Café Society
Café Society was a
Overview
Josephson created the club to showcase
The club prided itself on treating black and white customers equally, unlike many venues, such as the Cotton Club, which featured black performers but barred black customers except for prominent black people in the entertainment industry. The club featured many of the greatest black musicians of the day, often imposing a strongly political bent. Billie Holiday first sang "Strange Fruit" there; at Josephson's insistence, she closed her set with this song, leaving the stage without taking any encores, so that the audience would be left to think about the meaning of the song. Lena Horne was persuaded to stop singing "When it's Sleepy Time Down South" written by Clarence Muse, Leon René and Otis René, Pearl Bailey was fired for being "too much of an Uncle Tom", and Carol Channing was fired for an impersonation of Ethel Waters.[3]
Relying on the keen musical judgment of
As part of the challenge to integrate America's segregated society, Josephson's club was the scene of numerous political events and fundraisers, often for
In Summer 1948, jazz pianist Calvin Jackson played with singer Mildred Bailey and dancer Avon Long.[5] On December 5, 1948, dancer Pearl Primus closed a successful return engagement before heading off for a year's research in Africa on research as a Rosenewald Fellow.[6]
1940s Manhattan telephone directories list Cafe Society, 2 Sheridan Square, CHelsea 2-2737. Today the location is Axis Theatre Company.
References
- ^ a b Wilson, John S. (30 September 1988). "Barney Josephson, Owner of Cafe Society Jazz Club, Is Dead at 86". The New York Times.
- ^ "History: The theater at One Sheridan Square". axiscompany.org. Archived from the original on 2016-10-11. Retrieved 2009-09-22. Some sources give the address as 1 Sheridan Square; many other sources give the address at 2 Sheridan Square.
- ^ a b c Taylor, William Robert (1991). Inventing Times Square: Commerce and Culture at the Crossroads of the World. p. 176.
- ^ Josephson, Barney & Trilling-Josephson, Terry (2009). Cafe Society: The Wrong Place for the Right People.
- ^ "Hot Piano Expert Draws Patrons to 'Cafe Soceity'". New York Times. 1 August 1948. p. L3.
- ^ "The Dance: Chitchat". New York Times. 5 December 1948. p. X10.
External links
- Media related to Café Society (nightclub) at Wikimedia Commons