Jack Byrd, the younger brother of famed jazz guitarist Charlie Byrd, is expected to join fellow musicians Chuck Redd and Robert Redd today in a tribute to The Casino, the legendary Nags Head venue that for decades attracted top live musical entertainment to the beach resort ...
Jack Byrd, the younger brother of famed jazz guitarist Charlie Byrd, is expected to join fellow musicians Chuck Redd and Robert Redd today in a tribute to The Casino, the legendary Nags Head venue that for decades attracted top live musical entertainment to the beach resort.
“I think that this will be a dress rehearsal for an oral history presentation in the spring,” said Chaz Winkler, a member of the Outer Banks History Center Associates board, the sponsor of the fund raising event at Roanoke Island Festival Park in Manteo. Winkler said the event launches an effort to revitalize the music scene on the Outer Banks. “We don’t only want to look backward, we also want to move forward.”
Featuring the music of Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Glenn Miller, Fats Domino and other jazz greats, the program will honor the artists who performed at the club.
Three generations of Outer Banks residents and visitors enjoyed dancing at the club, located in a wooden building across from Jockey’s Ridge. Built originally in 1930, The Casino was born under the vision of Ras Wescott. On the ground floor, there were bowling lanes. Upstairs, there was a large dance floor, a band stand and a bar. The air conditioning was simply big open, screenless windows and ceiling fans.
Jack Byrd, 76, said he remembers cajoling Wescott to book his eight-piece band for summer gigs by singing Irish songs with him.
“He was a good Irishman,” Byrd said by telephone.
Byrd, five years younger than his late brother Charlie, plays guitar. He said the predicted bad weather might delay his arrival. A strong cold front is expected to reach coastal areas late in the day or this evening, likely bringing wind and rain, according to the National Weather Service.
Chuck Redd, artist in residence at the Smithsonian Jazz Cafe and an internationally renowned vibraphonist, toured as a drummer with the Charlie Byrd Trio from 1980 until Byrd’s death in 1999.
Although his resume is more modest, Redd’s brother Robert has drawn acclaim as a jazz pianist who has appeared at Blues Alley, a jazz supper club in Washington, D.C. He is a member of the Keter Betts Quartet.