GRAND OPENING: Churchill Grounds resurrected

From the minute you walk through the door, you feel the vibe. Weathered brick walls adorned with photographs of jazz luminaries. Wooden tables and chairs arrayed around a perfectly proportioned curved stage. Polished wood floors, stair railings and trim. Wood-paneled bar tucked into the back of the room. Subdued lighting, sympathetic acoustics. This is a comfortably refined room for purposeful listening.

Churchill Grounds, the jazz club founded in 1997 by the late Sam Yi, is back in full swing.

Originally located in a retail storefront next to the Fox Theater, Churchill Grounds served for nearly two decades as a proving ground, experimental laboratory and celebrated showcase for local and touring jazz musicians before closing in 2016. Today, Churchill Grounds has been resurrected as the anchor venue for the Mary Lou Williams Jazz Center, a multi-purpose enterprise founded by longtime jazz musician Will Scruggs operating as the Cornerstone Jazz Collective LLC.

INSERT #1 Stage From Floor X Rebecca Fishman

Located in the historic white marble Art Deco building on East Trinity Place in downtown Decatur, which previously housed the city’s main post office and, later, a nuts, candy and sundries store, the Mary Lou Williams Jazz Center is gearing up for a Grand Opening Celebration. Beginning Friday, Nov. 27, the 10-day event will feature nationally renowned artists and leading figures from the Atlanta jazz community in an unprecedented series of collaborations and programs.

Born Mary Elfieda Scruggs in 1910 in the eastside neighborhood of Edgewood, Mary Lou Williams was a gifted pianist, composer, arranger and educator. She was active in the jazz community from the 1920s until her death in 1981 (she performed at the Atlanta Jazz Festival in 1980). A half-century ago, in the 1940s and ‘50s, Williams’ apartment in Harlem was a workshop and salon for a cadre of jazz revolutionaries including Bud Powell, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Tadd Dameron and Thelonious Monk, who were leading a movement that was eventually labeled bebop.

“Mary Lou Williams is one of the most important yet under-recognized artists in jazz history,” says Scruggs. “To a non-jazz person, the easiest way to describe her is that she was the female equivalent of Duke Ellington.”

INSERT #2 MLW Front by Tyler West

Like every jazz musician and aficionado in Atlanta, Scruggs was stung by the closing of Churchill Grounds ten years ago and the passing of club founder Yi (born Hyong Kun) in 2025. After the club closed, Yi remained committed to establishing a permanent venue for jazz in the city. His efforts spawned pop-up spots and a regular Monday night jam session at TenATL in East Atlanta.

“I have to give huge props to Sam,” Scruggs says, “He was such a beautiful guy and helped so many musicians. There’s so much goodwill and so much love out there for him.”

The revival of Churchill Grounds began in 2023. For several years prior, Scruggs had been booking music for Ray's on the River, the restaurant known for its scenic view of the Chattahoochee River and for staging live jazz, blues and soul music since the mid-1980s. In preparation for selling the business, founder Ray Schoenbaum pulled the plug on the music. Scruggs negotiated a severance package, which included the restaurant’s piano.

“That was the beginning of, okay, let's stop complaining about this problem,” Scruggs says. “There are enough people around who want to make a change in the jazz scene and maybe there's a way to get them all to come together.”

INSERT #3 Scruggs on Sax by Rich Ambler

As a real estate investor, Scruggs knew the commercial market. When the owners of Greene’s Fine Foods announced that they were moving to a different location, he saw the potential for a multi-use facility in the formidable white marble building, which was constructed in 1935 under a federal works project program. In addition to Churchill Grounds, the Mary Lou Williams Center houses Clave by Mojitos (a Cuban-themed restaurant) and Scruggs Woodwinds, an instrument repair business and music school.

“We already have jazz classes going,” says Scruggs. “Gordon Vernick is teaching history and Dr. Tyrone Jackson is teaching theory. We have a youth combo that's going to open for one of our grand opening, artists and we’re working on establishing a scholarship fund.”

In the new clubroom, which seats about 140 people on the main floor and 40 on a mezzanine, veteran Churchill Grounds patrons will recognize the seats and tables, as well as paneling and trim, from Sam Yi’s Peachtree joint. The shape, size, and proportions of the room make use of angled surfaces to diffuse the direction of sound waves and reduce the length they travel between the source and listener. The PA system and speaker placement were designed to ensure that what the audience hears is as close as possible to the natural acoustic sound made by the musical instruments.

When designing the stage, an important consideration was the distribution of personnel and instruments for a wide range of band sizes. For determining the upper limit, who better to consult than Joe Gransden, longtime Atlanta-based musician and bandleader with deep ties to the original Churchill Grounds experience and environs.

“Even though the building wasn't finished yet, one day we set up my big band as if we were going play that night to see whether we could squeeze everybody on the stage,” Gransden says.

On Tuesday, Dec. 1, Gransden will squeeze his big band onto the Churchill Grounds stage along with special guest and fellow trumpeter Russell Gunn. Like Gransden, Gunn’s jazz journey includes an extended association with the original Churchill Downs.

“When I came back from New York. Sam gave me Wednesday nights,” Gransden recalls. “Thursday night was Russell Gunn's band. He would come to my gig, listen and sit in with us. Then we would have drinks at the bar and hang out. On Thursday nights, I would come hear his band play and have drinks with him afterwards. Getting to know Russell and Sam and be part of that scene, that really was a wonderful time in my life.”

The first concert of the 10-day Mary Lou Williams Jazz Center Grand Opening is a two-day stand featuring TANKTIFIED, otherwise known as Grammy Award-winning drummer, composer and producer Terreon Gully joined by internationally acclaimed vibraphonist Stefon Harris. Born in East St. Louis, Illinois, Gully honed his chops mainly in New York City. Since 1996, he has maintained a residence in Atlanta.

“More than anything, I’m excited that the city finally has a proper, international-level home for jazz, which is long overdue,” says Gully. “For years we’ve had talent, history and a deep scene, but not a dedicated room that could consistently present world-class artists at the level they deserve. Now, when the greats want to come through, Atlanta won’t just be a festival stop.”

Naturally, the new Churchill Downs sparks memories of the original venue, especially for artists who got their start there. Renowned jazz and gospel singer-songwriter Lizz Wright was born in Hahira in Lowndes County on the Georgia-Florida border. She started singing and playing piano in church as a child. As a high school chorister in Warner Robins, she received the National Choral Award. Upon graduation, Wright moved to Atlanta and studied singing at Georgia State University.

“Churchill Grounds is certainly a part of the beginning of my story as a jazz artist,” says Wright who is scheduled to perform with longtime collaborator pianist/organist Kenny Banks, Sr., on Saturday, Dec. 5. “The Atlanta jazz community was one of the first to receive me and share a lot of things with me. The opening of what is essentially Churchill Grounds 2.0 is a wonderful way for the Atlanta jazz community to collect memories and celebrate new dreams as well.”

The impetus to stage a 10-day grand opening celebration stemmed from the deluge of pleas from artists and fans who heard the news and wanted to know how they could be involved or get tickets for the “grand opening concert.” One evening was not going to meet the need.

“We didn’t have the budget to get a superstar, but then we envisioned a multi-day celebration that would include as many people as possible,” Scruggs says. “We scored a couple of heavy hitters, and then others started calling us with interest in being a part of the event.”

At press time, the Churchill Grounds Grand Opening lineup includes numerous artists with local and Georgia connections including acclaimed saxophonist and Spelman alumna Tia Fuller, who toured internationally with Beyoncé’s band; a two-night stand featuring Waynesboro native Wycliffe Gordon, one of the most celebrated trombonists of his generation, veteran of the Wynton Marsalis Septet and original member of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra; Atlanta-based sax star David Sanchez; and multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer and designer of the Stretch Music App, Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah, who (according to Scruggs) is moving to Atlanta.

That’s quite the bill for the opening of a club named by and for a Seoul, South Korea-born, California- and Tennessee-raised, coffee-loving jazz hound with an abiding fondness for Churchill cigars.

Reflecting on the saga, Gransden says, “I already feel at home when I'm in there, and I think that this is going to be an iconic place bridging the gap between the original and the new Churchill Grounds.” —CL—