Issue link: http://theflywire.uberflip.com/i/383650
COTTON CLUB Residue from the previous snow fall still lined the sidewalks and curbs along Calvert Street. The brisk temperamental wind whistled through the concrete buildings along our corridor with urgency. I tightened the knit scarf around my neck bracing myself for the wind as I shuffled along the sidewalk towards the restaurant door. I was headed inside for a meeting with Shorty and John to plan out our Valentine week special. Last year we had a respectable Valentine week crowd. But this year we needed to exceed last year's numbers to demonstrate the true success of the restaurant. Based on last year's turnout for Valentine week, we knew space would be limited. Each table was valuable real estate. We'd been taking reservations for weeks. Duck, lamb, and steak were the spe- cials. The price was unbeatable; a whopping $65 per couple for a three course meal. It included a small complementary bottle of champagne. We were booked solid for dinner three to four days lead- ing up to Valentine's night. As to be expected, Valentine's night was insanely busy. Though the food was exceptional, the cuisine wasn't even the highlight of the evening. It was a special performance we arranged. Two months prior to Valentine's Day I was introduced to a very talented young tap dancer. He earned his street cred as a student at Maryland Institute College of Arts (MICA) performing anywhere he found an audience. A sidewalk full of onlookers was as enticing as a stage. His friends simply called him "Tap". It was how I referred to him as well. The perfect name for a young tap dancer with an even- keel demeanor who embraced his talent with a unique sense of humbleness; a humbleness not often found in young artists. When we met he provided me a spontaneous audition on the steps in front of an apartment building I owned at Wyanoke Ave. It was a spell bounding performance. This kid is really good, I thought. I knew I had to find some way to use him at the restaurant. Valentine's Day proved to be the perfect opportunity. We decided to hire Tap and another rising young star---a trum- peter and fellow graduate of MICA named Dontae Winslow to collaborate on a jazzy duet for the din- ner. Both were in their early twenties, but Dontae had already toured and performed with big names all over the country. Names like Winton Marsalis and Stevie Wonder were just a couple of artists he had already shared the stage with and he was just getting started. The plan was simple---Tap would dance as Dontae played his trumpet. Both young artist needed exposure and we wanted to do some- thing totally out of the box. So we quickly set the plan in motion. Once the two agreed to collaborate the rest was downhill. Cleve and I sat down with them to discuss ideas, but they didn't need us. Once they connected, the creative juices began to flow. What they came up with was nothing short of bril- liant. When they explained what they wanted to do we initially thought we'd need to have an entire stage built, which we'd done for other performer in the past like Kim Waters when he performed at the Grill. However, the performance would only last about twenty to thirty minutes, so that wouldn't be cost effective. Instead Cleve and I came up with a solution. And by Valentine's night the plan was fall- ing right into place. Excerpt from novel "Redwood" by A. Rod Womack