The Club DeLisa, also written Delisa or De Lisa, was an African-American nightclub and music venue in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. Located at 5521 South State Street (State Street and Garfield Avenue, on the South Side), it was possibly the most prestigious venue in the city,Deffaa, Chip ''Blue rhythms: six lives in rhythm and blues'' University of Illinois Press, 1996
at Google Books together with the Regal Theater and the

Rhumboogie Café The Rhumboogie Café,
also referred to as the Rhumboogie Club, was an important, but short-lived nightclub at 343 East ...

, the 800–seat Club DeLisa played a key role in the city's association with jazz, blues, rhythm and blues and soul music. It closed in February 1958, but was re-opened as The Club in 1966.

History

The Club DeLisa was owned by the four DeLisa brothers, Louis, John, Jimmy and Mike. It opened in 1933. In 1941, the original building burned down but was soon replaced with the New Club DeLisa. Nightly entertainment at the club was in a variety-show format. The show featured singers, comedians, dancers, and the DeLisa chorines, accompanied by a house band that ranged in size from 7 to 12 pieces, depending on the club's revenues. Another less heralded source of revenue was gambling, in the club's basement. During its heyday in the 1930s and 1940s, the club would remain open 24 hours a day, offering round-the-clock entertainment with musicians, dancers and

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

acts. Among the musicians and performers associated with the venue over the years were Red Saunders, whose band was in residence from 1937 until 1945 and later returned in 1947. The band stayed until the club closed in 1958,The Red Saunders Research Foundation

Fletcher Henderson James Fletcher Hamilton Henderson (December 18, 1897 – December 29, 1952) was an American pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer, important in the development of big band jazz and swing music. He was one of the most prolific black musi ...

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

Sun Ra Le Sony'r Ra (born Herman Poole Blount, May 22, 1914 – May 30, 1993), better known as Sun Ra, was an American jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, and poet known for his experimental music, "cosmic" philosophy, prolific out ...

Johnny Pate John William Pate (born December 5, 1923) is an American former jazz bassist who became a producer, arranger, and leading figure in Chicago soul, pop, and rhythm and blues. He learned piano and tuba as a child and later picked up the bass guitar ...

, Joe Williams,

LaVaughn Robinson LaVaughn Robinson (born LaVaughn Evett) (February 9, 1927 – January 22, 2008) was an American tap dancer, choreographer, and teacher. A virtuoso tap dancer, Robinson perfected a high speed, low to the ground, a cappella style of dance tha ...

George Kirby George Kirby (June 8, 1923 – September 30, 1995) was an American comedian, singer, and actor. Career Born in Chicago, Kirby broke into show business in the 1940s at the Club DeLisa, a South Side establishment that employed a variety-show ...

Sonny Cohn George Thomas Cohn (March 14, 1925 – November 7, 2006), known professionally as Sonny Cohn, was an American jazz trumpeter whose career spanned over six decades. After working for fifteen years with Red Saunders (1945–1960), Cohn went on ...

, Earl Washington,

Leon Washington Leon Dewitt Washington Sr. (born August 29, 1982) is a former American football running back and return specialist. He currently serves as a coach for the New York Jets. He was drafted by the New York Jets in the fourth round of the 2006 NFL Dra ...

, Albert Ammons,

LaVern Baker Delores LaVern Baker (November 11, 1929 – March 10, 1997) was an American R&B singer who had several hit records on the pop chart in the 1950s and early 1960s. Her most successful records were " Tweedle Dee" (1955), " Jim Dandy" (1956), and " ...

, and

Reverend Gatemouth Moore Arnold Dwight "Gatemouth" Moore (November 8, 1913 – May 19, 2004) was an American blues and gospel singer, songwriter, radio disc jockey, community leader and pastor, later known as Reverend Gatemouth Moore. During his career as a recording a ...

(1946–1947 and 1948–1949).Campbell, Robert L. and Robert Pruter, George R. White, Tom Kelly, George Paulus “The Aristocrat Label”
Retrieved 5 July 2013. The Club DeLisa closed its doors on February 16, 1958, after the deaths of two of the DeLisa brothers. The closing of the club was commemorated in the February 6, 1958 issue of Chicago-based '' Jet'' magazine, stating the club would close on February 16 of that year.JET - Chicago's Club DeLisa Set To Close In February - February 6, 1958
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House Bands

* Red Saunders: 1937–1945; 1947–1958 * Jesse Miller: June, 1945–February, 1946Campbell, Robert L. and Christopher Trent, and Robert Pruter "From Sonny Blount to Sun Ra: The Chicago Years"
Retrieved 5 July 2013. *

: February, 1946

The Club

When DJs E. Rodney Jones and

Pervis Spann Pervis Spann (August 16, 1932 – March 14, 2022) was an American broadcaster, music promoter, and radio personality. He was a disc jockey on WVON and was influential in the development of blues music in Chicago, Illinois. Early life Spann was ...

re-opened the venue under the new name,

Cannonball Adderley Julian Edwin "Cannonball" Adderley (September 15, 1928August 8, 1975) was an American jazz alto saxophonist of the hard bop era of the 1950s and 1960s. Adderley is perhaps best remembered for the 1966 soul jazz single "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy", whi ...

's quintet was one of the first bands to perform there, in March 1966. Although Adderley's October 1966 album '' Mercy, Mercy, Mercy! Live at 'The Club''' was supposedly recorded at the venue, it was in fact recorded at Capitol's Hollywood studio with a live audience.Liner notes
by

Michael Cuscuna Michael Cuscuna (born September 20, 1949 in Stamford, Connecticut, United States) is an American jazz record producer and writer. He is the co-founder of Mosaic Records and a discographer of Blue Note Records. Cuscuna played drums, saxophone and ...

for ''Money in the Pocket'' at Cannonball Adderley official web site It was the tracks later released on '' Money in the Pocket'' that had been recorded live at The Club.

References

{{reflist, 2 Jazz clubs in Chicago Music venues completed in 1933 Historically African-American theaters and music venues