Baker's Keyboard Lounge - Bankruptcy Sale

**Jimg** · January-09-11, 11:12 AM

January 31 is the sale date. Sad day.

**EastsideQT** · January-09-11, 03:43 PM

It's very sad indeed...:-[[

**cmubryan** · January-09-11, 04:27 PM

Are they closed? If so, when?

**Jimg** · January-09-11, 08:57 PM

Baker's is open until Jan 31, I'm told. What happens after that...?????....
Best: Buyer with lots of cash refurbishes the club and retools the entertainment. Small clubs in other places prosper. Det is isolated and that increases the cost of bringing in national acts, unless one has a symbiotic deal with one or more clubs, in Chicago, fer example...
Worst: It's turned into a Dairy Queen or Nail Salon or torn down.

**JohnnyFreddy** · January-10-11, 05:17 AM

I was very lucky to have seen Bobby 'Blue' Bland at Bakers Keyboard Lounge
back in late seventies, early eighties [[can't remember exact date)......
and it was the BEST!!!!
This was before he lost his voice, and started touring extensively with B.B.King.
I don't really care for King's style of blues....sorry.
But Bobby Bland......ooooooweeeeee!!!!!!!!
Man, he had the full band w/horns and everything.
And I got to shake his hand, and experience his warm personality in person.
Bakers is a nice intimate club, and not far from a major thoroughfare [[8mi.rd.).
I can't imagine there being any reason to not patronize this venue, short of a
non-aggressive attitude of booking solid, national acts.
I have no knowledge of the inner workings of this establishment, and I'm sure
it's very tough to hold onto a dream from the past....especially if you're not the
original dreamer, but, man......it sure would be nice to retain this 'gem' of a
nightclub. Maybe the new owners will excuse themselves from the lure of the
'Gentleman's Club' business. I hear that's a very steady investment in that area now.
Too bad. Long live the Blues!!!!

**EastsideQT** · January-10-11, 05:51 AM

Originally Posted by Jimg

Baker's is open until Jan 31, I'm told. What happens after that...?????....
Best: Buyer with lots of cash refurbishes the club and retools the entertainment. Small clubs in other places prosper. Det is isolated and that increases the cost of bringing in national acts, unless one has a symbiotic deal with one or more clubs, in Chicago, fer example...
Worst: It's turned into a Dairy Queen or Nail Salon or torn down.

Or another dollar store.

**Johnlodge** · January-10-11, 09:08 AM

Terrible news. Granted, we get this terrible news on a near-annual basis with Baker's, but it sounds pretty serious. Let's hope for the best, and try to pay what is hopefully not a final visit.

**BRAZZMAN** · January-10-11, 10:16 AM

Here's a shot of Pepper Adams at Baker's in 1981.

citylover · January-10-11, 01:24 PM

is this happening? Granted, I have not been to Bakers in several yrs but it seems to me in the past they had good crowds_ I am guessing not so much now.

Probably no one talks about it but you have Cliff Bells with a predominately white clientele consisting of pseudo jazz listeners seemingly going well and then you have Bakers a historic mostly black clientele club where the true lovers of the music are old and dieing off.......hopefully something good happens....oh yeah there is the dirty dog which is also seemingly doing well but with deep pockets to keep it going.

**Johnlodge** · January-10-11, 01:29 PM

Originally Posted by citylover

is this happening? Granted, I have not been to Bakers in several yrs but it seems to me in the past they had good crowds_ I am guessing not so much now.

Probably no one talks about it but you have Cliff Bells with a predominately white clientele consisting of pseudo jazz listeners seemingly going well and then you have Bakers a historic mostly black clientele club where the true lovers of the music are old and dieing off.......hopefully something good happens....oh yeah there is the dirty dog which is also seemingly doing well but with deep pockets to keep it going.

I go now and then and the place is always full, even recently. Unless I've just been lucky.

**bailey** · January-10-11, 01:47 PM

Originally Posted by citylover

is this happening? Granted, I have not been to Bakers in several yrs but it seems to me in the past they had good crowds_ I am guessing not so much now.

Probably no one talks about it but you have Cliff Bells with a predominately white clientele consisting of pseudo jazz listeners seemingly going well and then you have Bakers a historic mostly black clientele club where the true lovers of the music are old and dieing off.......hopefully something good happens....oh yeah there is the dirty dog which is also seemingly doing well but with deep pockets to keep it going.

so... Cliff bells and Dirty Dog can make it work, but Bakers cant.....and it is somehow because of racism?

DetroitPole · January-10-11, 02:33 PM

Originally Posted by Johnlodge

I go now and then and the place is always full, even recently. Unless I've just been lucky.

Whenever I've gone there it has always been full. And it isn't cheap, either.

It may be callous of me to say at this point, but I really think it is bad management. I love that place so much - let's get somebody who can run it without a bankruptcy/closing scare every single blessed year.

I would understand if the place is frequently empty, but as we can all attest to, it never is, so unless all those people are running out on their bills or they're paying gold-plated legacy costs for their former waitresses, they should at least be able to keep the place open.

I hope so dearly that someone buys it who can keep it open. Cliff Bell's is okay but hipster town. Baker's is the real deal.

**1KielsonDrive** · January-10-11, 02:34 PM

Originally Posted by citylover

is this happening? Granted, I have not been to Bakers in several yrs but it seems to me in the past they had good crowds_ I am guessing not so much now.

Probably no one talks about it but you have Cliff Bells with a predominately white clientele consisting of pseudo jazz listeners seemingly going well and then you have Bakers a historic mostly black clientele club where the true lovers of the music are old and dieing off.......hopefully something good happens....oh yeah there is the dirty dog which is also seemingly doing well but with deep pockets to keep it going.

The economy is the key. Deep pockets are certainly in favor of the Dirty Dog and Cliff Bells. The clientele is also a very important part of the equation. The Dog and Bells both have a younger, larger, martini [[more expensive) drinking crowd, while Baker's is basically a neighborhood joint when shows aren't happening. The Dog and Bells also have larger, well outfitted kichens run by professional chefs, that have, at least in the case of Bell's, access to other kitchens and other chefs. Not that that means the food is necessarily better, but it likely means substantiallly more variety at substantially less costs. Advertising budgets also figure in the picture. I doubt Baker's has much formal advertising, not to mention facebooking or myspace, etc.

**Gingellgirl** · January-10-11, 02:35 PM

Famed jazz club could be auctioned off by end of Jan.

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110110/...#ixzz1Af9Z5DcA

**1KielsonDrive** · January-10-11, 02:46 PM

And one idiot suggests that any mention of race here is somehow out of line. How many people do you know nowadays that would go to Baker's as opposed to Bell's or The Dirty Dog? I would. But, I'm older and I've been patronizing Bakers for generations. Most people I speak to, of any age group, have never heard of Baker's. Many younger people are all about being hip and cool and hanging in parts of the city that used to be the 'skid rows', so to speak. To the credit of businesses that have opened and operate in those areas, they've seen an upswing in patrons. They might not be doing greatly either. Granted, some places are always suffering and in the public eye. Everything Baker's does is in the public eye, it's an international institution, after all. I give Baker's a lot of credit for surviving for all these years, by hook or by crook. I would love to own and operate Baker's - if I was independently wealthy.

**1KielsonDrive** · January-10-11, 02:48 PM

I equate Baker's closing to the closing and demolition of Tiger [[Briggs's) Stadium. To me, it is that important in my life.

**bailey** · January-10-11, 03:31 PM

Originally Posted by 1KielsonDrive

And one idiot suggests that any mention of race here is somehow out of line.

Persumably that is a shot at me, so just so we're clear, you're saying it's because of white people..err, I mean "predominately white clientele consisting of pseudo jazz listeners" going elsewhere is why Baker's is closing.

DetroitPole · January-10-11, 03:42 PM

To be fair, there are definitely racial/social divides in the clientel at these three separate places.
Whenever I've gone to Baker's it has been a decidedly mixed but predominately older black patronage, but definitely mixed.
Cliff Bell's has always been overwhelmingly white in my experience.
I've never been to Dirty Dog Jazz Cafe but given the neighborhood...and...well I google imaged it and couldn't have found a much better picture:
http://multimedia.detnews.com/pix/bl...Guralinick.jpg
Hey! There's a black guy - the server! It looks like the Republican National Convention in there. Bahaha.

Anyway, done throwing gasoline on the fire. I hope to God Baker's thrives under new ownership. I do also hope that more people who might not otherwise hang out there...go try it out.

**Johnlodge** · January-10-11, 03:52 PM

Originally Posted by bailey

Persumably that is a shot at me, so just so we're clear, you're saying it's because of white people..err, I mean "predominately white clientele consisting of pseudo jazz listeners" going elsewhere is why Baker's is closing.

I got what you were saying. The pseudo-jazz club fills up with pseudo-jazz fans and keeps the doors open, while the real deal, dependent on a dwindling supply of real jazz fans, faces bankruptcy on an annual basis. You pointed out a truth, which is that the former are predominantly white, and the latter are predominantly black. Pointing out things like that always gets feathers ruffled.

Edit: OK, that wasn't you, it was CL. So, uh. Nevermind.

**GPCharles** · January-10-11, 04:07 PM

It probably doesn't hurt that Dirty Dog's owner has a very deep bankroll. OTOH - she also is a huge financial backer of the Detroit Jazz Festival every year.

**bailey** · January-10-11, 04:07 PM

Originally Posted by Johnlodge

I got what you were saying. The pseudo-jazz club fills up with pseudo-jazz fans and keeps the doors open, while the real deal, dependent on a dwindling supply of real jazz fans, faces bankruptcy on an annual basis. You pointed out a truth, which is that the former are predominantly white, and the latter are predominantly black. Pointing out things like that always gets feathers ruffled.

Edit: OK, that wasn't you, it was CL. So, uh. Nevermind.

Baker's failed for a lot of reasons, many of which are discussed in the Det News article. As everyone who has been there has attested [[add me to the list)... it was crowded, the crowd was pretty mixed, and the place isn't exactly 'cheap'. To say it failed because not enough white people went there is silly.

**douglasm** · January-10-11, 05:01 PM

Granted it's been a gazillian years since I lived in the Detroit area, but although I understand DetroitPole's position, but if the object is to keep the club open, maybe a pseudo-jazz booking policy is needed in order to allow for [[or afford) the booking of true "jazz" acts. This is a policy that Dimitirou's Jazz Alley has followed in Seattle for years.....

http://www.jazzalley.com/calendar.asp

....that has allowed the club to remain viable. A purity booking policy doesn't do any good if you can't keep the doors open.

**Genesyxx** · January-10-11, 08:23 PM

I'll never understand this. I lived near Baker's for 15 years and anytime its open its packed to the brim. Any other bar/restaurant/nightclub would kill for that, yet Baker's has been gutted from the inside out and now officially bankrupt.

citylover · January-10-11, 09:12 PM

Originally Posted by bailey

so... Cliff bells and Dirty Dog can make it work, but Bakers cant.....and it is somehow because of racism?

Bringing up racism I am not saying more white people should go to Bakers I am simply pointing out that the Cliff Bells is populated by people[[mostly white) that don't know much about the music being played there and that the historic fans of jazz[[a lot of blacks, et,al) that once went to Bakers don't anymore.

**RickBeall** · January-10-11, 09:42 PM

I think Bakers was physically too small. They needed to expand that main room. I think Americans have gained about 30 lbs and 6 inches since 1930 when those original booths were put in.

But it is and was a really cool place. And I love the soul food there . They don't need to rotate their menu. Just the real deal, every time.