Monday, April 9, 2012

Spelling "Blackhawk"

Since the Blackhawk, which used to one of the best places to listen to jazz in San Francisco, was just a few blocks down from where I now live, I decided I needed to educate myself a bit about it.  There is a nice little article about it on Wikipedia, but that piece reveals an interesting curiosity.  There seems to be some inconsistency as to just how the name of this club was spelled.  The title of the Wikipedia entry says “Black Hawk;”  but in the “Selective discography” section, the only recording that uses this spelling is the one of Mongo Santamaria made in 1962.  All the others in the list, Cal Tjader (1958), Shelly Manne (1959), Thelonious Monk (1960), and Miles Davis (1961), have titles that say “Blackhawk.”  The only book I have that cites the place goes with “Blackhawk.”  However, that is Robin D. G. Kelley’s comprehensive study of Monk.  He goes with “Blackhawk;”  but he may just have decided to be consistent with the Monk Riverside recording.  There is no recognition of this variation under the Talk tab.

I would go down to the corner of Turk and Hyde and see for myself, but that paradise is now a parking lot!

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