The London House was a jazz club and restaurant in Chicago located at the corner of Wacker Drive and Michigan Avenue, in the London Guaranty and Accident Company Building, 360 N. Michigan Ave. [1] It was one of the foremost jazz clubs in the country, once home to successful jazz artists including Oscar Peterson, Ramsey Lewis, Bill Evans, Dave Brubeck, Marian McPartland, Dinah Washington, Cannonball Adderley, Erroll Garner, Ahmad Jamal, Nancy Wilson, Barbara Carroll and Bobby Short. On the occasion of its 20th anniversary in November 1966, Frank Sinatra Jr. headlined the club in his Chicago debut. [2]
Renovated in 1946 by George and Oscar Marienthal, the club was crafted from the original Fort Dearborn Grill. Known as a "famed dining spot" the club was revamped in 1955 to include jazz music and stay open until 4 A.M. rather than be a strictly dining establishment that closed at 10 P.M. [2] After jazz had finally waned as popular music, losing out to rock and roll, The London House closed during the early 1970s. The London House was turned into a Burger King in the 1970s.
The LondonHouse Hotel opened in the building in 2016.
The following were recorded at the London House. [3] [4]
Harry "Sweets" Edison was an American jazz trumpeter and a member of the Count Basie Orchestra. His most important contribution was as a Hollywood studio musician, whose muted trumpet can be heard backing singers, most notably Frank Sinatra.
Barney Kessel was an American jazz guitarist born in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Known in particular for his knowledge of chords and inversions and chord-based melodies, he was a member of many prominent jazz groups as well as a "first call" guitarist for studio, film, and television recording sessions. Kessel was a member of the group of session musicians informally known as the Wrecking Crew.
Edmund Leonard Thigpen was an American jazz drummer, best known for his work with the Oscar Peterson trio from 1959 to 1965. Thigpen also performed with the Billy Taylor trio from 1956 to 1959.
Margaret Marian McPartland OBE, was an English–American jazz pianist, composer, and writer. She was the host of Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz on National Public Radio from 1978 to 2011.
Joseph Albert Morello was an American jazz drummer best known for serving as the drummer for pianist Dave Brubeck, as part of the Dave Brubeck Quartet, from 1957 to 1972, including during the quartet's "classic lineup" from 1958 to 1968, which also included alto saxophonist Paul Desmond and bassist Eugene Wright. Morello's facility for playing unusual time signatures and rhythms enabled that group to record a series of albums that explored unusual time signatures. The most notable of these was the first in the series, the 1959 album Time Out, which contained the hit songs "Take Five" and "Blue Rondo à la Turk". In fact, "Take Five", the album's biggest hit was specifically written by Desmond as a way to showcase Morello's ability to play in 5
4 time.
Boniface Ferdinand Leonard "Buddy" DeFranco was an Italian-American jazz clarinetist. In addition to his work as a bandleader, DeFranco led the Glenn Miller Orchestra for almost a decade in the 1960s and 1970s.
Jonathan David Samuel Jones was an American jazz drummer. A band leader and pioneer in jazz percussion, Jones anchored the Count Basie Orchestra rhythm section from 1934 to 1948. He was sometimes known as Papa Jo Jones to distinguish him from younger drummer Philly Joe Jones.
The Trio is a 1961 live album by the Oscar Peterson Trio, recorded at the London House jazz club in Chicago, during a period in which the pianist "was generally in peak form."
The Sound of the Trio is a 1962 live album by the Oscar Peterson Trio, recorded in 1961 at the London House jazz club in Chicago.
Discography for jazz double-bassist and cellist Ray Brown.
James Dugald "Jimmy" McPartland was an American cornetist. He worked with Eddie Condon, Art Hodes, Gene Krupa, Benny Goodman, Jack Teagarden, and Tommy Dorsey, often leading his own bands. He was married to pianist Marian McPartland.
"The Gypsy in My Soul" is a popular song written for the 50th anniversary of the University of Pennsylvania Mask and Wig show in 1937 by two Penn graduates, Clay Boland and Moe Jaffe. Boland wrote the music and Jaffe the lyrics. Although both men had long since graduated, it had become the practice at the time for professionals, rather than students, to compose songs for the show.
Tyree Glenn, born William Tyree Glenn, was an American trombone and vibraphone player.
"I Hear Music" is a popular song composed by Burton Lane, with lyrics by Frank Loesser for the Paramount Pictures movie Dancing on a Dime (1940). In the film it was performed by Robert Paige, Peter Lind Hayes, Frank Jenks and Eddie Quillan.
Elmer "Mousey" Alexander was an American jazz drummer.
Joseph Barry Galbraith was an American jazz guitarist.
Eugene Seldon "Gene" Gammage is an American jazz drummer.
The London House Sessions is a compilation album collecting music recorded by the Oscar Peterson Trio at the London House jazz club in Chicago in the summer of 1961.
Put On a Happy Face is a 1966 live album by the Oscar Peterson Trio, recorded in sessions in 1961 at the London House jazz club in Chicago.
Something Warm is a live album by the Oscar Peterson Trio, recorded at the London House jazz club in Chicago. The sessions were in 1961, but the album was initially released as Verve V/V6-8681 in 1967.