Sense of Place: This Boston jazz club has thrived in Boston for nearly 80 years

Running a music venue is hard work. It’s also risky — many venues don’t make it. But for almost eighty years, Wally’s Cafe Jazz Club has not only survived, but thrived in Boston.

Wally’s was opened in 1947 by a Barbadian immigrant named Joseph L. Walcott, and it’s still owned and operated by his family.

For our Sense of Place: Boston series, Walcott’s great-grandson Frank Poindexter welcomes you into Wally’s and shares the club’s story. He’ll talk about how Boston, a city full of talented music students, has shaped Wally’s. He’ll also talk about how Wally’s has shaped Boston — and helped start a wave of integration when it first opened as a place where black and white people could listen to jazz together.

photo by George Murphy for WXPN

This episode of World Cafe was produced and edited by Kimberly Junod. The web story was created by Miguel Perez. Our engineer is Chris Williams. Our programming and booking coordinator is Chelsea Johnson and our line producer is Will Loftus.