Years ago I was introduced to Fred Anderson and his way cool Velvet Lounge scene (currently located at 67 E. Cermak Road in Chicago, Illinois) by an area jazz vocalist. Fred founded his club in 1982 and has struggled ever since to keep the Chicago home of "experimental jazz" alive, having had to deal with finding continual financial support for his ongoing enterprise and even being required to relocate "The Velvet" as it is affectionately known by its fans...its sad to hear that on June 14th, 2010 Fred had a massive heart attack and is currently hospitalized...as Howard Reich points out in his Chicago tribune article of June 21, 2010 the fate of the club founder and the club itself hang in the balance. Fred has been quoted as saying "I got fascinated over this music, and I just wanted to make a contribution...". Whatever the future holds, Fred Anderson most assuredly has made his mark on the Chicago jazz scene and definitely jazz itself. Hang in there Man! Our prayers are with you.
(image of Fred Anderson circa 2005 by Seth Tisue)
(source: ChicagoTribune.com, Wikipedia.org, velvetlounge.net)
Fred Anderson jazz saxman and Velvet Lounge founder video from 2005:
No comments:
Post a Comment