Firefly Club in Ann Arbor closed

[GregK]

I hope this is temporary. The two times I saw Organissimo were at the Firefly (in it's previous location on Ashley):

http://www.annarbor.com/business-review/an...de-of-jazz-bar/

[Mark Stryker]

http://freep.com/article/20090814/ENT04/90...ed-by-the-state

Here's a much more detailed story from the Free Press.

[Jim Alfredson]

Mixed emotions about this one. Probably better to keep my mouth shut.

[AllenLowe]

c'mon Jim, we wanna hear about it -

[marcello]

Not to be too mean but maybe this was part of the problem:

"I don’t have the money to pay,” said Chastain, a singer who sometimes performs at the club. “The state can sell everything I have.”

they don't padlock a business unless there has been a history on non-compliance and neglect.

[AllenLowe]

did they pay the musicians?

[connoisseur series500]

Not to be too mean but maybe this was part of the problem:

"I don’t have the money to pay,” said Chastain, a singer who sometimes performs at the club. “The state can sell everything I have.”

they don't padlock a business unless there has been a history on non-compliance and neglect.

Seems to me that Chastain was primarily interested in promoting herself. The Firefly is fairly close to my home, and I would have gone more if I could see acts other than Ms. Chastain. But I am not gloating over this development at all. I did see Tony Monaco over there, as well as Organissimo a few times.

[Mark Stryker]

Not to be too mean but maybe this was part of the problem:

"I don’t have the money to pay,” said Chastain, a singer who sometimes performs at the club. “The state can sell everything I have.”

they don't padlock a business unless there has been a history on non-compliance and neglect.

Seems to me that Chastain was primarily interested in promoting herself. The Firefly is fairly close to my home, and I would have gone more if I could see acts other than Ms. Chastain. But I am not gloating over this development at all. I did see Tony Monaco over there, as well as Organissimo a few times.

Others are entitled to a different read of course, but the notion that the Firefly Club was some sort of vanity project meant to glorify the owner is from my perspective as far from the truth as imaginable; her heart was in the right place. She rarely performed at the club as a leader; instead, most of her appearances were singing a few tunes here and there as a sideperson with one or another of bassist Paul Keller's bands. As a 7-night-a-week club (plus happy hours, etc.) the Firefly provided steady work for dozens of local musicians with regular bands, in all kinds of styles, given the opportunity to work week after week and develop an identity. On another front, thinking off the top, here are some of the national names I heard there in recent years: David Liebman, Hank Jones, George Cables, Frank Morgan, Sheila Jordan, Ken Peplowski, Jason Kao Hwang, Tim Berne, Tomasz Stanko, Lionel Loueke, Patricia Barber, Fathead Newman, Larry Coryell, Javon Jackson and Jimmy Cobb, Astral Project, Johnny O'Neal, Monty Alexander, Buster Williams, Geoff Keezer, Andy Bey, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Ingrid Jensen.

Without passing judgement on any business or moral failings real or imagined, the loss of a jazz club of this stature is a tragedy.

Edited August 15, 2009 by Mark Stryker

[marcello]

Without passing judgement on any business or moral failings real or imagined, the loss of a jazz club of this stature is a tragedy.

Very true, Mark.

My post was not meant to be insensitive, and I applaud every club owner, and label owner who tries to make it in the jazz business.

Try as I might, I was never abel to get through to Ms. Chastain.