Business & brands / Music
Clarence Baker
1910–2003 · jazz club owner
Owner of Baker's Keyboard Lounge for 57 years, who turned his parents' Livernois Avenue sandwich shop into one of the world's oldest continuously operating jazz clubs.
- Born
- Died
- Detroit years
- 1930s–2003
- Field
- Business & brands, Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
In May 1933 Chris and Fannie Baker opened a lunchtime sandwich restaurant on Livernois Avenue at the far northwest edge of Detroit. Their son Clarence began booking jazz pianists there in 1934, and in 1939, after his father suffered a stroke, he took over the business. Local pianist Pat Flowers held the bench from 1940 to 1954, and from the mid-1950s Clarence brought in national stars: Art Tatum played there in the last two years of his life and picked out the club's Steinway in New York for him, followed by Dave Brubeck, Gerry Mulligan and, in the 1960s, the hard-bop bands. He gave the room its Art Deco look, with the piano-keyboard bar and tilted mirrors that let patrons watch the pianist's hands, and kept it to 99 seats. The state recognized Baker's as a historic site in 1986. Clarence ran the lounge for 57 years before selling it in 1996, and he died in 2003 at the age of 93. The club he built still presents jazz nightly.
Highlights
- Began booking jazz pianists at his parents' restaurant in 1934
- Ran Baker's Keyboard Lounge from 1939 to 1996
- Art Tatum chose the club's Steinway piano for him
- Baker's became a Michigan historic site in 1986
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Founded · 1934–1996
Baker's Keyboard Lounge
The 99-seat Livernois Avenue club founded by his parents in 1933 and turned by Clarence into Detroit's oldest continuously operating jazz club; a city historic district since 2016.