Velvet Lounge…History

The Velvet Lounge (2128 1/2 South Indiana Avenue, toll free 1-888-644-8007) is the only place in the world where you can hear the Chicago sound five days a week. The Sunday night jam sessions have been an effective way to promote younger members of the jazz community. Fred Anderson opened the Velvet Lounge in 1982 after his club The Birdhouse, on the near north side, was forced out of business by city zoning ordinances.

“I got fascinated over this music, and I just wanted to make a contribution. It ain’t nothing but folk music, like Hungarian folk music. It is all the same thing. That’s why I think Bartok is so good. He was playing and writing Hungarian folk music.” Fred Anderson

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