Southland (jazz venue)

Southland was a ballroom/cafe on Warrenton Street in Boston, in the United States, in what is now the Charles Playhouse. Originally a church,[1] converted into a club, is best known for featuring prominent jazz artists of the 1930s and 1940s such as Count Basie (most associated with the club),[2] Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Jimmie Lunceford, and many others.[3] Southland was connected to the radio and it became a notable venue for broadcasting jazz over the radio in the 1940s. On 19 February 1940, Count Basie and his Orchestra opened a four-week engagement at Southland which was broadcast on 20 February.[4] Southland's entertainment also featured dancers such as Rubberlegs Williams,[3] who also sang with Basie on numerous occasions.

Today the building is occupied by the Charles Playhouse, which opened in 1957.

References
  1. Clayton, Buck; Elliott, Nancy Miller (27 November 1995). Buck Clayton's Jazz World. Continuum. p. 102. ISBN 978-1-871478-55-6.
  2. Sheridan, Chris (August 1986). Count Basie: a bio-discography. Greenwood Press. p. 1017.
  3. Basie, Count (2002). Good Morning Blues: The Autobiography of Count Basie. Da Capo Press. p. 226. ISBN 978-0-306-81107-4.
  4. Vail, Ken (1 January 2003). Count Basie: Swingin' the Blues, 1936-1950. Scarecrow Press. p. 36. ISBN 978-0-8108-4882-5.


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