The Jazz Temple - Cleveland

The Jazz Temple - Cleveland Almost 58 years ago, Winston E. Soon the attempted intimidation by law enforcement began.

Willis and his girlfriend, Charlene Preston were celebrating the tremendous success of the Jazz Temple, their coffee house jazz club in Cleveland. The history of the triangle lot which now holds the hexagonal shaped smoky glass structure known as MOCA (the Museum of Contemporary Art) might come as a surprise to an entire generation of Clevelanders. 11400 Euclid Avenue was once 11339 Mayfield Road,

The Jazz Temple, where 54 years ago, legendary jazz greats like Miles Davis and John Coltrane and Dizzy Gillespie performed. During this time period, the early 1960s, music was rapidly becoming the main vehicle of self-expression for young people in the midst of the counterculture movement. A great deal of it emanating from college campuses where students were beginning to find their voices and express their own individual political views and values. Race mixing and interracial dating was very prominent, and in Cleveland, campus life at Case Western Reserve University was no different. But these visuals did not sit well with the racially polarized city, and triggered widespread resentment in the ethnic enclaves of Murray Hill and Little Italy. Some nights saw as many Cleveland police officers in attendance at the club as regular customers. These visits were routinely followed by unscheduled and unannounced inspections and citations. Thereafter, months of ominous threats of violence and anonymous phone calls during and after business hours foretold of the coming end. Several famous acts appearing at the club refused to be intimidated initially, insisting on performing. Finally, the frequency and intensity of the threats were followed by a tremendous after-hours explosion in August 1963 that demolished the Jazz Temple and ended its reign as the jazz mecca.

Nelson Stevens: A Personal and Heartfelt Homage: Prominent artist and teacher, Professor Emeritus, “artist whisperer”, ...
07/26/2022

Nelson Stevens: A Personal and Heartfelt Homage: Prominent artist and teacher, Professor Emeritus, “artist whisperer”, and friend. Nelson was a long-time friend of my brother, Winston’s, and like a big brother to me. So, it was with profound sadness that I received the devastating news of his 7/22/2022 passing. His long friendship with my brother, Winston Willis goes back to the early ‘60s in Cleveland, and the creation of The Jazz Temple. It was during this time that I first met Nelson. In recent years, he was of tremendous help to me in my work on my brother’s story. Having retired from his professorship at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 2003, he was living an active and very interesting life in Owings Mills, Maryland. Nelson admired Winston tremendously, and he loved talking about him and sharing their past adventures and experiences in Cleveland. During our telephone conversations, he always encouraged me to keep writing my brother’s story and he expressed appreciation that I always included him in my writings on the Jazz Temple. He was constantly accessible, generous with his time and knowledge, and a veritable treasure trove of valuable historical information. I am deeply saddened that he has left this world. And this world will be lessened greatly without his formidable presence. He was a giant of a man. Wise, introspective, talented beyond measure, and a gift to all who knew him. My thoughts are with his beloved children, Nadya Stevens and Marc Fairfax Stevens, and all appreciators of his life’s work. Notwithstanding his chronological age of 84, he is simply gone too soon.

Prominent Artist and Educator Nelson Stevens, Dead at 84
https://www.diverseeducation.com/demographics/african-american/article/15294528/prominent-artist-and-educator-nelson-stevens-dead-at-84

Nelson Stevens Bio
http://galeriemyrtis.net/nelson-stevens-biography/

'The 60s were devastating' - AfriCOBRA's Nelson Stevens on art and activism
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/aug/29/the-60s-were-devastating-africobras-nelson-stevens-on-art-and-activism

The Jazz Temple
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jazz_Temple

YouTube Video: AfriCOBRA - Artist Nelson Stevens
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GKRhYGvPRc

Professor Emeritus, Nelson Stevens
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVxjYr7D6CE

THE CREATION OF THE JAZZ TEMPLE and A PROMISE KEPTA lot of people seem to linger in adolescence, but not Winston Willis....
04/12/2022

THE CREATION OF THE JAZZ TEMPLE and A PROMISE KEPT

A lot of people seem to linger in adolescence, but not Winston Willis. He sailed right through his. When the average teenager’s world consisted of high school sports, hot rod cars, Prom dates, and Rock-N-Roll, Winston’s ever-growing entrepreneurial spirit led him elsewhere. His knowledge of the floor covering trade that he learned from his father secured several entry-level positions in two tile stores, and later, a key management positions. During his teen years, Winston was fully invested in becoming a successful businessman. And he was thoroughly enraptured with the philosophy of Marcus Garvey and embracing the entrepreneur activist’s unification and empowerment of Negroes. His experience and his reputation in the floor covering field soon led to the upper-level position that aligned him on a parallel track with fame and fortune. And amazingly, it was a chance meeting with his Jazz idol, Miles Davis, that was the impetus for Winston’s moving forward with his long-time dream of opening a jazz club. The serendipitous connection occurred in Detroit in the 1950s and continued for several years.
One day while in his office at the East side floor covering company, Winston received a call for an estimate on a potential carpet installation job in a large home in one of Detroit’s very affluent suburbs. Arriving at the large, opulent home and ringing the doorbell, he came face to face with one of his all-time-favorite music idols, Miles Davis, who was in residence at the home at the time. After several minutes of conversation about the installation job in question, Davis was very impressed with Winston’s knowledge and level of maturity, and the two men became friendly, venturing further in talking about Jazz. Sometime later, Winston told the famous trumpeter of his intentions to open a Jazz club someday. And after a few profanity-laden tips on the ins and outs of the music business, Davis’ response was: “You make it happen, and I’ll come.”
Winston held the position at the floor covering company for a couple of years, and his bosses were very fond of him. They even joined us in his family’s home for dinner on several occasions. But Winston was becoming restless, living at home and under his parents’ ironclad rules. He was already his own man, and with such promise he could have continued to establish a stronghold locally, but he instinctively knew that the success and kind of life he wanted lay outside the boundaries of Detroit. Setting his sights on Hollywood, where he would become a successful movie producer, the city of Cleveland was certainly not on his radar. But a quick detour suggested by his mother would forever change the trajectory of his life.

After operating several successful small businesses in nearby areas, Winston sensed that something was lacking in this upscale Western Reserve University college community. After making a careful assessment and determining what was needed and what would be likely to work, he decided that "high-quality jazz performances at a student-friendly and affordable price" was the answer. Then, quickly putting his idea into action, he secured a lease on a vacated building, a former Packard automobile showroom, and immediately began remodeling, with careful attention devoted to acoustics. During the remodeling of the building and the planning for the grand opening, a nationwide newspaper strike curtailed all print advertising possibilities. So, with his original plans interrupted, Winston purchased and refurbished a used UPS truck and turned the vehicle into a traveling billboard. His friend, local artist, Nelson Stevens, painted large, colorful “coming attraction” signs heralding the Jazz Temple’s approaching presence in the University Circle community. Shortly thereafter, the Jazz Temple opened to immediate and sensational success. Among numerous other Jazz legends who appeared at the club, Miles Davis kept his promise. Winston called him, and he came.

Miles Davis: A Promise Kept. "You make it happen, and I'll come." And he did.
04/12/2022

Miles Davis: A Promise Kept. "You make it happen, and I'll come." And he did.

03/14/2022
03/14/2022
03/14/2022

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The history of the triangle lot which now holds the hexagonal shaped smoky glass structure known as MOCA (the Museum of Contemporary Art) might come as a surprise to an entire generation of Clevelanders. 11400 Euclid Avenue was once 11339 Mayfield Road, The Jazz Temple, where 54 years ago, legendary jazz greats like Miles Davis and John Coltrane and Dizzy Gillespie performed. During this time period, the early 1960s, music was rapidly becoming the main vehicle of self-expression for young people in the midst of the counterculture movement. A great deal of it emanating from college campuses where students were beginning to find their voices and express their own individual political views and values. Race mixing and in*******al dating was very prominent, and in Cleveland, campus life at Case Western Reserve University was no different. But these visuals did not sit well with the racially polarized city, and triggered widespread resentment in the ethnic enclaves of Murray Hill and Little Italy. Soon the attempted intimidation by law enforcement began. Some nights saw as many Cleveland police officers in attendance at the club as regular customers. These visits were routinely followed by unscheduled and unannounced inspections and citations. Thereafter, months of ominous threats of violence and anonymous phone calls during and after business hours foretold of the coming end. Several famous acts appearing at the club refused to be intimidated initially, insisting on performing. Finally, the frequency and intensity of the threats were followed by a tremendous after-hours explosion in August 1963 that demolished the Jazz Temple and ended its reign as the jazz mecca.

Much more of the history of the Jazz Temple and its creation is revealed in a recent article published by Cleveland Historical. The piece was written by Winston E. Willis’ sister, Aundra Willis Carrasco, whose recollections as an employee during the club’s heyday takes us back in time to The Jazz Temple: When Jazz Came to University Circle in the 1960s.