Jazz

Greenwich Village Historic District’s reputation for dynamism can be attributed to its history of emerging artists and writers as well as the political unrest and activism of its inhabitants. With the rise of the counterculture movement during the 1960s, Greenwich Village’s Washington Square Park became a hub for writers and musicians. In 1969, LGB residents of Greenwich Village pushed back against police harassment at the Stonewall Inn.

Lake Glen was a Black country club on the eastern edge of Cuyahoga Valley that entertained people from Cleveland, Akron, and beyond. The site is being studied as part of the Green Book Cleveland project.

The National Park Service is reclaiming seven oil and gas well sites within the Barataria Preserve of Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve (JELA). This work entails the removal of surface equipment and debris, and replugging and abandonment of the wells.

The National Museum of African American Music (NMAAM) is the only museum in the world dedicated solely to preserving African American music traditions and celebrating the central role African Americans have played in shaping American music. Located in Nashville, Tennessee, the museum highlights how African Americans have developed and shaped more than 50 genres and subgenres of music, from Blues and Jazz to Hip Hop and R&B.

Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve and New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park to close due to Tropical Storm Francine.

The Little Gem Saloon was Frank Deroux’s first tavern on the 400 block of South Rampart Street and also featured early jazz musicians. Later a “loan office” (pawn shop) was here, and after that a bar called Pete’s Blue Heaven. The corner was often a starting and ending place for Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club funerals. 449 South Rampart is one of three remaining two-story brick Italianate buildings that were part of an original row of five joined terrace houses.

The Iroquois Theater is the second of four structures in the 400 block of South Rampart Street that are strongly connected to early jazz history and particularly to Louis Armstrong. John Edward Hasse, curator of American music at the Smithsonian Institution, has said that “there is no block with more structures significant to the history of jazz” than this one.1 The Iroquois Theater was built in the fall of 1911 and had vaudeville programs until 1920.

How has music influenced your connection to a community? Throughout the history of the United States military, music has been part of the sound experience of soldiers. For the Buffalo Soldiers, music also served as a tool to build a connection to the communities they served.

Theron Brown is the founder of Rubber City Jazz & Blues Festival and an assistant professor at The University of Akron. In 2023 Cuyahoga Valley recorded an oral history with him as part of the Green Book Cleveland project.

Explore the history of jazz in Northeast Ohio, including at Black night clubs in Cuyahoga Valley. This overview ties to ongoing research by the Green Book Cleveland partners.