TRANSCRIPT:
Hi, I’m Mark Rapp, and this is Rapp on Jazz.
South Carolina has long been a crossroads for jazz, and some of its most potent moments happened in venues that may not even exist today, but their echoes still swing.
In Charleston, the Dixie Theatre once hosted top-tier Black entertainers during segregation. At the same time, the legendary Jenkins Orphanage Band played street corners and parades, turning the city into a training ground for jazz greatness.
Columbia also had its hot spots. The Carver Theatre and the Palmetto Ballroom were hubs for national acts passing through and local talent emerging. These stages saw everything from big band swing to bebop experiments.
These venues may be gone or changed, but they helped build South Carolina’s jazz legacy—one set at a time.
This has been Rapp on Jazz, a co-production of ColaJazz and South Carolina Public Radio, made possible by the ETV Endowment of South Carolina.