t was a long time ago. I was fresh out
of New York University and had just married my college sweetheart.
We were honeymooning in Detroit, probably not the first place you'd
think of as a honeymoon destination.
We were there because I had a job on a radio station in Adrian,
Mich., about 75 miles to the south, and we had only a couple of
days before I had to get back to work.
We had married a few days earlier in New York and chose Detroit
because we could stay there for a few days without going into debt
for an extended period. We stayed at the aging Book-Cadillac
downtown. After dinner on the first evening, we wanted to hear some
music and the people at the hotel suggested Baker's Keyboard
Lounge, a well-known jazz spot out on Livernois Avenue. We got in a
cab and went out there, passing more auto dealerships than I'd ever
seen.
The man at the piano that night at Baker's was Art Tatum, whom
many regard as the greatest jazz pianist of all time. I had never
heard anyone play jazz piano with such virtuosity. I had to keep
reminding myself that there was only one man with two hands
producing this sound. If you think I'm exaggerating, buy a Tatum CD
and listen. Unfortunately, he died much too young; within a year of
that night, he was gone, an old man at 47.
The other day, in a fit of nostalgia, I went to the Web and did
a search to learn the fate of the Book-Cadillac and Baker's
Keyboard Lounge. Their histories are quite different. The hotel
fell on hard times and has been closed for 20 years. It came
perilously close to being demolished, but a campaign to save it
kept the wrecking ball at bay. Only a few weeks ago, according to
the Detroit News, a deal was made to convert the building into a
480-room Marriott Renaissance hotel with 70 penthouse apartments.
The 33-story landmark will open its doors again in two to three
years.
Even more remarkably, I found that Baker's Keyboard Lounge is
going strong as it prepares a three-day celebration this month of
the 69th anniversary of its opening in 1934. Top jazz pianists
still turn up there regularly. If you have clients who travel to
Detroit and might enjoy great jazz, you can get more information by
way of the Web site, at http://bakerskeyboard.com.
It always astonishes and pleases me to find that places I
remember from years gone by still are around. Change is great, but
it's nice to know that some of the spots we once knew have managed
to survive from one generation to the next. It's especially good to
know that, in an American landscape where few institutions last
over time, there's a spot in Detroit where great jazz pianists
still come and play.