Clarence Baker, 93; Owned Famous Detroit Jazz Club

Clarence Baker, 93, intermittent owner and force behind one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious jazz clubs, died Sunday of natural causes in a hospital in Royal Oak, Mich.

Baker’s Keyboard Lounge in Detroit was founded in 1934 by his father, Chris, as a restaurant called Baker’s. The younger Baker persuaded his father to add live piano music in the evenings, then took over running the club in 1939. The celebrated jazz pianist Art Tatum helped pick out the club’s first grand piano in the 1950s, about the time Baker installed his trademark curved bar decorated as a keyboard.

Among the jazz greats who performed at Baker’s club were John Coltrane, Oscar Peterson, Dave Brubeck, Bill Evans, Dizzy Gillespie and Stan Getz.

Baker’s devotion to the club was as great as his commitment to jazz. He sold the lounge and bought it back nearly half a dozen times before finally turning over the keys to current owner John Colbert in 1996. Until then, fearful that the cozy 100-seat club might fail, Baker retained control of the real estate, selling only the management side of the business and arranging lease agreements. Each time a new owner ran into trouble, Baker bought it back.