Browse Items (27 total)

Charles Burke's club had to move due to the construction of the Bonaventure Expressway. As he noted, “most cities in America and Canada, when they built these freeways, the rich people said, don’t come near my property with no outlet. So they went…

In 1967, city assessors documented Little Burgundy ahead of urban renewal, taking over a thousand photographs of homes, businesses, and community spaces. The closure of the local schools further disrupted the community, as citizen Yvonne McGrath…

The name Little Burgundy (St. Antoine District) only became a recognized neighbourhood name in the 1960s, when city officials used it to label an ambitious urban renewal project. For decades, the community had been heavily dependent on railway…

In 1928 Rufus Rockhead applied for a beer license, only to be told by the commissioner, “You know we don’t give licenses to coloured people.” Undeterred, Rockhead spent eleven months navigating bureaucracy, leveraging connections, and persistently…

Ajax Records was founded in 1921 as a subsidiary of the Compo Company, Canada’s first independent record-making factory, established in Lachine by Herbert S. Berliner. Recordings were produced in both Montreal and New York, closely coordinated,…

Widely regarded as one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, Oscar Peterson performed with legendary figures such as Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, and Louis Armstrong. Born to a railway porter and a domestic worker, Peterson…

In 1933, the Canadian Ambassadors, led by saxophonist Myron Sutton, relocated to Montréal and became the city’s first organized Black Canadian jazz band. The six-piece ensemble performed regularly in “white only” clubs and cabarets, including…

Founded in 1957 by Charlie Burke, the Black Bottom opened at 1350 rue Saint-Antoine Ouest in Petite-Burgundy, the heart of Montreal’s Black community. The club quickly became one of the city’s most vibrant venues, celebrated for its affordable…

Charles Burke grew up on Coursol Street in Montreal and, after finishing school, worked as a railway porter. His seniority on the railway allowed him to select a schedule that left his weekends free, which gave him the opportunity to start a side…

In 1946, Louis Metcalf, a trumpet player who had been a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra in the late 1920s, relocated to Montréal. He formed the Louis Metcalf International Band, which quickly became a cornerstone of the city’s jazz scene and…