Green Mill Cocktail Lounge in Chicago
By jazzman • Nov 10th, 2008 • Category: Chicago, Features, NewsThe Green Mill is sophisticated informality, warm glowing atmosphere steeped in the heady sounds of the early ’30s and ’40s; it was actually patterned after Clark Monroe’s Uptown House in Harlem (as it was during the ’40s). Uniquely comfortable to all audiences from the sequined Saturday night date to the progressively dressed offbeat student, the magic of the Mill is that the audience commingles in its mutual respect for the music.
JAZZ - dixieland, traditional, bebop, contemporary, progressive - played by such legendary figures as Von Freeman, Franz Jackson and Wilbur Campbell, as well as young lions Kurt Elling, Eric Alexander and Orbert Davis. All capture the broad spectrum of jazz from its root rhythms in New Orleans to New York avant-garde. Deep smokey jazz sounds fill the club in the early morning hours when soulful musicians continue to express their love of jazz by jamming ’til the early dawn.
History:
Throughout its uproarious history, The Green Mill Jazz Club has played host to a number of famous - and often infamous - celebrities. Opened in 1907 as Pop Morse’s Roadhouse, the “Mill” was a stopping place for mourners to celebrate the passing of a friend before proceeding to St. Boniface’s Cemetery.
By 1910, new owners had converted the roadhouse into the Green Mill Gardens, complete with lantern-lit outdoor dancing and drinking areas, and boasting such headliners as Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor and Sophie Tucker.
Actors Wallace Beery and Bronco Billy Anderson also visited the Gardens, hitching their horses to the outdoor post and settling down for a drink after a days work filming westerns at nearby Spoor and Anderson Studios.
As the twenties roared, The Green Mill became mobster territory when Al Capone’s henchman, “Machinegun” Jack McGurn, gained a 25% ownership of the club. Manager Danny Cohen had given McGurn the 25% stake to “persuade” comedian/singer Joe E. Lewis from moving his act south to the New Rendezvous Café at Clark and Diversey. McGurn managed to convince Lewis by slitting his throat and cutting off his tongue.
Miraculously, Lewis recovered, but his songs never regained their lush sound. The incident was later immortalized in the movie The Joker is Wild, with Frank Sinatra as Joe E. Lewis and a Hollywood sound stage as The Green Mill. Of course, his interest piqued, Sinatra had to visit the club.
Throughout the 1930s, ’40s, and 50s, The Green Mill continued to pack ‘em in with a heady mix of swing, dance and jazz music. Uptown crowds from the Aragon Ballroom or Uptown and Riviera Theaters would “stop in for one” before or after shows. Business began to slip in the mid-seventies, and in 1986, present owner Dave Jemilo bought The Green Mill and restored it to its prohibition-era, speakeasy décor.
Today, The Green Mill, in keeping with owner Dave Jemilo’s philosophy for a proper mix of down-to-earth friendliness and class, maintains an authenticity of the ’40s in service, price and music, perfected upon with the steady Sunday night performance of the internationally acclaimed Uptown Poetry Slam, which began at the Mill in 1986.
Upcoming Events:
For a list of their upcoming events, please visit their Calendar page.
Open 7 days/week
Hours & Show Times:
Most shows begin at 9:00pm
-often a 2nd sets run, beginning at 1:00am
-Sunday also includes afternoon shows, beginning at 2:00 pm
Pricing:
Varies based on performance, usually $6 (occasionally no cover)
Location:
Green Mill Jazz Club
4802 N. Broadway Ave.
Chicago, IL 60640
773.878.5552
www.greenmilljazz.com
Related Posts |
