BLUE NOTE JAZZ CLUB CHICAGO ARCHIVE

Back in 2020, my mother-in-law introduced me to her friend Jean Bystendt, daughter of Frank Holzfeind, who had owned and operated the Blue Note Jazz Club in Chicago from November 1947 through June 1960. Situated in the Loop downtown, the Blue Note was the first truly integrated jazz club in Chicago and Holzfeind booked a who’s who of musicians including Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Sarah Vaughan, Dave Brubeck, Dizzy Gillespie, Gerry Mulligan, and more. Holzfeind had made recordings over the years, over 150 of them, documenting one-offs and repeat performances, special guests, and the jazz scene as it developed in the 1950s.

Jean and her siblings had always wanted to do something with the tapes to celebrate their father via the music he loved. Although Uptown Records had purchased some of the recordings and issued a Lennie Tristano CD, the family had yet to find a winning formula.

In trying to help them figure one out, Phil Schaap recommended that I reach out to a fellow WKCR-alum George Klabin, who runs Resonance Records. George connected me with his co-conspirator, Zev Feldman, and there was a great deal of interest exploring the archive and issuing highlights (as well as obtaining the proper permissions to do so).

To date, there have been two releases from the Blue Note Chicago, with more in the works:

Art Tatum – Jewels in the Treasure Box: The 1953 Chicago Blue Note Jazz Club Recordings (Resonance Records)

Nat King Cole – Live at the Blue Note Chicago (Iconic Artists Group)

For more on the club’s unique history, read Blue Note Memories, a wonderful in-depth piece written by Dan Caine for the Chicago Reader in 1989.