Wednesday, September 06, 2006

The Wall



This wall is in a small parking lot just across First Avenue from Pioneer Square in Seattle. Forty years ago this was the location of Ellroy's Ice Cream Parlor which offered a monstrous dish called the Pioneer Square Sunday. If anyone was willing and able to single handedly consume one these the event was recorded with a photograph permanently displayed on the wall. The elapsed time for consumption was also recorded, typically several hours.

Across the Parking lot from Ellroy's was The Penthouse, a jazz club that featured big name artists. My favorite groups didn't play there. Brubeck and MJQ who preferred concert halls to clubs. Thelonious Monk, Herbie Man, Paul Horn, Stan Getz, Jerry Mulligan and a host of others did gigs at The Penthouse. You had to be 21 years old to get in and by the time I was legal age The Penthouse was no more.