Opening Day: Saturday, February 6, Noon, Hotel Marshall Lobby (1122 7th Street), Sacramento

Second Tour: Saturday, February 13, Noon, Hotel Marshall Lobby (1122 7th Street), Sacramento

In conjunction with “Art Hotel” by M5Arts, Preservation Sacramento is working in conjunction with other local history nonprofits to present a unique walking tour of Sacramento’s musical, social, and architectural history, and a look inside the lobby of the Marshall Hotel, an architectural landmark that will be radically altered by forthcoming development on the site.

The interpretive display and tour tells the story of downtown Sacramento’s jazz clubs, from the early days of ragtime through the big-band swing era and the bebop jazz of the Beat Generation. Many of these clubs were located in the old West End, a densely populated interracial neighborhood of immigrants and migrants, and along the K Street business district. Many of the sites associated with Sacramento’s jazz history are gone, but some survive to the present day. The tour includes a list of these defiant survivors, and a list of places long since demolished by redevelopment, demonstrating the value of what was lost and what remains to tell the story of Sacramento’s musical legacy in the present day. One of the stops on the tour, the Clayton Club, was located inside the Marshall Hotel, making the Hotel Marshall lobby an ideal site for this tour and its interpretive display to begin.

Both West End Jazz Tour events begin at noon with a series of interpretive panels and historic photographs in the lobby of the Marshall Hotel, accompanied by a brief introduction by historian William Burg (designer of the exhibit) and musical accompaniment by the Harley White Jr. Combo, playing swing jazz of the 1940s and 1950s, as it was performed at the Clayton Club, a long-lost jazz club located inside the Marshall Hotel’s ground floor. At 12:30, the tour departs for a leisurely stroll down K Street, visiting some of the buildings where Sacramento’s jazz music scene evolved, and a few sites where long-lost jazz clubs once stood. The tour will circle back to the Marshall Hotel lobby for more music by approximately 1:15 PM. The walking tour will cover approximately one mile, and is ADA accessible.

Tour brochures will be available for those wishing to take the tour on their own; feedback on the tour’s content and design is encouraged in order to facilitate its future inclusion as part of the Sacramento Heritage Inc. walking tour smartphone/tablet app.

All ages are welcome to attend and there is no admission charge. Contributions to Preservation Sacramento, Sacramento County Historical Society, or the M5Arts “Art Hotel” project are welcome but not required for attendance. Both walking tours will occur during the “Art Hotel” exhibit inside the Jade Apartments, directly adjacent to the Marshall Hotel on 7th Street between K and L Street. “Art Hotel” is also free, and we encourage visitors to explore both buildings before their forthcoming demolition. More information about “Art Hotel” can be found at m5arts.com .