On March 1, Center on Cottage Grove, 6323 S. Cottage Grove Ave., in partnership with Glovan Entertainment, presented a jazz brunch marking the end of Black History Month, with a focus on the LGBTQ+ community.
The packed audience enjoyed a buffet brunch from Daley Restaurant and live performances by the musical group Sonic Healing as well as a talk from jazz historian Mike Medina and jazz photographer and musician Tony Smith. Smith’s current fine art photography exhibit, Rhythmic Vibrations, is on display at the Center.
Center on Halsted CEO Joli Robinson set the tone for the event when she said, “What a great time to be with different people enjoying food and music together.”
After a set by Sonic Healing—with lead vocalist Jahari leading the throng in a joyful singalong—Medina spoke on the history of the address at 6323 South Cottage Grove Avenue. Recounting how radio personality/music promoter/host McKie Fitzhugh opened his McKie’s Disc Jockey Show Lounge from 1955 through 1966 in the Strand Hotel in Bronzeville, he made the point that Center on Cottage Grove’s current address is iconic.
Medina said, “There hasn’t been live music played in here for 60 years.”
In the space of over a decade, McKie’s Disc Jockey Show Lounge hosted concerts by artists such as John Coltrane, Mike Bloomfield, Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Sonny Rollins, Fontella Bass and Brook Benton.
Medina noted, “Looking at photographs from the period, you can see that the floor is the same, that the ceiling is still the same.”
