Scullers 35th Anniversary – A look back at the first show

35 years ago, Scullers opened its doors, here is the article covering the first show.

Boston Globe, Friday August 18th, 1989 By Fernando Gonzalez Globe Staff

It took a while but, beginning Thursday. Boston will again have a major jazz club. Located on the second floor of the Guest Quarters Suite Hotel on Soldiers Field Road, Scullers will feature nationally and interna-tionally known artists. Boston’s Starlight Roof, which offered simi-lar entertainment, closed in 1986. Scullers, an elegant, wood-pan-eled room, overlooks the Charles and has a seating capacity of about 100. This will increase when new furniture is in place, according to Ron Murray, the club’s booking consultant.

“It has been ordered,” he added, but it won’t arrive in time for the open-ing.” Initially, said Murray, Scullers will offer Jazz Thursday through Saturday. Beginning the first week of September the schedule will expand to include Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The booking policy, said Mur-ray, “will be halfway between the Starlight Roofs and the Regatta-bar’s, with an emphasis on vocal-ists.” The club’s debut show, Thurs-day at 8 p.m., features singer Re-becca Parris. Wanetta Jackson performs Aug. 31 through Sept. 2; Arthur Prysock appears Sept. 7-9; the Deborah Franciose Quintet, Sept. 14-16; Deborah Henson-Co-nant, Sept. 21-23; vocalist Didi Stewart, Sept. 28-30; Mark Mur-phy, Oct. 5-7. O Cantares, Inman Square, Cam-bridge. is expanding its music policy this fall to include big-name jazz artists. Violinist Billy Bang and his trio, featuring bassist John Ore, will appear Sept. 27-28. Other bookings include saxophonist Archie Shepp and bassist Richard Davis, Oct. 1. and saxo-phonist Oliver Lake and drummer Anthony Peterson play Oct. 18-19. More on this later. 0 The works of composer and producer Kip Hanrahan – docu-mented in albums such as “Coup de Tete” and “Desire Develops an Edge” – are powerful, wildly in-ventive tapestries made of Hai-tian. Brazilian and Afro-Cuban rhythms, Jazz, rock, rhythm and blues and funk. This is avant-garde you can dance to. The Strand Theater, the Insti-tute of Contemporary Art and the Jazz Coalition are collaborating to premiere Hanrahan’s “Look, the Moon” at the Strand Theater Nov. 4.
Hanrahan’s band will feature, among others, pianist and organ-ist Don Pullen: drummer Ignacio Berroa; percussionists Milton Car-dona and Giovanni Hidalgo; bass-ists Fernando Saunders and Andy Gonzalez: and saxophonists John Stubblefield and Mario Rivera. ❑ Pianist Geri Allen will join the faculty of the Jazz Studies Program at New England Conser-vatory this fall. She will replace Stanley Cowell. The Count Basle Orchestra, di-rected by Frank Foster, celebrates what would have been the maes-tro’s 85th birthday at El Morocco, Worcester, on Monday, with shows at 8:30 and 10 p.m. For more information call (508) 756 7117. Tickets for the West Coast pop-jazz fusion group The Yellowjack-ets, appearing at Berklee Perfor-mance Center September 16, go on sale at the BPC and all Ticketmas-ter outlets Monday.

Saxophonist Christopher Hol-lyday performs at the Regattabar, Tuesday and Wednesday. His latest release, his first for a major label and simply titled “Christopher Hollyday” (RCA/No-vus), is a solid effort featuring a first-rate band comprising veter-ans – Cedar Walton, piano; David Williams, bass; and Billy Higgins, drums – and another young, promising talent, Wallace Rooney, on trumpet. At the Western Front, singer Cassandra Wilson opens the se-ries called “The Knitting Factory Goes to Cambridge” on Sept. 13. The series will run through the fall. Here’s the complete schedule: The Ordinaires, Sept. 20: De-funkt, Sept. 27; The Jazz Pas-sangers, Oct. 4; Marty Ehrlich Quartet, Oct. 11; Miracle Room, Oct. 18; Restless Cosmopolitans, Oct. 25; Chunk, Nov. 1; Sahara, Nov. 8; Negativeland, Nov. 15:Curlew, Nov. 22, and Kelvinator, Nov. 29. The series closes with a festival tentatively scheduled for Dec. 6 through 12. 0 WEEKENDING … and the week ahead: The Cantabridgia Chamber Jazz Ensemble plays at One Kendall Square today at noon … Tito Puente Letin Jazz All-Stars and El Eco entertain on the Cabaret.Jazzboat tonight. Sail-ings from World Trade Center at Commonwealth Pier at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Flor de Cana will per-form at End of the World Cafe, pre-boarding shows at 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. … Saxophonist George Coleman leads his quartet at the Regattabar through tomorrow Singer Dianne Reeves appears at Nightstage, Cambridge, tonight … The George Garzone Quintet and the Bill Holman Quartet play at the Willow Jazz Club, Somer-ville tonight and tomorrow … Re-becca Parris performs at the UM-tarlan Universalist Church, Mar-blehead, tomorrow at 8 p.m. … The Duke Levine Group plays at Ryles. Inman Square, Cambridge, tonight and tomorrow … The Pe-ter Cover Trio, featuring Bruce Gertz on bass and George Schuller on drums, performs at the Harbor-view Lounge, Boston Harbor Ho-tel, tonight and tomorrow … Mae Arnette is appearing with the Al Vega Trio at the Logan Airport Hilton tomorrow … Eddie Higgins and Meredith D’Ambrosion ap-pear at the Pub at the Sheraton Plymouth tonight. Pianist Caro-line Ritt performs there tomorrow … Pianist Al Vega and pianist/vo-calist Adam Feldman entertain at the Mall at Chestnut Hill tomor-row and Sunday, respectively The Mike Jones and Peter Kontri-mas duo play at Zachary’s at the Colonnade Hotel through Satur-day … Pianist Bert Seager and bassist Charlie La Chapelle play at the Four Seasons tonight … Brian Walkley quartet plays at Cricket’s, Faneuil Hall, Sunday and Monday … Brazilian guitar-ist Peka entertains at the La-fayette hotel, Sunday brunch … Natraj plays a blend of jazz with music from West Africa and Inat at Sir Franco’s, Union Squat Somerville, Thursday …