Remembering Seattle's Black jazz scene

Many of the clubs where Black Seattleites used to gather to play and listen to jazz music are no longer standing, but an ongoing project aims to ensure they aren't forgotten.

The latest: For Black History Month, Axios Seattle took a tour of some of the historic sites of former jazz clubs in Seattle.

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State of play: Some of the most legendary venues were concentrated near 12th Avenue South and South Jackson Street.

• That corner — once home to the famous Black & Tan club — now has a marker that helps explain the neighborhood's significance to the local jazz scene and Seattle's Black community.
• It includes a QR code that takes you to the the website of a project called the Jackson Street Jazz Trail .

The 908 Club at 908 12th Ave. Photo: Property of the Black Heritage Society of Washington State

What they're saying: "The corner you are standing on at South Jackson Street and 12th Avenue South was once the hub of a thriving after-hours jazz scene, a musical crossroads where in the 1940s Quincy Jones, Ray Charles and Ernestine Anderson, among others, honed their craft," the project website says.

This photo is believed to show the Odean Jazz Orchestra in 1925, featuring influential jazz musician Frank Waldron on saxophone. Photo: Property of the Black Heritage Society of Washington State

The big picture: The committee developing the project plans to install more signs highlighting Seattle's historic jazz district.

• These historical markers may eventually run from King Street Station at Fourth Avenue South and Jackson Street to 14th Avenue South and East Fir Street.

Frank Waldron (far right) was an influential jazz musician in Seattle. Photo: Property of the Black Heritage Society of Washington State

1 fun thing: While you can no longer visit the Black & Tan, Washington Hall , at one of the ends of the proposed jazz trail project, is still intact.

• It's now home to Creative Cafe — a new gathering space run by Black Power Unlimited and Creative Justice, an arts-based restorative justice program — and has event spaces available for rent.

Washington Hall on 14th Avenue South in the Central District is still in use today. Photo: Melissa Santos/Axios

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