During the 1920s and ‘30s, a succession of jazz clubs flourished in the Golden West Hotel, an enterprise operated from 1920-27 by Russell “Noodles” Smith, who also ran the Coast Hotel with his wife, Elbe Smith, until they split up and she took over. Both establishments welcomed people of color, barred from downtown hotels. The Golden West was variously listed at 410, 416, 417 and 418 Seventh Avenue South, but the 410 entrance is where you are standing now. Pianist Palmer Johnson recalled playing in 1929 at “a joint up on the fourth or fifth floor of the Golden West Hotel” managed by vocalist Lillian Goode’s husband. In June, 1934, after beer (but not hard liquor) was legalized for sale in Washington taverns by the Steele Act a year earlier, Russell “Noodles” Smith’s sometime business partner Louis Todd moved the Little Harlem Club from the Coast Hotel to the Golden West, renaming it the Little Harlem Beer Tavern. The club became a sparkling social center for the African American community. Situated in a large room with a stage wide and deep enough to accommodate a floor show and chorus girls, the Little Harlem featured an in-house group, The Little Harlem Band (players unknown) and in 1935 presented the fledging Lionel Hampton band, from Los Angeles, on the Leschi ferry.
The Northwest Enterprise, June 12, 1936, announces the opening of
the Ubangi, formerly the Golden West. Note the large, decorated stage.
The Golden West Hotel is the building on the left, with a marquee in front, not the building with GOLDEN WEST HOTEL written on the edge of the roof. Over the years, the Golden West hosted three jazz clubs: the Golden West, the Little Harlem and the Ubangi.
(Washington State Archives).
Northwest Enterprise ad, June 28, 1934
Seattle Times ad June 4, 1936
The Little Harlem wound down at the end of 1935, but in June, 1936, Noodles reopened the venue as an even fancier place with potted palms and occasional national acts, advertising the entertainers in The Seattle Times. Called the Ubangi, the posh new venue kicked off with Los Angeles band leader Les Hite, along with New York vaudeville dancers Williams and Williams. College grads were among the folks who celebrated at the Ubangi, dancing to the music of Gene Coy (who earlier had whisked Seattle saxophonist Dick Wilson off to Texas), vocalists Eddie Rucker, Zelma Winslow and Evelyn Williamson (who later joined Hampton). The chorus line was a regular item in Black newspaper The Northwest Enterprise, which on July 19, 1937 reported: “The Ubangi patrons get quite a kick out of Junior Raglin when he picks up his dog house (string bass) and trucks on down with those swing numbers. Our scout tells us the floor show is veddy veddy good this week. Marking an all-time high in a string of good shows.”
Bruce Rowell, man about town and sometime alto saxophonist, helped Noodles run the Ubangi and was also responsible for managing the Ubangi Blackhawks, a community football team mounted by the club. Alas, all good things come to an end. In February, 1939, the Golden West Hotel was sold and the Ubangi was closed. But it went out with a bang, bringing Hite back for a return, farewell engagement. The Northwest Enterprise lamented the loss of the club as a major source of African American employment on the West Coast.
The Golden West Hotel today. The 410 address is the greyed out one on the left.