Colonial Tavern
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The Colonial Tavern was one of the most famous jazz venues in Canada from the 1950s till its closure in the late 1970s. It was located at 199-201 Yonge Street in Toronto (now a laneway next to 197 Yonge Street and 205 Yonge Street) in which a historic plaque remembers this key jazz venue. The Colonial Tavern was owned and managed by brothers-in-law Mike (Myer) G. Lawrence, Goodwin (Goody) and Harvey Lichtenberg.
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[edit] Performances
Jazz artists played on the ground floor, on a raised stage, surrounded by beer-loving patrons and beneath a multi-faceted disco ball. The stage could also be watched from above in a cozy series of tables in the u-shaped dining area. Musicians had a green room at the bank and at times stayed in apartments on the floor above.
It was a venue for soloists and small ensembles. Big bands performed either at the Imperial Room at the Royal York, in Massey Hall, or at various venues on the Toronto waterfront, including the Palais Royale, the CNE Bandshell, and the Palace Pier.
Concerts were often recorded by CJRT's jazz disk jockey, Ted O'Reilly, and were broadcast with hundreds of full interviews of jazz artists talking over their performances and memories on Saturday mornings. Some of these interviews are in the Ryerson University archives.
[edit] Performers
Artists who performed at the Colonial Tavern included virtually every major jazz artist in the world. Musicians often stayed in very limited accommodation at the back.
A brass plate memorial in the park which now remembers this historic building records the names of over 150 jazz musicians that performed at the tavern.
Amongst the most notable performers were:
- Dizzy Gillespie
- Art Blakey
- Roland Kirk
- Bill Chase
- Carmen McRae
- Shorty Rogers
- Gene Krupa
- George Shearing
- Oscar Peterson
- Earl Hines
- Bill Evans
[edit] History of Jazz in Toronto
Other competing jazz venues in Toronto at the time were George's Spaghetti House, the Town Tavern and George's Bourbon Street. Upscale nightclubs and big band venues included: the Savarin Tavern, the Imperial Room at the Royal York Hotel, the Palais Royale and the CNE Bandshell.
