Count Basie played in Minneapolis 60 years ago
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Today's Morning Edition music is from the Count Basie Sextet with "Royal Garden Blues." It's the type of music Basie was making 60 years ago when he was in town to play at the Flame Club in Minneapolis.
The Flame was in a couple of locations at the intersection of Nicollet Avenue and 16th Street South.
For awhile it was hangout for gangster Kid Cann. In the early '50s, it was a jazz venue. Then, new management took over and it became the "House of Western Swing" and finally a rock 'n' roll club.
When the city shut it down in 1978 for repeated violations, a sign at the Flame advertised "Hard & Soft Rock, Old & New Blues, Snacks, Dancing, and Giant Drinks."
Here's a video of the group performing "I Cried for You."
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