What's the deal with Chopper's Tavern?
Last fall, we did a piece about efforts to breathe new life into Pennsylvania Avenue. In it, the article had this intriuging little blurb:
For the first time in 40 years, a new entertainment club has opened in the area: Chopper's Tavern on Pennsylvania Avenue. The owner, Raymond Nelson, said he is trying to bring entertainment back to the neighborhood by featuring jazz artists and "giving back to new people."
I found the bar's Web site, which advertised jazz sessions every Tuesday night. So one night last fall (I think it was in October), my pal Crazy Joe and I went there ...
The place was closed. I asked around, and people told me it wasn't open on Tuesday nights. I can't imagine why they would advertise a night that didn't exist.
So I kind of forgot about about it, until today, when I randomly thought of Chopper's for some reason. After a little digging, I re-discovered the Web site (it's not easy to find). It doesn't look like Chopper's has anything to do with jazz anymore (if it ever did).
Instead, Chopper's looks like your average bar. I called the number, hoping to speak with somebody about it, but the phone just rang, and the voicemail was full. Does anybody know what happened to the whole "jazz bar" thing at Chopper's?
(Baltimore Sun archive photo)
Erik Maza is a features reporter at the Baltimore Sun. He writes for several sections of the Sun paper and contributes weekly columns on music and nightlife. He also writes and edits the Midnight Sun blog. He often covers entertainment, business, and the business of entertainment. Occasionally, he writes about Four Loko, The Block, the liquor board, and those who practice "
Comments
you must have had some sort of psychic premonition, because speaking of pennsylvania avenue:
http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2009/07/20/daily46.html?ana=from_rss
Posted by: Jess B | July 23, 2009 4:54 PM
As another blogger put it: The BDC is a modernized government form of the mafia.
Like the corruption that just got exposed in NJ, Tony Soprano would give thumbs up on the way the BDC conducts itself.
Posted by: Tomato Head | July 25, 2009 2:46 PM
Chopper's Stop jazz on Tuesday for over a year ago because of the low turn out. Plz give me a call @ 443-682-0303
Posted by: TJ Bookah | January 11, 2010 5:25 PM