Wally’s Cafe, located on 427 Massachusetts Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., originally opened across the street on January 1, 1947, by Joseph L. Walcott.

Venue: Wally's Cafe
Address: 427 Massachusetts Ave, Boston, MA 02118
Town: South End, US

Wally’s Cafe, located on 427 Massachusetts Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., originally opened across the street on January 1, 1947, by Joseph L. Walcott. Formerly Wally’s Paradise, the institution is recognized as one of Boston’s oldest and longest-operating jazz clubs. Through the 1950s, Wally’s stage offered a home to a reliable core of local jazz musicians, including the likes of Fat Man Robinson, Bunny Campbell, Art Foxall, Herbie and Roland Lee, Joe Perry, Stanley Trotman, Sabby Lewis, and Mabel Robinson. Outliving all the neighboring jazz institutions, Wally’s Cafe was given the ‘historic’ label in 1997 by the City of Boston’s Business Heritage Project for staying in business for over 25 years. Notable non-musical celebrities Angela Davis and Bill Murray have both been cited dancing at the historic Boston club. Emigrating from his homeland Barbados to the United States of America in 1910, "Wally" worked various jobs to support his family before opening Wally’s Paradise in 1947. During the prohibition, while living at 610 Columbus Avenue, Wally operated a buffet flat as a bootlegger, a common practice for people living in apartments on Columbus Avenue. Wally’s most notable job was as a taxi driver where he would meet James Curley, Boston’s mayor at the time. Without the help of the mayor, it would have been impossible for Wally to be granted a liquor license. But, seeing an opportunity to win over Black votes in the upcoming election, Curley paved the way for Wally to become the first Black man in all of New England to own both a nightclub and a liquor license. When asked why he wanted to open the club, Wally gave two reasons. Firstly, he wanted a space for Black patrons to be able to enjoy live music seeing as no other options were available. The second reason was the potential economic security it offered him and his family. Walcott died in 1998 at the age of 101, and his family continues to manage Wally’s Cafe to this day. Over the course of his life,