Kansas City tikiphile here who was born and raised in St Louis, so it's always neat to come across posts like this. Even if it is a year later. th
Quartet Tres Bien was a St Louis based jazz quartet who ventured into afro/latin exotica occasionally and cut numerous jazz albums. The title track off their album Kilamanjaro being a prime example.
Found this little write-up about The Dark Side club from owner Bob Anslyn in a story on Ancestry.com of all places.
THE TRUE BEGINNING OF GASLIGHT SQUARE..................... "In the late
1950's, four lounges existed in the Olive Street/ Boyle Area in midtown St.
Louis. These lounges were - The Golden Eagle - Vanity Fair - Smoky Joe's And
Crystal Palace. Two blocks to the west was a small lounge called LeJazz Hot.
Steve McQueen was living in this area in the late 50's. At this time the
area was not known as Gaslight Square.
In December 1959, I opened the first new lounge in the Olive Street/ Boyle
Area. This lounge was called The Dark Side. A young man I met in the area
became my bartender, his named was RED GARNER.
In the early 1960's, the original four lounge owners named the area Gaslight
Square. Several lounges began opening up and down Olive Street. The area
was popular with the Suit and Tie Crowd. Dixieland music at the Golden Eagle
Opera
House, Afro/Cuban jazz at the Dark Side, Joe And Charles Lounge became a very
popular lounge with the Clayton crowd. The Crystal Palace bringing in new
singers and comedians such as BARBARA STREISAND, THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS.
The owners of the Crystal Palace [The Landsdemens] brought in off-Broadway
shows like A Walk on the Wild Side. Other lounges such as the Roaring
Twenties, and O'Connell's Bar became meeting places for the fun bunch the
area flourished until the later part of the mid 1960's when Rock and Roll and
the Go-go Dances became not just in a few places but completing taking over
the area. The Young Rock and Roll Set took over the area and the Suit and
Tie set migrated back to the county.
By the early 1970's the Gaslight Square area was gone. Joe & Charles moved
to Clayton, MO, Golden Eagle moved to the Soho area by Kings Highway and
Linell and O'Connell's moved to Kings Highway and Shaw.
Remember me, BOB ANSLYN who built the Dark Side and his bartender friend Red
Garner, well, after a few years with Playboy both Red and I went different
ways. I [Bob Anslyn ] became a business man in Kansas City and my friend Red
Garner continued to tend bar. By the way, anytime you want to talk Gaslight
Square Trivia go to O'Connell's Bar on Kings Highway and Shaw. Just walk in
an look behind the Bar, RED GARNER is still there. "
As far as I can tell, Bob still lives here in KC with his wife Grace.
