Ellington

If it weren't for the deep teal blue sign perpendicular to the street, I wouldn't have noticed the unassuming rectangle of concrete blocks at 3028 W. Northside Drive. Caleb Hampton, a Jacksonian who will turn 56 on Jan. 1, has owned and operated Hamp's Place, what I call an old-school-style club, since 1997. He opened his first club, Stardust, in 1975, back behind Hamp's on the Strip—on Moonbeam Street, just one block past Sunray Drive. It took some convincing by a friend who ran Birdland, but finally Hampton gave in. "I said, 'I'm going to try it for a minute,' and I've been trying it ever since," he told me in a deep, quietly resonant voice.

Saturday, most people's party night, is one of the club's busy nights. For a $5 cover, you get DJ Slam's music and lights; on Saturday the crowd is younger—more under-25-year-olds. It might surprise you, though, that the other busy night is Wednesday—until you realize that Henry Rhodes, one of the Jackson Music Awards' Kings of R&B—usually performs to a packed dance floor, backed by the Mo' Money band and joined by singers Michael Robinson and Genesis. People from 25 to 70 come out that night to hear an alternative to the weekend's hip-hop sound. "Everybody doesn't like rap." Hampton said.

Amazingly, there is no cover on Wednesday. "I swallow that loss. I have to do something for my older customers; they [have] supported me for so long. These are the people who've been with me all 28 years." One customer and her husband like to remind Hampton that, since they met years ago at the Stardust, he's the reason they're together.

Clarence Hogan, a retired schoolteacher, manages the club, where real cocktails are popular. "We sell a lot of apple martinis and Amaretto sours," Hampton told me as we sat on the comfortable teal green bar stools. "I got those from Harrah's poker room when they remodeled," he explained. Behind the bar, on step-like shelves, are bottles and bottles of spirits and mixes, each with a red or black plastic spout. Near the cash register are packs of cigarettes, Alka Seltzer and BC Powder. A friend made the "Players Cup," Hampton said they call it, that's nicely displayed in a lucite Louis the XIIIth cognac case; gold and black and sparkling rhinestones spell out "Hamp's."

Hampton likes what he does. "If I didn't, I'd be out; I'd have gone to the house."
On Dec. 31 you can groove to DJ Slam and enjoy New Year's Eve party favors at Hamp's Place, for $15 a couple until 11 p.m., then $15 a head after 11 p.m.