By Jim Gallert and Lars Bjorn
Detroit Jazz devotees eagerly wait for Labor Day each year. We know on Labor Day Weekend, Hart Plaza will be filled with the sounds of Jazz. Sixty-two years ago, August 1959, Detroit hosted its first Jazz Festival, at the old Michigan State Fairgrounds site at Eight Mile Road, east of Woodward. Just like today, a single person was responsible for all aspects of that first festival. In 1959, Ed Sarkesian (1923-2007) was the man.
Lars Bjorn and Jim Gallert provide a biography of Mr. Sarkesian.
Ed Sarkesian clearly remembers the afternoon of August 16, 1959. It was Sunday, the third and final day of the first American Jazz Festival, held at the Michigan State Fairgrounds. The weather had been sunny and hot Friday and Saturday, but Sunday saw cooler temperatures and rain, which threatened to ruin the much-anticipated evening performance by Stan Kenton’s orchestra. But Sarkesian remained calm and optimistic. “I said, it’s not gonna rain, it’s gonna stop. And it didn’t stop…but by five o’clock it stopped, and the sun came out, it was beautiful. And we did a hell of a job at the door…biggest crowd was on Sunday night, when Stan Kenton was on.”[1]
The audience was hit with a thirty minute downpour during Kenton’s set, but few people left. The three-day attendance figure stood at 25,000, including “10,000 who braved rain for jazz,” to paraphrase one headline. Though small by Detroit Jazz Festival numbers, maximum seating capacity pegged at just under 10,000, making the festival a near-sellout.
The response reinforced Sarkesian’s belief that a Jazz festival belonged in Detroit. He’d planned it using the right elements for success: a roster of Jazz Stars, loads of publicity, and a popular, easily accessible performance space. It was a logical step in his Jazz journey, a journey which he’d begun in the mid-1930s when, as a teenager, Sarkesian first heard Benny Goodman on the radio.
Ed Sarkesian was born in Guelph, Canada, on August 1, 1917. By 1923 his family had settled in Detroit, where his father got a job at Ford Motor Company. Sarkesian had some musical talent and had studied violin as a teen.
After graduating from Southwestern High School, Sarkesian studied at Wayne University. He worked for the Internal Revenue Service as a Treasury Agent and did tax returns on the side. After two years, he quit the IRS and focused solely on tax returns, earning enough money to realize one of his dreams – owning a bowling alley! Bowling alleys traditionally had an attached lounge, often featuring a sports theme. Detroit had the Bowl-O-Drome, which paired ten pin bowling and Jazz.
Sarkesian discovered that Rouge Recreation, in River Rouge, was for sale[2]. River Rouge is a working-class suburb just south of Detroit and home to cement and steel factories and Zug Island. Rouge Recreation was a combination bowling alley and lounge which had “the biggest bowling alley in Michigan,” according to Sarkesian, but the lounge (River Rouge Show Bar) seated only about 125. Ed and his brother Tom snapped it up in 1952 for a cool $200,000. The lounge was turned into a comfortable place where Jazz fans could hear great music for a very reasonable $1.00 cover charge; folks low on funds could nurse a Coke all night long without any hassle from the management.
At the time, the show bar offered low-grade entertainment – “pantomime things, music/comedy trios, stuff like that,” Sarkesian recalled. It also featured female impersonators, always a strong area draw. He redecorated the lounge and retooled the entertainment policy, featuring artists whose music he admired.
Sarkesian kicked off the “new” Rouge Lounge on July 13, 1953, with tenor saxophonist Charlie Ventura and his Quintet. They were followed by a long and diverse list of prominent names in the world of Jazz, including Muggsy Spanier, Stan Getz, Gene Krupa, Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, Chet Baker, Earl Hines, Bud Powell, and Miles Davis. Oscar Peterson appeared regularly and became a lifelong friend of Sarkesian’s. Charlie Parker was booked for February 19, 1955, (just four weeks before his death) but didn’t make it. Ed had booked two bands in case Bird didn’t show.
Running a nightclub is a risky business, but Sarkesian was a quick study. He had the heart of a musician, and the brain of an accountant, qualities necessary for success, and successful it was. From 1953 – 1958, the Rouge Lounge was “Greater Detroit’s #1 Jazz Spot,” as their slogan proclaimed. The Crystal Lounge, Baker’s Keyboard Lounge, and the Blue Bird Inn booked fewer national acts in these years. Klein’s and the West End Hotel were almost exclusively local.
Artists were generally booked for week-long stays. Sarkesian installed a Detroit house band to play during “off” nights and to accompany singers or solo acts. The band included at various times Kenny Burrell, Tommy Flanagan, Barry Harris, Harold McKinney and Elvin Jones. Ed was at least a decade older than the musicians, whom he referred to as “nice kids.”
Sarkesian first booked talent through a local agency – Delbridge and Gorrell – and through them he met veteran agent Joe Glaser. Glaser was Louis Armstrong’s longtime manager and had built a major entertainment management business in Manhattan. He and Sarkesian established a solid working relationship.
The Rouge did not discriminate on the basis of race; Sarkesian let into his club anybody who was neatly dressed and who looked like they could cover their tab. This was unusual in the heavily segregated metro Detroit region. “That’s why I lost all my business (at the bowling alley),” he remembered. “What happened, Great Lakes Steel went on strike for eight, ten months….and all the white people in that area moved out. And all the Blacks moved in…what the hell, they’re people too, they wanted to bowl…and I had no biases that way…glad to have them in.” This policy created problems with the police and local officials, but Sarkesian was politically savvy and succeeded in keeping his club open and his policies intact. Musicians appreciated the non-discriminatory aspect of the Rouge. Vibraphonist Terry Gibbs, then leading a racially mixed group, emphasized the point when asked about the Rouge Lounge in 2007.
Talking during performances was strongly discouraged, and drinks were served only between sets. Ed expected patrons to respect the musicians and would brook no disturbances; loudmouths were shown the door. Ed Sarkesian has a resonant baritone voice and a warm, friendly persona. He has a direct manner, and if ‘integrity’ is something which can be projected, Sarkesian radiates it. His life was built upon personal relationships. He loved Jazz.
Two and a half years into his run as owner, an opportunity presented itself, and Sarkesian seized it. On December 14, 1954, vocalist Chris Conner began a three week stand at the Rouge Lounge. She worked as a single, and the Rouge Lounge house band would normally provide backup. But not this time; Detroit TV icon and jazz supporter Soupy Sales had hipped Sarkesian to a new group. They were from out of town – Adelaide, Australia. Vibraphonist Jack Brokensha recalled what happened.
“Soupy, being a jazz fan, knew Ed Sarkesian, and they’d go over to the Rouge Lounge…Ed asked if we could back (vocalist) Chris Connor. The audience loved us…that’s how the group started and it was Sarkesian who called us the Australian Jazz Quartet.” [3]
Sarkesian’s calibrated ear heard good jazz. He also detected a commercially viable concept – a “foreign” band that could really swing, living in the States. On one of his talent booking trips to New York, he brought a demo record by the AJQ. On the strength of the record, and the novelty aspect of an Australian jazz band, he secured a five year management contract with Glaser’s company, becoming friends with Glaser in the process. “He also went over to Bethlehem Records,” continued Brokensha, “and got a five year record contract just on the strength of the record and the name.” By mid-1955, the AJQ was on wax and getting airplay. Sarkesian scoured the country for gigs, and the success of Dave Brubeck’s college concerts gave him an idea.
“So I bought a set of Encyclopedia Britannica for my kids. And I went through and picked out about twenty names of universities and wrote out a form letter and sent it out and I’ll be god damned, I got back about 15 requests for the Aussies! I got them jobs for about $1,000 a week! Brubeck had just made jazz big, jazz at Oberlin and stuff like that. And jazz was taking over, was coming back strong right when I got in. I was able to get all kinds of bookings. They made pretty good money for a while, enough to get back to Australia.”
Jack Brokensha recalled the structure of their tours.
“Sarkesian was responsible for putting the package together and ABC (Glaser’s company) would sell the package. Ed would put it together and manage it, box office and the whole shot…he and George Wein were the two big jazz promoters in the country.”
Ed discovered that jazz tours were more profitable than jazz nightclubs, and he biased his energy in that direction. He realized that the escalating cost of talent, coupled with his low seating capacity, created an untenable business situation, as he recounted to Detroit Sunday Times columnist Arnold Hirsch in 1959:
“It’s a two-way problem. First for the club owner, then for the patron. Say an act does real well. Fine. Then he wants $500 more the next time, and $500 more the third time. The club owner has a limited capacity and all he can do is raise the admission and the price of drinks. The average guy out on a date can spend $10 without batting an eye. He may do it once or twice, but he’s not going to come back to hear a performer a third or fourth time no matter how much he likes him.” [4]
Sarkesian loved his nightclub, and was reluctant to raise his nominal cover charge or increase his drink minimum.[5] To spread the word about the Rouge, Ed had tried broadcasts from the Rouge on WXYZ radio for a couple of weeks, but couldn’t see any tangible benefits and abandoned the scheme. Business at the bowling alley had never fully recovered, and their profit margin continued to shrink, finally forcing the Sarkesians to sell the Rouge Lounge in the summer of 1957.[6] By this time, Ed had enough things happening outside of the Rouge to support his family. He produced four “Jazz For Moderns” tours beginning in the late 1950s, which caught the eye of George Wein. Wein hired Sarkesian to manage Wein’s “Newport Festival Tour”. Sarkesian continued to manage the Australian Jazz Quartet.
Renowned author/critic Leonard Feather went on tour for two “Jazz For Moderns” tours, in 1958 & 1959, as Master of Ceremonies. He recalled Ed as a “…amiable, honourable, nervous man who bought the talents and made deals with promoters in each city (in a couple of cities Sarkesian himself rented the hall and promoted the show).”[7] Sarkesian had a knack for thinking on his feet and making profitable decisions.
So, when the idea of a Detroit jazz festival surfaced, Sarkesian was in a good position to produce it. He assembled a Board of Directors which included prominent Detroit area professionals, like record producer Dave Usher, as well as his friend George Wein, producer of the Newport Jazz Festival, and Leonard Feather. Some board members assumed the role of sponsor, and this provided working capital, although Sarkesian didn’t need much money to secure most of the artists he wanted to book. Ed’s friend Joe Glaser supplied most of the talent.[8] That first festival followed Wein’s Newport blueprint. Leonard Feather was Master of Ceremonies and, along with George Wein, moderated between-set discussions about Jazz. Sarkesian, the quintessential behind-the-scenes manager, stayed backstage, ensuring the performances ran on time and noting the audience response.
That first festival had a single stage, and it was not free. Projecting and controlling the sound (still a headache in the 21st century) was a massive problem in 1959. Vendors sold records and food. Ticket prices ranged from $1.75, for a folding chair, to $6.00 for a box seat ($12.92 to $44.30 in 2008 dollars). Many folks dressed formally – ladies wore sundresses, men sported suits and ties or shirt and slacks, but there were younger people – “Beatniks”, whose attire was quite informal. The audiences were integrated.
Jazz during the late fifties was being accepted as “serious” music, worthy of respect, with its share of influential and honored artists. Many colleges now offered Jazz courses, and degrees in jazz-related areas were becoming more common. The discussions about Jazz revolved around this topic of “respectability” and also the future of Jazz, and various aspects of its history. Unfortunately, nothing was recorded.
Sarkesian produced two jazz festivals in Detroit. The 1960 model, three days long, was again at the Michigan State Fairgrounds. He produced three “American Festival of Music” concerts, each a day in length, and which included jazz, in 1961, 1962, and 1963 at the new Cobo Convention Arena. These Festivals reflected Sarkesian’s expanded scope; his partnership with George Wein and Albert Grossman (Production and Management Associates, Inc. – P.A.M.A.) included Folk artists like Bob Dylan and Peter, Paul, and Mary. Sarkesian also produced the Detroit-based American Folk Festival in 1962. But the Newport Jazz Festival had been cancelled in 1960 due to a melee involving younger fans, and jazz festivals in general stumbled due to a number of factors. P.A.M.A. fizzled out, although Sarkesian continued a business relationship with Wein and Grossman.
“My dad wasn’t restless,” his son Jon said in response to a question about Ed’s many activities. “it was just that everything he did was successful, and each success brought more opportunities.”[9]
Though he moved away from the music business, Jazz remained Ed’s music of choice; he still dug the grooves, frequenting clubs and attending several early Montreux-Detroit Jazz Festivals. Ed retained his resonant baritone voice and kept in touch with his many music friends until his death on January 8, 2007. He never lost his integrity, or his Midas touch, and continued to produce concerts and tours through the 1970s. He and his wife, Laura, raised three children, all of whom love music.
His lifelong friendship with pianist Oscar Peterson summarizes his values. “Not only was he a fine musician, he was a fine person,” Sarkesian recalled. “And that’s number one with me.”
Special thanks to Steve Shepard
Endnotes
- [1] All Sarkesian quotes from interviews by Lars Bjorn and/or Jim Gallert, 2003-2005.
- [2] 1937 Coolidge Highway. Today the site is a grassy lot.
- [3] All Jack Brokensha quotes from an interview by Lars Bjorn, July 20, 1998.
- [4] Detroit Sunday Times, May 10, 1959.
- [5] Baker’s Keyboard Lounge had the same capacity problem as the Rouge Lounge, but continued to book national acts for another thirty years. Baker’s instituted a cover charge, and a minimum drink requirement, to offset rising talent costs.
- [6]The Rouge reopened on August 5 of that year “under new management” and with an “expanded seating capacity,” and the new owners continued to present quality jazz artists, like Lester Young and Bud Powell, but the increased capacity wasn’t enough; in early 1958 the Rouge stopped its live talent policy. A 1965 ad mentions a house band led by pianist Johnny Griffith, and local blues acts also performed there. We have not yet identified exactly when the Rouge Lounge closed, or when the building was torn down.
- [7] Leonard Feather, The Jazz Years: Earwitness To An Era (New York, N.Y.: Da Capo, 1987), 278.
- [8] Glaser was Louis Armstrong’s manager, and he also managed Billie Holiday and Errol Garner, among others.
- [9] Jon Sarkesian, interview by Jim Gallert, April 15, 2009.
- All images courtesy the Sarkesian family, unless otherwise attributed.
