Famous people's places / Detroit – Virginia Park
Klein's Show Bar
Closed – archive entry · 1960
A Virginia Park jazz club on 12th Street where Yusef Lateef led the house band for five years and Barry Harris, Kenny Burrell and Pepper Adams all worked, before it changed hands in 1960 and was later cleared for redevelopment.
01 / The story of this place
Make time for these
George Klein ran Klein's Show Bar for 23 years at 8540 12th Street (today's Rosa Parks Boulevard) in Detroit's Virginia Park neighborhood, building it into one of the city's premier jazz rooms alongside a working auto repair shop next door. Saxophonist and flutist Yusef Lateef led the house band there for five years through the mid-1950s, recording his debut album Jazz for the Thinker with musicians drawn from that steady gig, and pianist Barry Harris served as house pianist in 1953 and 1954. Guitarist Kenny Burrell led a group there in 1954 and 1955 that baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams joined and later directed, and national touring acts including Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis with John Coltrane, and Sonny Stitt all played Klein's in a single year, 1959, alone. Klein sold the club around 1960; it was renamed Club 12 and later the Bambu Room, survived the 1967 Detroit riot, and was eventually demolished as the surrounding blocks were cleared for the Virginia Park urban renewal development.
- Detroit jazz club at 8540 12th Street in Virginia Park
- Yusef Lateef led the house band here for five years in the 1950s
- Pepper Adams and Kenny Burrell's group played here in 1954-1955
- Monk, Miles Davis with Coltrane, and Sonny Stitt all appeared in 1959
- Sold around 1960, later demolished for the Virginia Park redevelopment
Famous Detroiters
Famous people tied to this place 3
Lexicon entries for the people who lived, worked, performed or liked to spend time here.
- Kenny Burrell born 1931 · jazz guitarist, composer, educator
Performed here
Detroit jazz club where he led the house group that Pepper Adams joined in late 1954.
- Pepper Adams 1930–1986 · jazz baritone saxophonist, composer
Performed here
He joined Kenny Burrell's group here in late 1954 and later became its musical director.
- Frank Gant 1931–2021 · jazz drummer
Performed here
Detroit club where Gant, as house drummer with Alvin Jackson's band, backed Thelonious Monk and Charlie Rouse in September 1959; location not documented.
Sources & fact check · Checked: 2026-09-25
An independently written bilingual guide. This collection is not an attendance-based ranking.
03 / Events
Events at this place
Published events automatically linked from our event guide. Times are local to the venue.
We have no published upcoming events linked to this place yet. That does not mean the venue has no events; check its official calendar too.
Source and former website ↗