Portrait of a Chicago Community 

The following is a sample from the Jazz in The Alley Photo Collection © 1966-1976 

Photos taken by Jimmy Ellis 

"Jazz in The Alley" started in 1960 it was a series of jazz battles among DJs held in a garage. DJs would come every Sunday bringing their records and compete with each other. The people attending would judge who had the best music for that week. Later in the mid '60s, jam sessions were introduced to the city's back alley by Jimmy Ellis -the founder of live Jazz in the Alley. Ellis worked with Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson and other Chicago South Siders at the time. The jazz sets were held in the 1960s and 1970s —