Jazz: take 2 - more restaurants, clubs and places to hear live jazz music in Maryland - Advertising Supplement: Maryland's African American Culture

American Visions, April-May, 1993 by Bill Hasson

In 1784, Sarah Bull ran a tavern in Annapolis' Maryland Inn, and while her customers ate popovers and crab bisque w from their huntboards, the Treaty of Paris, the culmination of the Revolutionary War, was being ratified down the street at the Maryland State House. In the same inn today, just blocks away from the waterfront and the U.S. Naval Academy, you can still get a lavish meal - but unlike 1784, you can now sip superb crab soup while listening to jazz. Two decades ago, Paul Pearson started bringing jazz into the King of France Tavern. Then Earl "Fatha" Hines and others played the room; already this year Keeter Betts (the perennial bass accompanist for Ella Fitzgerald), Ethel Ennis (who toured with Benny Goodman) and Charlie Byrd have graced the place - and summer has yet to arrive. If there's justice in the world, the club (and jazz) should be around for another two centuries.

Howard County has a most unusual high school, one in which the Count Basie Band (now led by Frank Foster) is happy to swing. Barry Enzman, director of the award-winning Glenelg High School Band, has put together a dynamite big-band series, drawing applause from the entire community - and from everyone else with the good sense to attend performances by the likes of the Maynard Ferguson Big Band.

Silver Shadows has a classy glass and bronze interior, excellent drinks and a diverse range of live music, and with the Maryland Museum of African Art is a good reason to find yourself in Columbia. On Wednesday nights there is no cover and the jazzy blues sounds of Rick Serfas and the Soul Providers featuring Jesse Yawn can be heard.

Jazz in Baltimore runs the entire scale and includes the upscale, downtown Wall Street Restaurant and Lounge, which hosts live jazz seven nights a week. Tables adorned with crisp linen and fresh flowers and the house drink, the Wall Street Slide, promote return visits. The New 32nd Street Ultimate Nightclub's elegant mirrors reflect Friday's and Saturday's live jazz, Sunday's Comedy Night and weekday evenings' Happy Hour and free buffet. The 25-and-older crowd now has a place secure from teenage noise. The music at Buddies is high energy and straight ahead. With the Bing Miller Quartet and the Dennis Michaels Trio as the house bands, Buddies is a great spot to meet new aficionados of the art form.

The Harbor Court Hotel in Baltimore's Inner Harbor has used its elegant surroundings to provide a luxurious setting for the Lou Rainone Jazz Ensemble. A friendly atmosphere, a view of the harbor, and the opportunity Wednesdays through Saturdays to hear your favorite tunes provide the ideal way to spend an evening.

In the atrium of the Hyatt Regency Baltimore on the inner Harbor, a jazz trio of bass, piano and saxophone creates memorable music Mondays through Fridays from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and offers a refreshing relief from the rush hour.

Bill Hasson is a well-traveled jazz critic, having served as the road manager for both Max Roach and Archie Shepp. A resident of Washington, D.C., he formerly, taught courses on the history of black music at Amherst College and at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.