(The) Sunset Cafe

315 E. 35th S.

Also known as Sunset Ballroom, The Grand Terrace Cafe, and The New Sunset, Sunset Cafe was one of the most important jazz clubs in America between 1917 and 1928 when Chicago became a creative capital of jazz innovation and again during the emergence of bebop in the early 1940s. From its inception, the club was a rarity as a haven from segregation, since the Sunset Cafe was an integrated “black and tan” where people of all racial and ethnic backgrounds could mingle freely without much fear of reprisal. Many importantly, many musicians developed their careers at the Sunset/Grand Terrace Cafe.

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