![]() Abe Saperstein’s "Savoy Big Five" debuted here in 1927 and later became the Harlem Globetrotters. The Savoy also hosted roller skating events, boxing matches, and basketball games. ![]() Famous artists have transformed the building into a veritable paradise, each section more beautiful than the other." Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, and Benny Moten (with a young Count Basie) all performed here. In the Chicago Defender's initial review of the Savoy the critic wrote, "Never before have Chicagoans seen anything quite as lavish as the Savoy Ballroom. When the Savoy opened, it featured a half-acre dance floor and accommodated more than 4,000 people, according to Jazz Age Chicago. She continued to operate the Palm Tavern until July 3, 2001, when the City exercised its powers of eminent domain, evicted her, and closed the building out of concern that its by-now dilapidated character presented a danger to the community. Gerri ultimately lost her apartment (she says she was swindled out of it), and she was now sleeping on a mattress in the club’s kitchen. Although it continued as a jazz and blues venue, the neighborhood was obsolescing quickly, and business became increasingly difficult to maintain. In keeping with its community activism, the Palm Tavern became the focal point for the mayoral election of Harold Washington, who celebrated his historic 1983 primary victory. Over the years, she ate meals, established friendships, and had herself photographed with such legends as Billie Holiday, James Brown, Lena Horne, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Redd Foxx, and Quincy Jones. Typically her jazz legend clientele had just gotten off a tour bus, where they’d been forced to eat bag meals for weeks, having been denied entry to the finer local restaurants. Although she ditched the fine cuisine element of the business, she continued to serve her own brand of soul food, including red beans and rice that were craved by her favorite celebrity guests, like Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie. “Mama Gerri” soon became a celebrity in her own right. In 1956, Knight sold the Palm Tavern to his manicurist, a Mississippi native named Geraldine Oliver. It was among the first establishments in the City to obtain a liquor license at the end of Prohibition and among the first to install tabletop juke boxes (known as “talkies”). Decked out with tropical murals, the Palm Tavern had white tablecloths and white-gloved waiters who served fine cuisine to hungry patrons in thick vinyl booths, notably without regard to skin color.
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