Cambridge’s Ryles Jazz Club Closes This Weekend – Eater Boston

https://boston.eater.com/2018/6/29/17517566/ryles-jazz-club-cambridge-closing
 
Ryles Jazz Club Shutters This Weekend
The Inman Square institution has a sold out crowd for its final public performance
Dana HaticJun 29, 2018, 8:45am EDT

Ryles Jazz ClubRyles Jazz Club/Facebook
Ryles Jazz Club (212 Hampshire St., Cambridge) will hear its last set this weekend. The Inman Square institution that’s provided an intimate setting for patrons to listen to soulful, spirited musicians and jazz acts for more than 40 years will close down as promised, as the owners have decided to sell the building.
With one final (sold out) public show on Friday featuring Soul City Band, Ryles bids farewell to the neighborhood with an invite-only event on Saturday, June 30.
Ryles first opened in 1977 under the direction of Jack Reilly, a longtime fixture of Cambridge’s music scene who previously ran his namesake club, Jacks, in Harvard Square. Reilly, who died in 2016 at 98, made Ryles a destination for both acclaimed musicians and those just starting out, including students from Berklee College of Music across the river in Boston.
In 1994, the Mitchell family of S&S Restaurant and Deli across the street purchased Ryles and invested in upgrades for the club, which spans two levels and has offered dancing on the second floor in addition to live music on the first. When the family announced the impeding closure of the club in February of this year, owner Gary Mitchell cited a desire to focus efforts on S&S, which will celebrate 100 years in business in 2019. The Ryles building was put up for sale with a deed restriction “that prohibits the new owner from opening a restaurant, bar, gourmet food store or music venue.”
Though Ryles’ final show is sold out, the Mitchell family is reportedly consideredselling the Ryles name, so maybe one day the jazz club will get new life elsewhere in the city.
• In a Sentimental Mood at Ryles [BG]
• After 40 Years, Owners of Ryles Jazz Club in Cambridge Are Selling [BG]
• Ryles Jazz Club, a Cambridge Institution, Is Closing [EBOS]
• Ryles Jazz Club [Official Site]
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