On Sunday the 17th January 2015 we went to the Brisbane Jazz Club for a concert of a very talented Polish jazz singer Anna Maria Jopek. It was a very rare opportunity as not many Polish artists visit Brisbane and it was actually the first time when Anna Maria Jopek came to Australia. We loved the ambience of the venue and had a great evening.
Yet, before going there I had to check the history of the club. First I looked at the history page at the club’s website.
Built as a boat club in the 1930s, the clubhouse lies in parkland at Annie Street, Kangaroo Point. On 15 April 1972, two members of the Adventurers Club rowed Lord Mayor Clem Jones across the Brisbane River in a canoe for the opening ceremony. This small and insignificant venue, home to Brisbane’s jazz-loving community since before the 1974 floods, once again survived the floods in 2011, and now has every reason to celebrate its many years of live Jazz. Following the flood renovations at the club’s 40th Anniversary in 2012, the Lord Mayor of Brisbane conducted a ceremony re-dedicating the club to the art of Jazz.
I also remembered that American soldiers during World War 2 had their jazz club somewhere in South Brisbane. Quickly I found the story of the ‘Dr Carver Service Club’ which was at 74 Stanley Street, South Brisbane. Currently at that address the Queensland Performing Art Centre (QPAC) is located. Dr Carver Service Club was the American Red Cross Services Club during World War II when Brisbane played a major role as the headquarters for the US-led Allied South West Pacific Campaign against the Japanese forces.
In this article from 1 May 1943 The Courier-Mail described the new venue.
NEW U.S. SERVICE CLUB OPENS SOON
The American Red Cross Dr. Carver’ Service Club, opposite the Melbourne Street railway station, is to be opened on Wednesday afternoon. Brigadier-General W. H. Donaldson. Base Commander, will perform the opening ceremony at 3 p.m. and the Chief Chaplain, Colonel Ivan L. Bennett, will dedicate the club to the work of the Red Cross. Music will be provided by a military orchestra and quartet. Female guests, for whom an application for admittance has been made and investigated, will be admitted to the club after 7 p.m. provided they possess the necessary permit. They must leave at 11 p.m. The club has been fashioned from an old building which the Red Cross took over two months ago.
And below is a short description from “South Brisbane Heritage Trail” brochure.
By December 1943, Brisbane was host to over 75,000 US troops and eight per cent were African-Americans serving in ‘coloured’ units commanded by white officers. At a time when segregation was actively practised in the US, the coloured units were forbidden from carrying firearms and participating in active combat. (…) In Brisbane, African American servicemen were forbidden from crossing the river into the city to attend the white troops’ service clubs.
The Dr Carver Club provided troop accommodation, dining and entertainment. A dance floor with stage equipment meant that jazz bands could play at the club. As all Brisbane residents were welcomed, regardless of their colour, the club became one of the most popular night spots in Brisbane during the war.
I will stop here. Searching and exploring history is so addictive that I started reading about American soldiers in Brisbane during WW2, then General Douglas MacArthur and Pacific theatre.
I hope you like this post. I might write shorter posts more frequently because the post will never be complete, there is so much information available for us. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think about it.
