Once seated, the patrons would be greeted by a comedian acting as MC, such as Jack Gilford or Zero Mostel (the latter known to most people today as Gene Wilder’s opposite number in Mel Brooks’s The Producers). They might see a satirical sketch on the progress of Hitler, whose distorted effigy hung from the ceiling. There might be a featured vocalist such as Billie Holiday or Lena Horne, or a pianist such as Mary Lou Williams or Art Tatum.

The trouble with a satirical inversion of celebrity is that it can all too easily attract real celebrities, which is what happened at Café Society, especially when Josephson opened a more upmarket branch further downtown. But the celebrities were of a particular kind, associated with New Deal politics and the Federal Arts Project. Orson Welles, Nelson Rockefeller, Charlie Chaplin and Lauren Bacall were often seen, along with scruffy bohemians and out-of-work actors.

“It was a time of awakening for me,” said Lena Horne years later. “Thanks to the whole atmosphere around Barney’s clubs, which was friendly and secure, I began to interest myself in matters like Civil Rights and equal opportunities for everyone.”

After the war, when friendliness towards the Soviet Union swiftly turned to fear, and all forms of Leftism were suspect, Josephson fell under a cloud — particularly when his brother Leon, a prominent member of the Communist Party, was convicted for contempt of court. The celebrities suddenly fell away, and in 1948 Josephson was forced to sell up. The general decline of club culture contributed to the fading of Café Society from the cultural memory; Cold War suspicion of anything left-wing completed the job.

The show Café Society Swing, soon to open at London’s Leicester Square Theatre, may help to retrieve this astonishing episode in America’s history from oblivion.

“I’m constantly amazed that people have never heard of this story,” says China Moses, the jazz singer who’s one of the three singers taking part in the show.

Among her songs is Strange Fruit, often called the first great protest song of modern times. It was sung for the first time at Café Society, by Billie Holiday.

“I find it the hardest song of all to sing,” says Moses. “This is a song about lynching, which was still going in those days, and it’s so hard and bitter. But I feel a kind of duty to sing it because I enjoy the freedoms won by my ancestors, and I have to honour them as best I can.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandjazzmusic/10489551/Cafe-Society-the-groundbreaking-c...