The story of jazz is often the story of struggle, and so appropriately, efforts to open Dodie’s Jazz Club on North Broad Street at the Lafitte Greenway have been a battle stretching over more than a decade. However, owner Sam Smith Jr. recently told What Now New Orleans that he’s planning for a 2024 opening.
Smith put a lot of sweat equity into what will be a traditional jazz club, bar, and restaurant; located in a building that he owns at 601 N. Broad St. He even built the club stage with his own two hands. At every turn, it seems, red tape has gotten in the way. Smith said he is currently looking to shore up funding ahead of a major push to open next year.
“It’s been quite a journey,” he said. “For the last few years, we’ve gone through all kinds of problems and situations where we’ve had to change stuff. We’ve had to shift this around and move that around.”
Smith said he bought the building 20 years ago. At the time, the Lafitte Greenway was just an idea being pushed by local organizers as a way to revitalize a disused rail line. Recently, a number of entertainment options have been opening along the Greenway, and some are saying it could become an entertainment destination like Bourbon Street and Frenchmen Street.
“Six months after I bought the building, a neighbor I knew at city hall said I bought the building at the right time because they were going to build something there called a ‘greenway,’” Smith said. “I knew nothing about it. But my neighbor at city hall gave me a printout with details and said, ‘This is all coming man!’”
“We’re on the outskirts of the French Quarter, where the heart, and the soul, and the roots of jazz were in the people that lived here,” he added. “We want the tourists to come here, but we want people from the neighborhood to be able to get back to what their roots were and listen to jazz, like what was happening in all the neighborhood clubs and bars that were here years ago.”
Dodie’s Jazz Club is a personal affair for Smith. It’s named after his sister Dodie Smith-Simmons, a major figure in the local jazz scene and renowned Civil Rights activist. After getting involved with the Freedom Riders, Smith-Simmons went on to become an instrumental figure at Preservation Hall and establish the Economy Hall jazz tent for the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
“She’s really been involved with local music and the legacy of Black and traditional jazz performers going back decades,” Smith said. “I couldn’t think of a better person to name this club after. I love her a lot and I appreciate her.”
