Jazz, Ltd. was a
Dixieland
Dixieland jazz, also referred to as traditional jazz, hot jazz, or simply Dixieland, is a style of jazz based on the music that developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century. The 1917 recordings by the Original Dixieland Jass Band ( ...
jazz band,
nightclub
A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music.
Nightclubs gener ...
and a
record label
A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...
in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, subdivision_name ...
.
The band was active from June 1947 to April 1978 and was led and managed by
Bill Reinhardt
William (Bill) Julius Theodore Reinhardt (September 21, 1908 – January 23, 2001) was an American clarinetist, bandleader and the owner of Jazz, Ltd.—the first Jazz club run by a musician in Chicago and one of the longest running Dixieland jazz ...
. The nightclub was active from June 1947 to February 1972 and was managed by his wife,
Ruth Reinhardt. Bill and Ruth co-owned the nightclub. For 31 years Jazz, Ltd. renewed public interest in Dixieland jazz music—when
swing music
Swing music is a style of jazz that developed in the United States during the late 1920s and early 1930s. It became nationally popular from the mid-1930s. The name derived from its emphasis on the off-beat, or nominally weaker beat. Swing bands ...
, then
Bebop
Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early-to-mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo, complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerous changes of key, instrumen ...
, then
rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...
were the dominant styles.
It was the first jazz club owned by a musician in Chicago.
It provided a steady job to many jazz musicians at a time when they needed one.
Bill and Ruth Reinhardt estimated that over 700 musicians played at Jazz, Ltd.
Some were pioneers of Dixieland jazz. By hiring the best jazz musicians in the country, forbidding singing and dancing (which incurred a 20% war
excise tax
file:Lincoln Beer Stamp 1871.JPG, upright=1.2, 1871 U.S. Revenue stamp for 1/6 barrel of beer. Brewers would receive the stamp sheets, cut them into individual stamps, cancel them, and paste them over the Bunghole, bung of the beer barrel so when ...
that put many jazz bands out of business), refusing business with the mob and playing only Dixieland jazz music, Jazz, Ltd. became one of the longest-running jazz clubs in the country.
Notable headliners
Sidney Bechet
Sidney Bechet (May 14, 1897 – May 14, 1959) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. He was one of the first important soloists in jazz, and first recorded several months before trumpeter Louis Armstrong. His erratic temp ...
,
Baby Dodds
Warren "Baby" Dodds (December 24, 1898 – February 14, 1959) was an American jazz drummer born in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. He is regarded as one of the best jazz drummers of the pre-big band era, and one of the most important ...
,
Edmond Hall
Edmond Hall (May 15, 1901 – February 11, 1967) was an American jazz clarinetist and bandleader. Over his career, Hall worked extensively with many leading performers as both a sideman and bandleader and is possibly best known for the 1941 cha ...
,
George Brunies
George Clarence Brunies (February 6, 1902 – November 19, 1974), Georg Brunis, was an American jazz trombonist, who was part of the dixieland revival. He was known as "The King of the Tailgate Trombone".Stetler, Susan L. (editor) (1987), "Br ...
,
Jack Teagarden
Weldon Leo "Jack" Teagarden (August 20, 1905 – January 15, 1964) was an American jazz trombonist and singer. According to critic Scott Yannow of Allmusic, Teagarden was the preeminent American jazz trombone player before the bebop era of the 19 ...
,
Muggsy Spanier
Francis Joseph "Muggsy" Spanier (November 9, 1901 – February 12, 1967) was an American jazz cornetist based in Chicago. He was a member of the Bucktown Five, pioneers of the "Chicago style" that straddled traditional Dixieland jazz and swing ...
,
Clancy Hayes
Clarence Leonard Hayes (November 14, 1908 – March 13, 1972) was an American jazz vocalist and banjo player.
Early life
Hayes was born in Caney, Kansas, on November 14, 1908. As a child, he learned the drums, then switched to guitar and banjo.
...
, Les Beigel,
Lil Armstrong
Lillian Hardin Armstrong (née Hardin; February 3, 1898 – August 27, 1971) was an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, singer, and bandleader. She was the second wife of Louis Armstrong, with whom she collaborated on many recordings in ...
,
Art Hodes
Arthur W. Hodes (November 14, 1904 – March 4, 1993), was a Russian Empire-born American jazz and blues pianist. He is regarded by many critics as the greatest white blues pianist.
Biography
Hodes was born in Mykolaiv, in present-day Ukrain ...
,
Don Ewell
Donald Tyson Ewell (November 14, 1916 – August 9, 1983) was an American jazz stride pianist. He worked with Sidney Bechet, Kid Ory, George Lewis, George Brunis, Muggsy Spanier, and Bunk Johnson.
Biography
Born in Baltimore, Maryland, E ...
,
Barrett Deems
Barrett Deems (March 1, 1914 – September 15, 1998) was an American swing drummer from Springfield, Illinois, United States. He worked in bands led by Jimmy Dorsey, Louis Armstrong, Red Norvo, and Muggsy Spanier.
In ''High Society'', a 1956 ...
,
Albert Nicholas
Albert Nicholas (May 27, 1900 – September 3, 1973) was an American jazz clarinet player.
Career
Nicholas's primary instrument was the clarinet, which he studied with Lorenzo Tio in his hometown of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Late ...
,
Miff Mole
Irving Milfred Mole, known professionally as Miff Mole (March 11, 1898 – April 29, 1961) was an American jazz trombonist and band leader. He is generally considered one of the greatest jazz trombonists and credited with creating "the first dist ...
,
Pete Fountain
Pierre Dewey LaFontaine Jr. (July 3, 1930 – August 6, 2016), known professionally as Pete Fountain, was an American jazz clarinetist.
Early life and education
LaFontaine was born to Pierre, Sr. and Madeline, in a small Creole cottage-style fr ...
,
Big Sid Catlett
Sidney "Big Sid" Catlett (January 17, 1910 – March 25, 1951) was an American jazz drummer. Catlett was one of the most versatile drummers of his era, adapting with the changing music scene as bebop emerged.
Early life
Catlett was born in Eva ...
,
Bill Johnson,
Big Chief Russell Moore
"Big Chief" Russell Moore (August 13, 1912 – December 15, 1983) was an American jazz trombonist. Moore, a Pima tribe member, grew up on a Native American reservation before moving to Chicago and then Los Angeles where he learned to play vari ...
and many others.
Sidney Bechet
The most famous musician to headline at Jazz, Ltd. was
Sidney Bechet
Sidney Bechet (May 14, 1897 – May 14, 1959) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. He was one of the first important soloists in jazz, and first recorded several months before trumpeter Louis Armstrong. His erratic temp ...
. Although Bill and Ruth worked hard to feature him at the opening of their new club, he was unable to appear due to illness and the club opened with
Doc Evans
Paul Wesley "Doc" Evans (June 20, 1907 – January 10, 1977) was an American jazz cornetist.
Evans was born in Spring Valley, Minnesota. the son of a Methodist minister. He learned piano and drums as a child, and played saxophone in high school. ...
instead.
[
Although Bechet was then well known in Europe, he had not been in Chicago since 1919][ and his engagements at Jazz, Ltd. reinstituted his popularity in the city. By the time he appeared at the club, he was no longer playing clarinet but soprano sax exclusively.][Campbell, Robert L.; Robert Pruter, and Tom Kelly]
"The Jazz, Ltd. Label."
''Red Saunders Research Foundation''. Retrieved 10 December 2022. He was known for his wide vibrato (wavering pulsations) and daring improvisations, exploiting the full range of the soprano saxophone. ''Down Beat
' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...
'' editor, Paul E. Miller wrote "The sounds of jazz and the fullest implications of their meanings have never been more brilliantly delineated than by Bechet." As a virtuoso, he expected the best from other bandmembers. His engagements at Jazz, Ltd. between 1947 and 1949, drew big crowds, and he reveled in the praise bestowed upon him by guests after he completed a music set at the venue.
Bechet was the headliner for four extended residencies at the club:[ November 1947 — June 6, 1948; a five-week engagement from August 25 to early October 1948; for nearly two months from November 1948 through January 15, 1949; and finally for a four week-engagement in September-October 1949.][ Unfortunately, his truancy led to litigation.
After having gone to live and work in France, Bechet made two tours of the United States, in 1951 and 1953. However, he had a long-term contract with Jazz, Ltd., giving the club an exclusive on his appearances in Chicago, a clause Bechet appeared to have forgotten.][ When Bechet appeared at another club in 1951, Ruth Reinhardt went to court for an injunction. On Bechet's return to Chicago in 1953, he was served with legal papers for breach of contract.][
]
Frequent songs heard
Just a Closer Walk with Thee
"Just a Closer Walk with Thee" is a traditional gospel song and jazz standard that has been performed and recorded by many artists. Performed as either an instrumental or vocal, "A Closer Walk" is perhaps the most frequently played number in the ...
, Jazz Me Blues, The Charleston
The Charleston is a dance named after the harbor city of Charleston, South Carolina. The rhythm was popularized in mainstream dance music in the United States by a 1923 tune called " The Charleston" by composer/pianist James P. Johnson, whic ...
, Tin Roof Blues
"Tin Roof Blues" is a jazz composition by the New Orleans Rhythm Kings first recorded in 1923. It was written by band members Paul Mares, Ben Pollack, Mel Stitzel, George Brunies and Leon Roppolo. The tune has become a jazz standard and is one o ...
, High Society
High society, sometimes simply society, is the behavior and lifestyle of people with the highest levels of wealth and social status. It includes their related affiliations, social events and practices. Upscale social clubs were open to men based ...
, Sensation, Original Dixieland One-Step, Royal Garden Blues
"Royal Garden Blues" is a blues song composed by Clarence Williams and Spencer Williams in 1919. Popularized in jazz by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, , I've Found a New Baby "I've Found a New Baby", also known as "I Found a New Baby", is a popular song written by Jack Palmer and Spencer Williams. It was introduced by Clarence Williams' Blue Five in 1926 and has since been recorded by many artists, making it a popular ...
, Slide Frog Slide, Wolverine Blues
Celebrity patrons
Carl Sandburg
Carl August Sandburg (January 6, 1878 – July 22, 1967) was an American poet, biographer, journalist, and editor. He won three Pulitzer Prizes: two for his poetry and one for his biography of Abraham Lincoln. During his lifetime, Sandburg ...
(writer), Eddie Foy Jr.
Edwin Fitzgerald Jr. (February 4, 1905 – July 15, 1983), known professionally as Eddie Foy Jr., was an American stage, film, and television actor.
Early life
Edwin Fitzgerald Jr. was born on February 4, 1905, in New Rochelle, New York, the ...
(actor and one of the "Seven Little Foys
''The Seven Little Foys'' is a Technicolor in VistaVision 1955 comedy film directed by Melville Shavelson starring Bob Hope as Eddie Foy. One highlight of the film is an energetic tabletop dance showdown sequence with Bob Hope as Eddie Foy and ...
"), Bert Lahr
Irving Lahrheim (August 13, 1895 – December 4, 1967), known professionally as Bert Lahr, was an American actor. He was best known for his role as the Cowardly Lion, as well as his counterpart Kansas farmworker "Zeke", in the MGM adaptation of ...
(actor), Tallulah Bankhead
Tallulah Brockman Bankhead (January 31, 1902 – December 12, 1968) was an American actress. Primarily an actress of the stage, Bankhead also appeared in several prominent films including an award-winning performance in Alfred Hitchcock's ''Lif ...
(actress), Miguel Covarrubias
Miguel Covarrubias, also known as José Miguel Covarrubias Duclaud (22 November 1904 — 4 February 1957) was a Mexican painter, caricaturist, illustrator, ethnologist and art historian. Along with his American colleague Matthew W. Stirling, ...
(illustrator), Nelson Algren
Nelson Algren (born Nelson Ahlgren Abraham; March 28, 1909 – May 9, 1981) was an American writer. His 1949 novel ''The Man with the Golden Arm'' won the National Book Award and was adapted as the 1955 film of the same name.
Algren articulated ...
(writer), Jan Sterling
Jan Sterling (born Jane Sterling Adriance; April 3, 1921 – March 26, 2004) was an American film, television and stage actress. At her most active in films during the 1950s (immediately prior to which she had joined the Actors Studio), Sterlin ...
(actress), Sybil Burton (actress, wife of Richard Burton), Tom Ewell
Tom Ewell (born Samuel Yewell Tompkins, April 29, 1909 – September 12, 1994) was an American film, stage and television actor, and producer. His most successful and most identifiable role was that of Richard Sherman in ''The Seven Year Itch'' ...
(actor), Mrs. Rose Movius Palmer (wife of grandson of Potter Palmer—retail magnate), Dr. John T. Reynolds (famous surgeon), Squirrel Ashcraft (jazz musician), Billy House
William H. Comstock (May 7, 1889 – September 23, 1961), known by his stage name Billy House, was an American vaudevillian, Broadway performer and feature film actor. After devoting most of his career to live performance, he moved to Hollywood ...
(vaudevillian, actor), Jack Teagarden (jazz musician), Walter Cronkite
Walter Leland Cronkite Jr. (November 4, 1916 – July 17, 2009) was an American broadcast journalist who served as anchorman for the ''CBS Evening News'' for 19 years (1962–1981). During the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the mo ...
(news reporter), Ernest Ansermet
Ernest Alexandre Ansermet (; 11 November 1883 – 20 February 1969)"Ansermet, Ernest" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 435. was a Swiss conductor.
Biography
Ansermet ...
(Swiss conductor and composer who famously reviewed Sidney Bechet in 1919).
Unique club
When Jazz, Ltd. opened in June, 1947 it was the only jazz club in Chicago and was the first one owned by a musician in the country. It was also the first in the city to cut records on site. Bill based the format of Jazz, Ltd. on Nick's in New York. Jazz, Ltd. was a rarity in keeping the mob from infringing. When it closed in February, 1972, Jazz, Ltd. was one of the longest operating jazz clubs in the country—24 years, 8 months.
There was a $2.50 minimum (equiv. to $27.30 in 2015) but no cover charge. The club featured a visiting headliner and a house ensemble patterned after the "hot five
Hot or the acronym HOT may refer to:
Food and drink
*Pungency, in food, a spicy or hot quality
*Hot, a wine tasting descriptor
Places
*Hot district, a district of Chiang Mai province, Thailand
**Hot subdistrict, a sub-district of Hot District ...
": (trombone
The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...
, clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound.
Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...
, piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
, saxophone or trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...
and drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
). Bill originally intended to hire Omer Simeon
Omer Victor Simeon (July 21, 1902 – September 17, 1959) was an American jazz clarinetist. He also played soprano, alto, and baritone saxophone and bass clarinet.
Biography
The son of a cigar maker, Omer Simeon was born in New Orleans, Louisian ...
for the clarinet position but he was not available, so Bill took that position permanently. When Jazz, Ltd. moved to a larger location in 1960, Jazz, Ltd. had either six or seven musicians which included a string bassist, guitarist
A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...
or vocalist
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
.
Record labels
Jazz, Ltd., Atlantic Records
Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...
, Regal Records, Old Swing-Master Records (French), Delmark Records
Delmark Records is an American jazz and blues independent record label. It was founded in 1958 and is based in Chicago, Illinois. The label originated in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1953 when then owner, and founder, Bob Koester released a recordi ...
Formula for success
Unconventional advertising
Initially, Bill and Ruth did not advertise Jazz, Ltd. in newspapers (until 1965), magazines, on radio or on TV. Instead, they promoted their club by recording their own records on site, signing and selling them. They touted on the record sleeve and on 5x7 inserts how their Jazz, Ltd. club epitomizes the best aspects of New Orleans Jazz. They printed their admission rules on business cards. They compiled a large and select mailing list to promote their club to: the social set, psychiatrists, doctors, lawyers, newspapermen, business executives and few musicians. And, they sent out 4 page brochures with recent record liner notes.
Jazz, Ltd. is a nightclub dedicated to the Jazz of the '20s and World War I era. It is a club where people who are not necessarily Jazz buffs can spend some time and enjoy themselves. It is a club for the discriminating, the fun-loving and well-mannered person who likes to frequent a well run and safe night spot.
The first advertisement for Jazz, Ltd. was an article appearing in the May 18, 1947 ''Sunday Chicago Tribune'' which stated that Paul Eduard Miller and Jazz, Ltd. were sponsoring a concert on May 25, 1947 at Kimball Hall featuring Sidney Bechet and Max Kaminsky. Jazz, Ltd. opened the following month, and in November the club headlined Sidney Bechet.
The limited seating of 81 people at the club caused a long line of people each night waiting outside and this helped to showcase Jazz, Ltd.'s popularity. During the 1950s Ruth said they were so busy that when Bill was on vacation she devised a way to increase turnover. Art Hodes
Arthur W. Hodes (November 14, 1904 – March 4, 1993), was a Russian Empire-born American jazz and blues pianist. He is regarded by many critics as the greatest white blues pianist.
Biography
Hodes was born in Mykolaiv, in present-day Ukrain ...
led the substitute band in 20 minute sets and finished with "The Saints." Customers left happy and Ruth let in another 81 people to the club.
A business card reads: "The BEST DIXIELAND BAND in the MOST intimate atmosphere, Superb Liquors, Genteel Clientele, Acclaimed by The Press everywhere"
To entice people to Jazz, Ltd., Reinhardt dispelled half a century of common misperceptions about jazz music. He used the space on the back of his albums to tell people how Jazz, Ltd. is different:
there has been a persistent and willful notion that jazz is somehow associated with squalor and dinginess and bad ventilation, and that its partisans qualify as dedicated only if they present a take-me-home-for-twenty-two-fifty appearance. ...there has been a widespread belief that jazz is not truly jazz unless it is heard in an atmosphere of murkiness, strangulating spirits, dirty glasses and soiled napery. Unfortunately, the suspicion that jazz existed only in hideous little subterranean sweat-boxes had assumed the proportions of a tradition.
Conventional advertising
By the 1960s, Jazz, Ltd. was doing radio commercials for Ford automobiles and Kleenex tissue, magazine advertisements for Hannah & Hogg Whiskey, newspaper ads for women's clothing, club advertisements in cabaret and tourist magazines. They also made TV appearances on NBC's ''Today Show'' and on WTTW in Chicago (1969).
Editorial friends
Ned Williams, a publicist and managing editor of ''Down Beat'' for ten years and an old friend of the Reinhardts, helped them get their club started. Noted jazz critic and columnist, Paul Eduard Miller, helped the Reinhardts with a mailing list.
Ruth persuaded friends at Chicago newspapers and jazz magazines into printing many stories about Jazz, Ltd.: "Disc jockey ''Dave Garroway
David Cunningham Garroway (July 13, 1913 – July 21, 1982) was an American television personality. He was the founding host and anchor of NBC's ''Today'' from 1952 to 1961. His easygoing and relaxing style belied a lifelong battle with depressi ...
'' mentions Jazz, Ltd. and our musicians because he is very fair and interested in jazz. Even though we are not part of any WMAQ commercials, he would not ignore us completely. Dale Harrison gave us a lot of space when he wrote for ''The Sun''. ''Irv Kupcinet
Irving Kupcinet (July 31, 1912 – November 10, 2003) was an American newspaper columnist for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'', television talk-show host, and radio personality based in Chicago, Illinois. He was popularly known by the nickname "Kup".
...
'' has helped us tremendously, though jazz is not his forte. ''Bill Leonard'', directly across the street at ''The Journal of Commerce
''The Journal of Commerce'' is a biweekly magazine published in the United States that focuses on global trade topics. First published in 1827 in New York, it has a circulation of approximately 15,000. It provides editorial content to manage da ...
'' drops in and always has..."
There were no less than 31 editor friends of the Reinhardts whose articles contributed to the success of Jazz, Ltd. By the 1950s Jazz, Ltd. had press coverage in ''Time'', ''Redbook'', ''Collier's'', ''Esquire'', ''Holiday'', ''The Second Line'', ''Theatre Arts'', ''Down Beat'', ''Tiger'', ''Civil War Roundtable'', ''Chicago Welcome'', ''Where'', ''Cabaret'', ''Chicago Tribune'', ''Chicago Daily News'', ''Chicago American'', ''Chicago Sun Times'', and ''Detroit News''.
Admission rules
Having worked in Broadway shows and nightclubs since 1923 in New York, Ruth Reinhardt was well aware of the demise of jazz on 52nd Street:
...the state of disrepair into which quaint, storied old Fifty-second Street has been allowed to fall. Eddie Condon, who long ago deserted Fifty-second Street.
As far as jazz is concerned, 52nd Street is gasping for breath...Jimmy Ryan's remains to champion the cause that made the famous block a national institution.
52nd St razed by housewreckers
Bill and Ruth knew that the failure of many jazz clubs from the 1910s through the 1940s can be attributed to bad management, mob connections, illegal speakeasies, gambling, drugs, prostitution and drunkenness. So, to ensure no bad influence would tarnish Jazz, Ltd., they refused to buy alcohol from mob-owned distributors, had no cigarette machine in the club and they rigorously enforced a set of rules so strict that Ruth compared their club to a church. With this one set of rules they prevented prostitution, maintained high standards for dress, prevented under age drinking, maintained a comfortable environment and, from a financial perspective, avoided a 20% federal cabaret excise tax on singing, dancing and admissions from 1947 to 1960:
* No unescorted ladies and no women served at the bar under any circumstances
* No women in slacks and gentlemen must wear jackets
* No minors (even 'just to listen and Not drink')
* No over-crowding
* No singing
* No dancing
* No cover charge
Additional rules are that Jazz, Ltd.:
* prohibited table-hopping
* did not tolerate drunks
* advertised with a small card on the table to refrain from song requests
Ruth's management style
"Ruth remembered faces, names. And she'd hip her husband with 'Oh, Bill! You remember Mr. Johnson?' And of course William remembered. Made for good business. Ruth had the ability to get people from all over the country to drop in when they were in town." "She had a talent for presiding with a subtle but firm hand"... "keeping an eagle eye on all proceedings." "Because the room is small, the tension is magnified. When an obnoxious person has to be invited to leave, everyone knows about it. Should a musician become temperamental, or should a celebrity of stage or screen walk in, all the customers are aware of it." "And uth UTH or Uth may refer to:
Universities
* University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
* University of Texas at Houston (School of Public Health, Medical School, Dental Branch, ...)
* University of Thessaly, Greek University
* Universidad Tec ...
could smell trouble a mile away." "She had a cutting, sharp kind of satirical wit that was fun to watch being used on someone that got out of line in the club. We were standing up near the front bar one night on a break when some guy got out of line with one of the waitresses. Before he knew what had happened he was standing out on Grand Avenue, his hat and coat draped over his head. But his bar bill was paid up in full, and he never knew what had hit him...Ruth had a soft, generous side to her, too." Ruth makes the analogy of gangsters to sharks, claiming she doesn't know what a gangster looks like but she wouldn't admit one in because "it's just like swimming in the ocean and waiting for a shark...to attack you. You can't see them but you know they're there." "I don't drink and am very conscious of bad behavior. We feel that people come here to hear the music. Any unnecessary noise, from a few, spoils the pleasure of the entire room."
Jazz, Ltd. paid their musicians well, $100 a week in 1948. This is .
Ruth claimed it wass an advantage to be tone deaf when one spent eight hours a night, six nights per week in a jazz club: "Psychiatrists who come here tell me that if I heard every flat note, every wrong, voicing, I'd probably go out of my mind."
Music management
"Bill called the tunes and stamped off the tempos." "Bill surrounded himself with good musicians, but the turnover at times was great. At other times, and on other chairs, some of the sidemen stayed for years." "The band was a driving, hard-working, and fun band, even if we did seem to end up with the wearies after the six-hours of romping-stomping Reinhardt sets." "If we had one thing going for us, it was that we were always working." A card on the table states: "Sometime during the evening you will hear all your favorites." The front line of the band was seated close to the customers and this made for an informal atmosphere. Musicians would chit-chat among themselves and consort with the customers.
Criticisms
From the beginning, Jazz, Ltd. had its naysayers, its music format criticized and its club chastised, but the club and the band endured and succeeded beyond Bill and Ruth Reinhardt's expectations. When Jazz, Ltd. opened in June 1947 editors of the ''Chicago Tribune'' proclaimed that the club would not last more than two weeks to a month. By 1964, 27 other Dixieland clubs in Chicago either closed or ended their music policy. In 1947 there were no jazz clubs in Chicago and jazz music had been in decline since the mid 1930s. Musicians complained that the format was too rigid, that they played many of the same songs every night and that there was no dancing allowed. Playing the same popular tunes each night was common in bands; Louis Armstrong's All-Stars were known for this. The Reinhardts actually favored dancing but not at the cost of a 20% excise tax on profits (from 1947 to 1960) so they forbade it. When a patron observed that Ruth threw out many customers for bad behavior, he threatened to open a competitor across the street to accommodate them. Ruth admitted this club would have plenty of business, but she was more concerned with the happiness of the majority of their clientele, the respectable ones.
Jazz, Ltd. building
The first location was at 11 East Grand Ave. and was formerly a tenement house. It was on the near north side, close to all transportation and near a parking lot. The club was just below street level as a step-down-and-into establishment. The avant-garde room was designed by artists Hugo Weber and Emerson Woelffer
Emerson Seville Woelffer (July 27, 1914 – February 2, 2003) was an American artist and arts educator. He was known as a prominent abstract expressionist artist and painter and taught art at some of the most prestigious colleges and universities ...
from the IIT Institute of Design
Institute of Design (ID) at the Illinois Institute of Technology (Illinois Tech), founded as the New Bauhaus, is a graduate school teaching systemic, human-centered design.
History
The Institute of Design at Illinois Tech is a school of design ...
in Chicago. The bandstand walls were made of spring steel to help resonate the band, which was on a small round carpeted deck in the back. Enlargements of recent albums adorned the other walls. Bill Reinhardt installed air-conditioning and customized acoustics in which "The softest note makes itself heard all the way to the north wall." Booths lined the walls along perimeter of the main room and while the middle was filled with small square pedestal tables having lacquered tops, surrounded by ladder-back wood chairs. Jazz, Ltd. seated 85 people and had 15 employees. Over the cash register was a sign, "ASCAP
The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...
salutes Jazz, Ltd. for providing its patrons with America's finest music..." Due to Jazz, Ltd.'s small size, "most tables have to be reserved. People are turned away by the dozens, but the ones in the know called ahead and tables were held for them.
This procedure was heretofore unknown to Chicago, for a jazz spot." "We are making money and pleasing hundreds of customers weekly." One small spotlight shone on the bandstand that was situated just a foot from the tables. There was a small service bar in front. In the front window was Ziblid, a large statue ridiculing women in general. This was also used as part of the logo on Jazz, Ltd. records.
The second location was at 164 East Grand Ave. In 1960, the 11 East Grand locale was vacated when the American Medical Association bought the property for their high-rise office building. The new location was twice the size of the former one, with more seats, a larger stage to accommodate a bassist and guitarist, and a dance floor. This second building was more in keeping with New Orleans' style, in Spanish Colonial Revival
The Spanish Colonial Revival Style ( es, Arquitectura neocolonial española) is an architectural stylistic movement arising in the early 20th century based on the Spanish Colonial architecture of the Spanish colonization of the Americas.
In the ...
architecture. Ruth controlled multiple spotlights on the band to match the mood of the music. This location also had microphones and a speaker system and featured a singer. Due to the union's limit of five-day regular gigs, Franz Jackson
Franz Jackson (November 1, 1912 – May 6, 2008) was an American saxophonist and clarinetist of the Chicago jazz school.
Early life
Jackson was born in Rock Island, Illinois, United States on November 1, 1912. "He received his first lessons on sa ...
's Original Jass All Stars played on Thursday nights. They began announcing songs here and permitted dancing.
Until 1960, the club was open from 9 PM to 4 AM weekdays and closed Sundays and after 1960 it was open from 9 PM to 5 AM Sunday mornings through a late-hour license.
"Jazz, Ltd." moniker
Ruth Reinhardt: "Limited space suggested the final name. Jazz, Ltd. has caused much comment, and, having worked for Billy Rose for four consecutive years (1931–35), I realize the commercial value of comment" "Jazz, Ltd." is a registered trademark.
Anecdotes
Rules recoil. Before pant suits came, Jazz, Ltd. didn't allow slacks in their club because they are a part of The Establishment. A woman came in once wearing slacks and Ruth offered her a coat if she removed her slacks. She agreed. That woman got drunk and when leaving she took the coat off, showing her girdle; the men gawked at her. So, Ruth took her to the coat check room and helped her put her slacks back on.
Caviling Coward. Noël Coward and Talullah Bankhead came to "a beastly little club" and sat at a table right under the trumpet. Noel thought the music so cacophonic that he walked out holding his ears with Talullah behind him. The customers were delighted.
Tit for tat – as told by Dick Wellstood and Joan Hulbert. Trombonist Munn Ware, seeing Bechet sit down after playing a solo on ''Tiger Rag'', believed he was done. So, Munn then stood up and started blowing. Sidney promptly jumped to his feet and resumed where he had left off. Munn politely sat down and awaited the end of the soprano saxophone solo, and Sidney sat down. But again, just as Munn rose Sidney leapt up and recommenced playing, much to the amusement of the crowd. Sidney pretended to stop, but kept playing. Munn took out a water pistol (used to oil his slide) and shot Sidney on the back of the neck, causing water to soak his shirt and suit. Dick was terrified but kept playing, waiting for the sky to fall, wondering what Sidney would do when his part was done. He did nothing but sit down and laugh. Then, Munn laughed, Bill laughed, the guests laughed and, finally, Dick laughed.
Bamboozled Bechet. One night when friend and actor Donald McKee visited Jazz, Ltd., Ruth confided to him that she was remiss in managing Sidney Bechet's misbehaving. So, Ruth introduced Don to Sidney as "Doc" McKee. The "doc" took Bechet to the back room, removed a terrible looking green liquid filled vaccine (nail polish) in a large syringe from a doctor's bag and scolded him sternly with it while holding it up to his nose: "You get out of line once more, and Ruth will give you a jab with this that will make you wish you'd behaved." Bechet was terrified and promised the "doctor" he'd be good and he never misbehaved again.
Talullah's throne. While Jazz, Ltd. was moving to their new address on Grand Avenue, a frequent guest of theirs, Mr. McCorkle, asked Ruth Reinhardt to save a particular thing from the first club of great interest to him, no matter how odd it seemed. So, when McCorkle got the package he pleaded for pianist Art Hodes to come over right away to the new club to witness 'the unveiling'. It is a gilded toilet seat, which underneath has a note reading, "Talullah Bankhead sat here."
Other engagements
Prospects for another Jazz, Ltd.
In 1970, Bill and Ruth Reinhardt, along with investors, were building a new Jazz, Ltd. club in the warmer climate of the Bahamas but it did not materialize since the only prospective buyers of the Chicago club wished to convert it into a restaurant.
Musicians
* Alvin Alcorn
Alvin Elmore Alcorn (September 7, 1912 – July 10, 2003) was an American jazz trumpeter.
Career
Alcorn learned music theory from his brother. In the early 1930s, he was a member of the Sunny South Syncopators led by Armand J. Piron. He worked i ...
(t)
* Jack Alexander (t)
* Lil Armstrong (p)
* Bill Bachmann (t)
* Bobby Ballard (t)
* Paul Barbarin
Adolphe Paul Barbarin (May 5, 1899 – February 17, 1969) was an American jazz drummer from New Orleans.
Career
Barbarin grew up in New Orleans in a family of musicians, including his father, three of his brothers, and his nephew (Danny Barker) ...
(d)
* Floyd Bean (p)
* Sidney Bechet
Sidney Bechet (May 14, 1897 – May 14, 1959) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. He was one of the first important soloists in jazz, and first recorded several months before trumpeter Louis Armstrong. His erratic temp ...
(ss, cl)
* Jim Beebe (tb)
* Les Beigel (t)
* Ralph Blank (p)
* Will Bradley
Wilbur Schwichtenberg (July 12, 1912 – July 15, 1989), known professionally as Will Bradley, was an American trombonist and bandleader during the 1930s and 1940s. He performed swing, dance music, and boogie-woogie songs, many of them written b ...
(t)
* Hillard Brown (d)
* George Brunies
George Clarence Brunies (February 6, 1902 – November 19, 1974), Georg Brunis, was an American jazz trombonist, who was part of the dixieland revival. He was known as "The King of the Tailgate Trombone".Stetler, Susan L. (editor) (1987), "Br ...
(tb)
* Hal Carnes (b)
* Big Sid Catlett
Sidney "Big Sid" Catlett (January 17, 1910 – March 25, 1951) was an American jazz drummer. Catlett was one of the most versatile drummers of his era, adapting with the changing music scene as bebop emerged.
Early life
Catlett was born in Eva ...
(d)
* Doc Cenardo (d)
* Frank Chace (cl)
* Garner Clark (c)
* Rozelle Claxton (p)
* Zinky Cohn (p)
* Jerry Coleman (d)
* Bill Corti (tb)
* Spanky Davis
Ronald J. "Spanky" Davis (March 6, 1943 – October 23, 2014) was an American jazz trumpeter.
Career
Davis worked with Charlie Palmieri (1979), Sam Jones (1979–82), Machito (1980–81), and Benny Goodman (1982–83). He toured Ireland with Al ...
(t)
* Sidney de Paris
Sidney De Paris (May 30, 1905 – September 13, 1967) was an American jazz trumpeter. His brother was Wilbur de Paris.
He was a member of Charlie Johnson's Paradise Ten (1926–1931), worked with Don Redman (1932–1936 and 1939), followed by ...
(t)
* Sammy Dean (d)
* Barrett Deems
Barrett Deems (March 1, 1914 – September 15, 1998) was an American swing drummer from Springfield, Illinois, United States. He worked in bands led by Jimmy Dorsey, Louis Armstrong, Red Norvo, and Muggsy Spanier.
In ''High Society'', a 1956 ...
(d)
* Dave DeVore (b)
* Ray Dixon (p)
* Baby Dodds
Warren "Baby" Dodds (December 24, 1898 – February 14, 1959) was an American jazz drummer born in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. He is regarded as one of the best jazz drummers of the pre-big band era, and one of the most important ...
(d)
* Doc Evans
Paul Wesley "Doc" Evans (June 20, 1907 – January 10, 1977) was an American jazz cornetist.
Evans was born in Spring Valley, Minnesota. the son of a Methodist minister. He learned piano and drums as a child, and played saxophone in high school. ...
(c)
* Don Ewell
Donald Tyson Ewell (November 14, 1916 – August 9, 1983) was an American jazz stride pianist. He worked with Sidney Bechet, Kid Ory, George Lewis, George Brunis, Muggsy Spanier, and Bunk Johnson.
Biography
Born in Baltimore, Maryland, E ...
(p)
* Pete Fountain
Pierre Dewey LaFontaine Jr. (July 3, 1930 – August 6, 2016), known professionally as Pete Fountain, was an American jazz clarinetist.
Early life and education
LaFontaine was born to Pierre, Sr. and Madeline, in a small Creole cottage-style fr ...
(cl)
* Harlen Floyd (t)
* Jack Gardner (p)
* Tommy Gekler (tb)
* George Gerard
George Vincent Gerard, (24 November 1898 – 14 January 1984) was the seventh Anglican Bishop of Waiapu, serving from 1938 to 1944; and Assistant Bishop of Sheffield, 1947–1971. He served with distinction in both World Wars. Early life a ...
(t)
* Walt Gifford (d)
* Rabbitt Gonzalez (s)
* Bobby Gordon (cl)
* Wally Gordon (d)
* Jimmy Granato (c)
* Mel Grant (p)
* Harry Graves (tb)
* Fred Greenleaf (t)
* Edmond Hall
Edmond Hall (May 15, 1901 – February 11, 1967) was an American jazz clarinetist and bandleader. Over his career, Hall worked extensively with many leading performers as both a sideman and bandleader and is possibly best known for the 1941 cha ...
(cl)
* Clancy Hayes
Clarence Leonard Hayes (November 14, 1908 – March 13, 1972) was an American jazz vocalist and banjo player.
Early life
Hayes was born in Caney, Kansas, on November 14, 1908. As a child, he learned the drums, then switched to guitar and banjo.
...
(v)
* Chuck Hedges (cl)
* Joanne Henderson (v)
* Eddie Higgins
Edward Haydn Higgins (February 21, 1932 – August 31, 2009) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and orchestrator. His performance and composition in 1959's " Cry of Jazz" is preserved in the Library of Congress' National Film Registry.
Bi ...
(p)
* Art Hodes
Arthur W. Hodes (November 14, 1904 – March 4, 1993), was a Russian Empire-born American jazz and blues pianist. He is regarded by many critics as the greatest white blues pianist.
Biography
Hodes was born in Mykolaiv, in present-day Ukrain ...
(p)
* Max Hook (p)
* Darnell Howard (cl)
* Ralph Hutchinson (tb)
* Don Ingle (t)
* Jack Ivett (t)
* Franz Jackson
Franz Jackson (November 1, 1912 – May 6, 2008) was an American saxophonist and clarinetist of the Chicago jazz school.
Early life
Jackson was born in Rock Island, Illinois, United States on November 1, 1912. "He received his first lessons on sa ...
(sax, cl)
* Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...
(t)
* Al Jenkins (tb)
* Bill Johnson (sb)
* Wayne Jones (d)
* Waldren "Frog" Joseph (tb)
* Duke Kane (t)
* Freddie Kohlman
Louis Freddie Kohlman (August 25, 1918 – September 29, 1990, aged 72) was an American jazz drummer, vocalist, and bandleader who was a native of New Orleans. He studied under the famed drummer Louis Cottrell, Sr., and Manuel Manetta.
Biography ...
(d)
* Julian "Digger" Laine (tb)
* Preacher Rollo Laylan (d)
* Carroll Lee (p)
* Bobby Lewis (t)
* Art Lyons (cl)
* Marty Marsala
Marty Marsala (2 April 1909 – 27 April 1975) was an American jazz trumpeter born in Chicago, perhaps best known for working from 1926-1946 with his brother Joe Marsala in a big band in New York City and Chicago. He had also toured with variou ...
(t)
* Joe Masek (cl, s)
* Joyce Lacy McDonald (p)
* Big Mike McKendrick (bj, g, v)
* Jimmy McPartland
James Dugald "Jimmy" McPartland (March 15, 1907 – March 13, 1991) was an American cornetist. He worked with Eddie Condon, Art Hodes, Gene Krupa, Benny Goodman, Jack Teagarden, and Tommy Dorsey, often leading his own bands. He was married to ...
(c)
* Max Miller (p)
* Miff Mole
Irving Milfred Mole, known professionally as Miff Mole (March 11, 1898 – April 29, 1961) was an American jazz trombonist and band leader. He is generally considered one of the greatest jazz trombonists and credited with creating "the first dist ...
(t)
* Big Chief Russell Moore
"Big Chief" Russell Moore (August 13, 1912 – December 15, 1983) was an American jazz trombonist. Moore, a Pima tribe member, grew up on a Native American reservation before moving to Chicago and then Los Angeles where he learned to play vari ...
(tb)
* Freddy Moore (d)
* Norman Murphy (t)
* Sy Nelson (sb)
* Albert Nicholas
Albert Nicholas (May 27, 1900 – September 3, 1973) was an American jazz clarinet player.
Career
Nicholas's primary instrument was the clarinet, which he studied with Lorenzo Tio in his hometown of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Late ...
(cl)
* Del Noel (t)
* Dick Oakley (t)
* Floyd O'Brien
Floyd O'Brien (May 7, 1904 – November 26, 1968) was an American jazz trombonist.
He was born in Chicago, Illinois, United States. O'Brien first played in Chicago in the 1920s with the Austin High School Gang; later in the decade he played with ...
(t)
* Mike Parker (t)
* Dick Pendleton (cl)
* Dave Phelps (p)
* Lloyd Phillips (p)
* Lionel Prowling (p)
* Dave Rasbury (tb)
* Jack Reid (tb)
* Bill Reinhardt
William (Bill) Julius Theodore Reinhardt (September 21, 1908 – January 23, 2001) was an American clarinetist, bandleader and the owner of Jazz, Ltd.—the first Jazz club run by a musician in Chicago and one of the longest running Dixieland jazz ...
(cl, v)
* Dave Remington (tb, p)
* Chet Roble (p)
* Wally Rose (p)
* Bob Saltmarsh (d)
* Art Sandly (bj)
* Ray Sassetti (t)
* Red Saunders (d)
* Emanuel Sayles
Emanuel Sayles (January 31, 1907 – October 5, 1986) was an American jazz banjoist chiefly active in the New Orleans jazz scene.
Biography
Sayles was born in Donaldsonville, Louisiana and played violin and viola as a child, then taught himsel ...
(bj)
* Eddie Schaefer (tb)
* Doc Schliesmann (bj)
* Bob Schroeder (cl)
* Zutty Singleton
Arthur James "Zutty" Singleton (May 14, 1898 – July 14, 1975) was an American jazz drummer.
Career
Singleton was born in Bunkie, Louisiana, United States, and raised in New Orleans. According to his ''Jazz Profiles'' biography, his unusual ...
(d)
* Tut Soper (p)
* Muggsy Spanier
Francis Joseph "Muggsy" Spanier (November 9, 1901 – February 12, 1967) was an American jazz cornetist based in Chicago. He was a member of the Bucktown Five, pioneers of the "Chicago style" that straddled traditional Dixieland jazz and swing ...
(c)
* Charlie Spero (cl)
* Joe Sullivan
Michael Joseph O'Sullivan (November 4, 1906 – October 13, 1971) was an American jazz pianist.
Sullivan was the ninth child of Irish immigrant parents. He studied classical piano for 12 years and at age 17, he began to play popular music in si ...
(p)
* Jack Teagarden
Weldon Leo "Jack" Teagarden (August 20, 1905 – January 15, 1964) was an American jazz trombonist and singer. According to critic Scott Yannow of Allmusic, Teagarden was the preeminent American jazz trombone player before the bebop era of the 19 ...
(tb)
* Blanche Thomas (v)
* Don Thompson (t)
* Marshall Thompson (d)
* Bill Tinkler (t)
* Nappy Trottier (t)
* Johnny Vine (d)
* Munn Ware (tb)
* Earl Washington (p)
* Dick Wellstood
Richard MacQueen Wellstood (November 25, 1927 – July 24, 1987) was an American jazz pianist.
Career
He was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, United States. Wellstood's mother was a graduate of the Juilliard School who played church organ. Wellst ...
(p)
* Kenny White (sb)
* Joe Wiedman (t)
* Quinn Wilson
Quinn Brown Wilson (December 26, 1908 – June 14, 1978) was an American jazz bassist and tubist.
Wilson played violin as a child, and studied composition and arrangement in his youth. He had his first professional experience in the mid-1920s, ...
(sb, ssph)
* Johnny Windhurst
John Henry Windhurst (November 5, 1926 – October 2, 1981) was an American jazz trumpet player, who played primarily in the swing, big-band, and dixieland styles. Windhurst was a self-taught musician and known for his solos; he considered Bix ...
(t)
Original Jazz, Ltd. band members: Bill Reinhardt (cl), Doc Evans (c), Don Ewell (p), Danny Alvin (d), Munn Ware (tb).
Franz Jackson's Original Jass All Stars members: Franz Jackson (sax, cl), Bob Schoffner (tp), Albert Wynn (tb).
This represents about 1/7th of all musicians at Jazz, Ltd. starting in 1947.
Records
Notes and references
Notes
References
Bibliography
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{{Authority control
1947 establishments in Illinois
Nightclubs in Chicago
Jazz clubs in Chicago
Music venues completed in 1947
1972 disestablishments in Illinois
Defunct jazz clubs
Jazz record labels