The Lenox Lounge

I have just returned from the Lenox Lounge, a small jazz club between 124th and 125th street on Malcolm X Boulevard. In the bar, one tv was tuned to a basketball game, the other to a documentary on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The volume on the game was tuned down, but Dr. King's voice rang through the sparsely populated room. In the back, Roy Campbell hosted his Monday night jam session. For five dollars and a two drink minimum you can stay until the club closes. I had been once before, years ago, to see Dakota Stanton, and afterwards bid for one of her lp's on ebay. In 1957, she had had a minor hit with the theme to The Late, Late Show. The room, while not full, was well populated, and the generally older crowd was appreciative. She was almost blind; a man had to help her to her seat and back to the mike. I spent some time wondering if the drummer, by virtue of his surname, was the son of a legendary tenor saxophonist.

I arrived on time; Li-T late. She brought a friend of her visiting from Japan. It was her friend who was looking for a jazz club to visit; she's in town for a jazz educators conference beginning Wednesday. Roy Campbell and his quartet played the first set, allowing a girl to sit in to sing "Skylights" before taking a break. Li-T's friend approached the trumpet player and asked to sing. Three songs into the second set he called her name. When she returned to the table, she was shaking. She had sung in Harlem and the audience had applauded. Posted by eku at January 20, 2004 2:09 AM