The Pythodd Room

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The Pythodd Room

Overview
The Pythodd Room was a well-known jazz club in Rochester, New York. It stood at 159 Troup Street in the historic Third Ward, a neighborhood with a vibrant Black community. The club could hold about 240 people, and at times more than 400 people attended.

History
- It began in the 1930s as a meeting place for two Black benevolent societies, the Colored Knights of Pythias and the Odd Fellows.
- In 1942 it became a membership-based social club.
- Around 1953, the land was sold and The Pythodd opened to the public as a music venue. Early managers included Stewart Hendricks (brother of jazz singer Jon Hendricks) and Roy King.
- In 1965 the Thomas family, led by Stanley Thomas Sr. and later his son Stan Thomas Jr., took over. Stan Jr. reopened the club in 1968 and ran it through 1973.
- The Pythodd hosted many famous musicians who helped shape jazz, including Pee Wee Ellis, Ron Carter, Roy McCurdy, Steve Gadd, the Mangione brothers, Alice Coltrane, George Benson, and others. It was a key stop on the national Chitlin’ Circuit, a network of Black venues supporting Black performers during segregation.
- In its early days the club was a community gathering place, but by the 1950s it had become a prominent jazz venue drawing audiences from Rochester and beyond.

Closure and Aftermath
- The Pythodd Room closed in September 1973 due to urban renewal in the Clarissa Street area and a decline in jazz’s popularity with younger audiences.
- Attempts to revive the venue with disco failed, and the building was eventually demolished and replaced with a parking lot.
- The club’s cultural importance lives on in local memory and history projects.

Legacy
- The Pythodd’s story helped inspire renewed interest in Clarissa Street’s history and Rochester’s jazz heritage. The Pythodd Jazz Reunion and the Clarissa Street Reunion keep the memory of the venue alive.
- In the late 2010s and early 2020s, projects like Clarissa Uprooted collected oral histories and produced exhibits, including a full-sized replica of The Pythodd stage.
- The University of Rochester created a digital archive called The Spirit of the Pythodd in 2020.
- A mural commemorating The Pythodd and the Clarissa Street neighborhood was painted over an I-490 overpass in 2023.