Here’s a nice complement to last week’s post of photos from Lennie’s-on-the-Turnpike in Peabody. Click here for footage from Sandy’s Jazz Revival, the Beverly, Mass. nightclub that brought a wide array of jazz and blues to Boston’s North Shore for 50 years. These two segments feature Tiny Grimes, Toots Thielemans, Larry Coryell, and Big Joe Turner with guitarist Duke Robillard. Highlights include Grimes talking about the blues while he plays “Polka Dots and Moonbeams,” and Big Joe reminiscing about Art Tatum.
I caught a lot of music at Sandy’s during the ’70’s, including one of Dexter Gordon’s early appearances in the States after his return from nearly 15 years of living abroad; a night with three Texas-born legends: Buddy Tate, Arnett Cobb, and Eddle “Cleanhead” Vinson, accompanied by Ray Bryant, George Duvivier and Alan Dawson; and the Fabulous Thunderbirds playing Chicago and Gulf Coast blues before packed houses of Boston-area musicians. Seeing Tracy Nelson in this film reminded me of the night I saw her at Sandy’s with Roomful of Blues belting out “Ballin’ the Jack,” and “Mother Earth.”
Take a look. And feel free to add a comment or offer a reminiscence of your own about Sandy’s or other memorable venues.