The Key Club was a

jazz club A jazz club is a venue where the primary entertainment is the performance of live jazz music, although some jazz clubs primarily focus on the study and/or promotion of jazz-music. Jazz clubs are usually a type of nightclub or bar, which is license ...

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area. It closed in the 1970s, along with other jazz clubs on Halsey Street, such as

Sparky J's Sparky J's, previously known as the Cadillac Club, was a popular jazz club in downtown Newark, New Jersey. Sparky J's often featured soul jazz or funky jazz best exemplified by the organ combo, a band usually consisting of a Hammond B-3 organist, ...

Background

Walter Dawkins inherited the club from his uncle and he and his wife Jean / Jeanne ran it. On Monday evening, March 19, 1973, Dawkins was believed to have committed suicide by shooting himself in the chest with a 38 colt revolver. The gun was believed to have discharged twice with one bullet in the ceiling and the other in his chest. His body was found still seated in one of the lounge chairs located near the entrance to the club which was locked. By the time of his funeral, it wasn't clear as to who found his body. At his funeral service, both

Lu Elliott Lu Elliot (August 3, 1924 – March 5, 1987) was a jazz and blues singer and recording artist. She also recorded some soul songs. Some of the artists she worked with were BB King, The Duke Ellington Orchestra and the Sam Williams Express. Backgr ...

and

Al Hibbler Albert George Hibbler (August 16, 1915 – April 24, 2001) was an American baritone vocalist, who sang with Duke Ellington's orchestra before having several pop hits as a solo artist. Some of Hibbler's singing is classified as rhythm and blue ...

sang at his funeral. Elliott's husband Horace C. Sims and singer Carol Mitchell also attended. Following his death, the club was run by his wife Eugenia (Jeanne) Dawkins. It was one of the jazz clubs featured on the "A Tribute to Newark Jazz Clubs" painting, a large-scale outdoor mural in Newark completed in 2013.

Musicians and bands

Below is a selected list of musicians and band who played at least once at Key Club: *

George Benson George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, pla ...

* Lu Elliott *

Sarah Vaughan Sarah Lois Vaughan (March 27, 1924 – April 3, 1990) was an American jazz singer. Nicknamed "Sassy" and "Jazz royalty, The Divine One", she won two Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, and was nominated for a total of nine ...

*Charles Earland *Stanley Turrentine *Rhoda Scott *Jimmy McGriff *Betty Carter *Jimmy Scott

Background

Musicians and bands

See also