TheSunset Cafe, also known asThe Grand Terrace Cafe or simplyGrand Terrace,[1] was ajazz club inChicago,Illinois operating during the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. It was one of the most importantjazz clubs in America, especially during the period between 1917 and 1928 when Chicago became a creative capital of jazz innovation and again during the emergence ofbebop in the early 1940s. From its inception, the club was a rarity as a haven from segregation, since the Sunset Cafe was an integrated orBlack and Tan club where African Americans, along with other ethnicities, could mingle freely with white Americans without much fear of reprisal. Many important musicians developed their careers at the Sunset/Grand Terrace Cafe.
The building that housed the Cafe still stands at 315 E 35th St in theBronzeville neighborhood of Chicago. Originally built in 1909 as an automobile garage, after a 1921 remodelling it became a venue with around 100 tables, a bandstand and dance floor.[2]
.jpg)
While the historic structure that once housed New York's original Cotton Club was torn down decades ago forurban renewal, Chicago's original Sunset/Grand Terrace Cafe building still stands, and still has some of its original murals on the walls. The Sunset/Grand Terrace Cafe building returned to its modest roots after the then Grand Terrace Cafe closed in 1950, serving as a political office for a short time, and then anAce Hardware store. The building receivedChicago Landmark status on September 9, 1998.[3]
Owned byLouis Armstrong's manager,Joe Glaser, the venue played host to such performers asLouis Armstrong,Adelaide Hall,Billie Holiday,Dinah Washington,Fletcher Henderson,Cab Calloway,Lionel Hampton,Johnny Dodds,Bix Beiderbecke,Jimmy Dorsey,Benny Goodman,Woody Herman,Gene Krupa andEarl "Fatha" Hines and his orchestra's members:Billy Eckstine,Dizzy Gillespie,Charlie Parker andSarah Vaughan. On September 23, 1939,Ella Fitzgerald made herChicago debut on this famous stage.
Shortly after beginning to record his Hot Five records, Louis Armstrong began playing in theCarroll Dickerson Orchestra at the Sunset Cafe in 1926, withEarl Hines on piano. In July of that year, Percy Venable staged and producedJazzmania, which had a finale with the whole cast supporting Armstrong as he sang "Heebie Jeebies."[4] Venable would also later design a show with a "prime attraction," or Armstrong, singing "Big Butter and Egg Man" with Mae Alix.[5] The band with Hines as musical director was soon renamedLouis Armstrong and his Stompers.[6]
Cab Calloway got his professional start onstage under Louis Armstrong at the Sunset Cafe. Calloway eventually became one of only a few big band leaders to come up under Armstrong and, of course,Earl Hines. When Louis departed the Cafe for New York - it was the youngCab Calloway - 20-year-old "kid from Baltimore" whom Armstrong and Glazer picked to take over from Louis at the Sunset. A few years later Calloway followed his mentor Armstrong to NY, and before long found himself headlining atThe Cotton Club, while back in Chicago, Hines inherited the Sunset Cafe mantle. In 1928, the 25-year-old Earl Hines opened what was to become a twelve-year residency at what was now renamed The Grand Terrace Cafe - by now "controlled" [or 25% 'controlled'] byAl Capone.[7]
With Hines as its bandleader, what used to be the Sunset Cafe continued its tradition, introducing under HinesCharlie Parker,Dizzy Gillespie,Sarah Vaughan,Nat "King" Cole andBilly Eckstine, as well as the dancer -Bill "Bojangles" Robinson. And it was "live" from The Grand Terrace that the Hines Band became the most radio broadcast band in America.[8][9]
41°49′51″N87°37′07″W / 41.8309°N 87.6186°W /41.8309; -87.6186