[Dixielandjazz] A Life In Tune - Betty Brown

[Steve Barbone]

Not OKOM except for the Teagarden references, but still a fascinating read
about the world of jazz in Pittsburgh PA, starting in the mid 1940s. BTW,
Betty Brown is a white woman who married a black jazz musician in 1948. So
if you have any mixed race marriage hang-ups, delete now.

Sure puts an earthy flavor into the "art" music, but clubs like the old
Crawford Grill is where the giants played, OKOM or otherwise.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone


A Life in Tune

Betty Brown tells all about her more than 50 years of living above
Crawford Grill

by Nate Guidry - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 1, 2007

Betty Brown has never played a note of meaningful music, but she's heard
some of the greatest jazz ever performed. And the best part about that is,
she didn't have to travel too far to hear it.

Living in a second-floor apartment above the old Crawford Grill on Wylie
Avenue, Brown routinely stepped downstairs to hear such giants as Charles
Mingus and Erroll Garner, John Coltrane and Max Roach and Jack Teagarden.

She broke bread several times with trumpeter Roy Eldridge and comforted
saxophonist Sonny Stitt as he sat on her sofa, shaking from heroin
withdrawals. And whenever the late trumpeter Charlie Shavers was in town, he
stopped by and cooked. Shavers fancied himself a chef, and Brown still has
some of the spices Shavers brought with him the last time he was in town.

"We saw all of the great players," the 90-year-old Brown said, sitting in
her living room recently. "I met practically everyone they brought in from
New York. I saw the great Max Roach and Abbey Lincoln. I even got to see Art
Blakey and Miles Davis, with his smart ass. He had a terrible attitude, kind
of full of himself like Paris Hilton.

"Miles only played at the Grill once as I can recall, and during his show he
turned around, pulled down his pants and mooned the audience. Nothing came
of it. Mr. Robinson [then owner Joseph Robinson] said, 'He's just another
nasty, temperamental child showing off.'"

For 54 years, Brown has been living above the Grill. In fact, she's outlived
it. She's seen the best and worst of times for the historic nightspot, which
originally opened in 1943.

Lately, she's been thinking of moving on. Her two-bedroom apartment doesn't
have the appeal it once did, although it still holds many memories. Brown
still thinks of her late husband, Leroy Brown, an alto saxophonist who died
of cancer in 1988. The living-room wall has a huge photo of Mr. Brown
holding his saxophone and, in a cabinet below the television, there are two
scrapbooks filled with old photographs of her husband with other musicians,
such as Billy Eckstine, Lena Horne and others.

Ever since the Grill closed about four years ago, the building has needed
constant attention. Last winter was particularly difficult after the pipes
burst in the basement, leaving Brown without water service for several
weeks. She has inquired about the availability of apartments at Crawford
Square and the Legacy, a new senior complex opening across the street, but
was told there's a long waiting list.

"Unfortunately, it looks like I will be here another winter," she said. "I
swore I was not going to spend another winter here. But it's starting to
look like I will."

The Browns moved into the building in 1953 after Mr. Brown's band, Leroy
Brown and the Brown Buddies, started working at the Grill.

Back then, the Grill served as one of the hubs of Pittsburgh nightlife,
drawing praise for its quality service and high-profile entertainment. The
neighborhood was flourishing and, until the demolition of the Lower Hill for
the construction of the Civic Arena, it was the hottest spot for jazz in the
city.

"Now you can't even buy a spool of thread up here," said Brown, who used to
sew all of her husband's clothes and even altered a few dresses for the late
vocalist Dakota Staton. "When we moved here, you could find anything you
needed. There was a butcher shop on Centre Avenue that had beautiful fresh
meat. There were all kinds of small but great businesses. But that's all
gone. Now, we have to go to Shadyside or the South Side. The arena ran off
all the people and the businesses. Things were much nicer the way they were.
It was old, but nice."

Those were the days when Pittsburgh was hopping -- clubs, casinos, burlesque
houses and strip joints -- catering to all sorts of revelers.

Downtown was dotted with clubs, both private and public, including the
Benjamin Harrison Literary Club, an after-hours spot on Liberty Avenue
reputed to be owned by gangsters. The North Side featured such clubs as
Red's Cafe, Pace's and the Moose Club. Some of the best clubs could be found
in the East End, including the Del Mar Canoe Club, which had after-hours
gambling and showcased comedic acts such as Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin.

In the Hill District, there were the Hurricane, Ritz, Showboat, Roosevelt
Theater, Savoy Ballroom, Bamboola and the Leondi, which featured talent as
diverse as Jimmie Lunceford, Cab Calloway and Bennie Moten. One of the most
popular spots for all musicians was the Black Musicians Club, Local 471,
where it was not uncommon to hear people such as Dizzy Gillespie, Gene
Ammons, Illinois Jacquet, Ben Webster and Coleman Hawkins.

But it was at the Grill that standards were set -- where innovation,
improvisation and tradition were allowed to flourish.

Six nights a week the place was hopping. After they started the Friday and
Saturday matinee performances, Brown said, crowds were lined up outside the
building.

"The Saturday matinees were the big thing," she said. "It was so crowded
that you had to have a shoe horn to wedge your way through. Friday's show
was good, too. They were sometimes better then the evening shows."

Brown, who enjoys listening to her old tapes and records, said she had many
sleepless nights living above the Grill. But she didn't mind it because even
on a bad night, the music was great.

But after the death of owner Joseph Robinson in 1982, the club was passed on
to his son, William "Buzzy" Robinson, and eventually, Brown said, the music
took on a different flavor.

"They started playing reggae and all that other stuff, and the music became
noise," she said. "We didn't plan to go to sleep until after 2 a.m."

Brown grew up in Bellevue and attended Bellevue High School. After
graduating, she attended Duff Iron City College, where she honed her
secretary skills. After working for the Allegheny Forging Co., Brown was
hired at Frank T. Lauinger Real Estate, where she worked for 48 years. She
retired at 68 to take care of her ailing mother.

In 1944, while drinking with a few friends at the Hollywood Showbar,
Downtown, Brown met her future husband, who was performing there with the
Brown Buddies. Mr. Brown had just returned to Pittsburgh after serving in
the U.S. Army band at Camp Lee, Va.

The Buddies -- Brown, Duke Spaulding, Bobby Anderson, Calvin King and Bass
McMahon -- performed at the Showbar for 64 weeks. "We were the first black
band to play Downtown," said 85-year-old pianist Spaulding. "We were also
the first band to play at the Grill."

At the Showbar, Spaulding said they routinely performed with special guests.
"We brought in Ben Webster, Rex Stewart and Jack Teagarden, to name a few,"
he recalls. "We had a great band, and Leroy played his alto just like Johnny
Hodges did, with Duke Ellington.

Spaulding said the Brown Buddies were a style band, performing mostly
society music. "We were always clean, dressed in uniforms, and on weekends,
we wore tails." Betty Brown recalls those days, too, when her courtship with
Leroy began slowly.

"When I met him, he was married, so it wasn't any use of me having a fit
over him," she said with a huge chuckle. "But his wife died a year after
their son was born, and we started dating." There was plenty of competition
from other girls for Mr. Brown's affection.

"He was a handsome man, and all the girls were hanging around him," she
said. "They all wanted him, but I beat them to it. That's the way women are
-- they'd cling on to a one-legged jackass."

After dating for a couple of years, which primarily meant hanging out at the
old musicians club, the Bamboola and other local night spots, the couple
married in 1948.

"I spent most of my times in bars," she said. "Recreation for Leroy was
going to a jam session at the musicians club after working his regular gig.
So that's where I went."

After living on Trent Street in the Hill, the couple and Mr. Brown's son,
Gilbert Leroy Brown, moved into the apartment above the Grill. Gilbert
served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War and after his discharge
settled in San Diego.

"I've been here ever since," said Betty Brown. "After Leroy died, my dog,
Tiger, died, and I was all alone. I didn't know what to do with myself for a
couple of years. I thought about leaving, but I have so much stuff."

Brown said things were different in the Hill District when she first
arrived. "This was a fine place to live when we moved in," she said. "The
Grill was booming with great food and entertainment, and Mr. Robinson
treated us like family. The entire neighborhood was great."

One might assume that being in an interracial marriage in the 1940s would
have been difficult, but Brown said she rarely experienced a problem. A few
times, Brown said she was approached by black women questioning why she was
in the Grill, but the incident would be quickly squashed.

"Mr. Robinson told them that I was like family, and if they didn't like it,
they didn't have to come to the Grill," she said.

"That's the way I was raised. We are all God's people, aren't we? I can
remember my mother asking someone who was so busy talking bad about black
people, 'If you are lucky enough to get to heaven, what are you going to do
when you get to the gate and there are black people there, too?'"

Sitting in the living room above the Grill, crowded with memories of 50
years, Betty Brown cradles a photo of her musician husband. "I've been here
a long time," she said. "It hasn't always been easy, but it wasn't so bad."