There are beautiful moments in time that are only with us temporarily. This is certainly true for the handful of years Chattanooga was privileged to enjoy absolutely superb music at the Southside Jazz Junction on 114 Main Street, around the turn of the most recent century.
Butch Cornell and Brent King were two regular musicians at the Jazz junction, great performes who died the same here, sparking me to make this little video tribute.
The two people behind the curtain of the Jazz Junction were owners Dr. Barry Robertson and his lovely wife Becky. Both have true hearts of gold. Lovers of jazz in Chattanooga hit the lottery when they decided to put their generous hearts and nest egg behind a world class jazz club.
Great musicians visited from around the country because of the classy nature of the joint. More than $20,000 was invested in the sound system and the digital baby grand Yamaha. Great food, dapper interior, friendly people.
One of those musicians who visited regularly was Grammy Award winning vocalist and pianist Freddy Cole (brother of the icon Nat King Cole). Besides a Christmas CD, I was also able to capture some of the great Jazz Junction moments in a video piece that includes Freddy and other musicians and features now deceased local legends Butch Cornell and Brent King.
Almost all the famous clubs are gone. The haunts that brought fame to Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, and Miles Davis have disappeared. But not their legacy. So it is with the Southside Jazz Junction.
Listen to a Christmas album by many of these same musicans here: https://soundcloud.com/dean-w-arnold/sets/chattanooga-jazz-for-christmas