs such as the Rhumboogie Cafe', partly owned by Joe Louis and located at 343 e 55th, patrons could see top flight acts such as Sarah Vaughn or Chicago's own Dinah Washington. Also playing there before was "The Dream Band" which included Charlie Parker and other heavyweights. The famous Club DeLisa hosted the greats, such as Dizzy, the Duke, Satchmo and a host of others.
There are some small clubs hosting jazz events these days but these are mostly weekly series events where jazz is sometimes "spun" and not performed! There is no modern R&B or hip hop based equivelants to these great clubs of yeateryear, with their dapper dress standards and be there to be seen status.
Today's young Black adults seem to prefer a club like or lounge like atmosphere for event heir most formal affairs- would they be interested in dinner and a show?
Or is it that the Supper Club has never been presented to them?
The older, more laid back Blacks in the 35 and up range appear as the most possible purveyors of the new Supper Clubs and to them as well as the Twentysomething Sophisticateds we ask a few questions.,..
Would such a club interest you now? Has the concert replaced the supper club for good? What would be good locations for such venues now?
My parents speak about the Club DeLisa fondly.
ReplyDeleteI lived on 55 and wabash and remember walking past there when I was a Kid, Great memories, thanks for sharing
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