{"id":4665,"date":"2026-04-26T22:44:35","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T22:44:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/?p=4665"},"modified":"2026-04-26T22:44:35","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T22:44:35","slug":"for-international-jazz-day-residents-walk-paths-of-nat-king-cole-louis-armstrong-in-bronzeville","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/?p=4665","title":{"rendered":"For International Jazz Day, residents walk paths of Nat King Cole, Louis Armstrong in Bronzeville"},"content":{"rendered":"


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On Saturday afternoon, Myron Stokes stood in a nearly 130-year-old performance venue in Bronzeville.<\/p>\n

The room was dark, the walls were worn, and the stage was vacant. But he said he could envision what the space was like in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hear the music, the dancing and the snapping of fingers,\u201d said Stokes, 56, of Oak Park, who also imagined what life may have been like for Black crowds back then.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey come here for celebration, because they have to go home and go to work and deal with oppression and perhaps even violence, and other types of racial atrocities. So this is a place of safety and fun and exhilaration and passion.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Myron Stokes, one of the attendees of the guided tour at The Forum Hall, poses for a portrait inside the historic Bronzeville space on Saturday. \u201cI hear the music, the dancing and the snapping of fingers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/p>\n

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Victor Hilitski\/For the Sun-Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Stokes was part of a group that explored the historic Forum Hall<\/u><\/a>, located at 318-328 E. 43rd St., where jazz artists from Nat King Cole to Sun Ra once performed. The tour closed out a day of arts and activities, including performances in the soon-to-open Forum Cafe next door and a neighborhood walk to the homes and haunts of jazz icons. The free event was part of Chicago\u2019s month-long celebration of UNESCO International Jazz Day<\/u><\/a>, which culminates in an all-star global concert April 30 at Lyric Opera House.<\/p>\n

Chicagoans left feeling proud and inspired by the rich musical history of Bronzeville. Event organizers hoped they also felt more connected to the people in their communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want neighbors to meet each other,\u201d said Shani \u201cLady Sunshine\u201d Smith of Calumet Heights, who led the outdoor tour. \u201cWe want people to know the histories of their communities and connect around that and take ownership of their communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Attendees of the \u201cAt The Forum: The Bronzeville Roots of Chicago Jazz\u201d event walk past the historic Forum Hall in Bronzeville Saturday. Murals of Margaret Burroughs, Nat King Cole and Gwendolyn Brooks are painted where windows used to be.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/p>\n

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Victor Hilitski\/For the Sun-Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

That\u2019s just what Bernard Loyd did by purchasing The Forum in 2011, which was built in 1897 and used as a gathering space for musicians, politicians and other community members. The Bronzeville resident saved the building from being demolished like so many other historic venues in the neighborhood. He is renovating the property under his development firm, Urban Juncture, and hopes to open the concert hall by 2030, though the cafe in the west annex is scheduled to open this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you come into this space, it just grabs you,\u201d Loyd said. \u201cYou can feel the history. I think the reason that this building is still here, when everything else is gone, is because people have been able to come in and say, \u2018You know, there\u2019s something here that we\u2019ve got to keep.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Loyd and his team of researchers are constantly discovering information about the space. A few years ago, they found nearly 130-year-old theater backdrops in good enough condition to be restored. One depicts three Black people, which was extremely rare for standard backdrops of the time.<\/p>\n

Recently, Loyd also learned about more famous people who spent time at The Forum. Chicago radio personality LaDonna Tittle competed in a beauty and talent pageant there, and former Chicago Mayor Harold Washington used the space to play cards with other politicians.<\/p>\n

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Bernard Loyd, owner of The Forum, pulls shut the massive entryway doors of the Bronzeville space after the final participants depart from an International Jazz Day celebration on Saturday. The 129-year-old assembly hall is a cornerstone of cultural revitalization efforts on Chicago\u2019s South Side.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/p>\n

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Victor Hilitski\/For the Sun-Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so proud of what he\u2019s done,\u201d Bronzeville resident Deveda Francois, 66, said of Loyd\u2019s efforts. \u201cThey were tearing down buildings left and right. You don\u2019t find this kind of architecture everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Citing the history of the space, musician and composer Angel Bat Dawid said she was honored to play in the cafe during the event.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were people just sitting, enjoying the live music, enjoying the atmosphere, meeting each other,\u201d said Dawid, 46, of South Loop. \u201cThere were some kids here. I think that\u2019s what The Forum was back in the day, just a place where you could go have a good time and eat great food. It was all positive vibes.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Musician and composer Angel Bat Dawid performs an experimental jazz set Saturday at The Forum Cafe in Bronzeville.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/p>\n

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Victor Hilitski\/For the Sun-Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Outside of the building, Smith kicked off the neighborhood walk by playing music from jazz pianist Tiny Parham, who also performed at the venue.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s imagine busy streets, music spilling out of windows and people dressed up for the night,\u201d said Smith of the Black Cornerstones Project, which collects oral histories and offers community programs. Smith is the initiative\u2019s master curator of community engagement.<\/p>\n

Next, Smith led the group to the Belmonte Flats at 43rd Street and King Drive, where writer Gwendolyn Brooks lived. She spoke about Nat King Cole\u2019s career in Chicago, while attendees gazed at the mural of the icon on the T.K. Lawless Building across the street. Cole also lived in the neighborhood at 4023 S. Vincennes Ave.<\/p>\n

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Attendees of the \u201cAt The Forum: The Bronzeville Roots of Chicago Jazz\u201d tour walk past a 26-foot mural titled \u201cNat King Cole and the Piano\u201d at 43rd Street and King Drive.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/p>\n

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Victor Hilitski\/For the Sun-Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

The tour included stops at the former sites of music venues, including the Checkerboard Lounge and Pepper\u2019s Lounge on East 43rd Street, as well as the former Parkway Ballroom on South King Drive.<\/p>\n

A highlight was a visit to the former home of Louis Armstrong and his wife, Lil Hardin, at 421 E. 44th St. A trumpet is visible in the window.<\/p>\n

Among the participants was Bronzeville resident Cathy Dale, 67, who is the wife of late pioneering Black ad executive Robert J. Dale<\/a>. Holding hands with her 2-year-old grandson, Jabari, she said her favorite song is Armstrong\u2019s \u201cWhat a Wonderful World.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the coolest thing,\u201d she said of Armstrong\u2019s history in the area. \u201cI feel proud living in the neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n

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From left, Cathy Dale, her grandson, Jabari Smith, and Deveda Francois attend a community heritage tour Saturday in Bronzeville. The \u201cAt The Forum: The Bronzeville Roots of Chicago Jazz\u201d event, celebrating International Jazz Day, brought together different generations to explore the neighborhood\u2019s deep historical and cultural influence on American jazz.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/p>\n

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Victor Hilitski\/Victor Hilitski for the Chicago Sun-Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Nat King Cole\u2019s former Bronzeville home, located at 4023 S. Vincennes Ave.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n


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On Saturday afternoon, Myron Stokes stood in a nearly 130-year-old performance venue in Bronzeville. The room was dark, the walls were worn, and the stage was vacant. But he said he could envision what the space was like in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. \u201cI hear the music, the dancing and the snapping of fingers,\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4666,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4665","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-usa-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4665"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4665\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}