Boston's Lost Landmarks: Connolly's Stardust Room

BOSTON (CBS) - A nondescript lot located along Tremont Street across from Boston Police headquarters goes virtually unnoticed as drivers pass by.

Retired Boston school teacher Jim Botticelli, author of "Dirty Old Boston," described the scene perfectly.

Read-Listen: Boston's Lost Landmarks Series

"It's an unkempt abandoned lot to the right of the Whittier Street housing project, but years ago, it housed Connolly's Stardust Room, which believe it or not, was one of the most famous jazz houses in the Northeast," he told WBZ NewsRadio 1030.

"It had a famous Martini sign that was lit by neon. Unfortunately, time, age, weather and what have you made it look like a ghost of its former self, as did Connolly's itself, so if people drove past this place in the 90's, they saw something that probably looked like a place they'd never go. But if they knew of its history, they'd be lining up to get in there," he said.

Count Fred Taylor among jazz fans who stood in line.

Now the entertainment director of Scullers Jazz Club in Boston, he vividly remembers Connolly's Stardust Room before it closed in 1998.

"You'd walk in and the opening, there was a bar on the right, and a sort of settee on the left. Sometimes you would see owner Jim Connolly sprawled on that settee. He was quite a character," Taylor told WBZ.

Taylor loved the music. He remembers some of the big name performers, like Duke Ellington, Stan Getz, Jimmy Hodges, Sonny Stitt and a young Herbie Hancock.

Taylor calls it a real sore spot when he drives by the empty lot. He misses the heyday of jazz in Boston.

"Boston was swinging. There were so many great clubs. There was The High Hat, The Savoy and the Big M," he recalled.

Taylor ran Paul's Mall and the Jazz Workshop on Boylston Street from the mid 60's through the late 70's. He booked artists from Miles Davis to Bruce Springsteen. He says jazz is his passion.

"It has the rhythm of life, the heartbeat, the constant beat and that is the beat of jazz."

Coming up in part ten – a vacant concert hall 35 feet below Boylston Street.

Listen to Part 9