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ENTITY · VENUE

Glass Bucket Club

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A Half Way Tree Road nightclub in St. Andrew, opened 22 December 1934 under Bob Webster and later run by Joe Abner, one of two rival society clubs of the era, the other being the Silver Slipper at Cross Roads. Like its rival it first served white upper-class Jamaicans and tourists in gowns and tuxedos to Vaudeville-style music popular in the United States, then adapted as tastes moved to big-band orchestra.

Sitting at the junction of uptown and downtown Kingston, it was quicker than the Silver Slipper to welcome ska, carrying the music from its downtown roots at Chocomo Lawn to an uptown audience; Tommy McCook of the Skatalites performed there. As centenarian Evelyn Matalon put it, "The Glass Bucket was the place to go on a Saturday night." Later renamed VIP, it eventually closed; the site is now a plaza.

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Confidence
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Sources
Heather Augustyn, "Ska at the Glass Bucket" (skabook.com, 15 Oct 2013); Jamaica Gleaner, "Story of the Song: Jamaica Ska lifts beat over barbed wire" (11 Oct 2009); Hill and Gully (TV interview with centenarian Evelyn Matalon); corroborated by setlist.fm dated concert listing and Caribbean National Weekly.
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In stories

Story · Well supportedJamaica's nightclub circuit

Not every Jamaican dance happened under the sky. From 1930s society clubs to Portmore's dancehall rooms, some of it happened behind a cover charge, a bar and a roof.

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Compiled and researched by The Jamaica Music Atlas music desk. The sources that informed it are credited above.

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