Books
November, 1957
In a low, one-story building in the heart of San Francisco's Tenderloin district, a nightly amalgam of goateed hipsters, Montgomery Street junior execs and University of California undergrads alike, dig the cool and carefully calibrated sounds of modern jazz at the Blackhawk (200 Hyde Street). For a solid decade, this dim-lit hipster's hutch has throbbed to the West Coast's most avant sounds, those disseminated by the likes of Stan Getz and Gerry Mulligan. The atmosphere is casual, the customers don't mind the door charges (which range from 50ยข to $1 a head, and are a not-so-subtle rating of a performer's popularity), the booze is drinkable, and the waitresses don't push too hard. Dave Brubeck, who got his start there, makes it his GHQ on the Coast, and blows weekends at the club on and off throughout the year. Among the innovators expected this fall are Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, Max Roach, Brubeck and the Modern Jazz Quartet. The Blackhawk is open from nine P.M. to two A.M. Tuesday through Saturday, with a Sunday afternoon bash, starting at four P.M., that offers a look at the local cats.