Red Onion Story
The Red Onion Saloon is a two-story, early 20th century, brick and stucco building in the Central Business District, near the area once known as Black Storyville. The structure represents an early honky-tonk where early jazz was played. Historically, the first floor served as a bar while the second story was used as a commercial dance hall. The Red Onion had a reputation as a tough establishment, known for gambling and “out of-town women” from the Illinois Central railroad station across the street. Describing the Red Onion, Alfred Williams was quoted by Lee Collins as saying, “you can cut the funk in this place with a knife.” Leading musicians associated with the honky-tonk included Lee Collins, Johnny Dodds, Jelly Roll Morton, and Lorenzo Tio. In 1924, Clarence Williams, a New Orleans songwriter, publisher, promoter, and pianist, organized a New York recording session with a group he named the Red Onion Jazz Babies, in honor of this notorious dive. The band included Louis Armstrong and Sidney Bechet, who had both played in the Red Onion. Williams also wrote “Red Onion Blues.”
