The Green Mill
Last night we finally escaped the confines of the house to do something fun. We went to a $4 jazz show at a historic venue called The Green Mill.
It’s a swanky joint in uptown, which is only about 2 miles from our house. It was a hangout for the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Al Capone, and apparently there are secret tunnels underneath the place from the days of Prohibition.
By the time that Prohibition arrived, the Green Mill had become known as the most jumping place on the north side. Jazz fans flocked to the club to savor this new and evolving musical art form, which had been born in the south but had been re-created in Chicago after World War I. The jazz crowd ignored the laws against alcohol and hid their bootleg whiskey away in hip flasks, which they eagerly sipped at the Green Mill. The club helped to launch the careers of singers who went on to become legends like Helen Morgan, Anita O’Day, and Billie Holliday.
Last night, we went to see The Kimberly Gordon Organ Trio. Kimberly Gordon (not to be confused with Kim Gordon, the bassist of Sonic Youth) has got some serious pipes and a big time stage presence. She is accompanied by “the mule” on organ and a guitarist. Every Sunday the trio performs the songs of one jazz master, and last night featured the songs of Irving Berlin.…”Blue Skies,” “Puttin’ on the Ritz,” “White Christmas,” “God Bless America?”…..any of those ringing a bell?…he wrote somewhere around 1500 songs! Damn, I’ll never be able to do anything like that. My energy is scattered in like 20 different places.
Kimberly schooled us a little bit on the composer’s life. He was a Russian immigrant. The only memory he acknowledged from Russia was, “…lying on a blanket by the side of a road, watching his house burn to the ground. By daylight the house was in ashes.” That’s hardcore. The guy epitomizes that rags to riches story that very few immigrants actually achieved.
It was refreshing to get out, go for a bike ride, listen to some jazz, and learn a little bit about a famous composer. Jared and I both felt ashamed that we didn’t take Charlie to the Green Mill while he was here. Hooray for leaving the house!
_L
That piano player looks blind. That would be very legit if he was.
A big woman with a microphone in a jazz club is bound to please, though, even if the piano player is only a little myopic.
yep…he is blind. his white cane was folded up next to him while he was playing.
blind as a bat
Wow this is like a blog post everyday now!
Gotta feed the monkeys.
More booze please!