Woonsocket, Rhode Island, doesn’t look like a major destination. An hour’s drive southwest of Boston, the small city has corporate parks and a Holiday Inn Express — like any other in New England.
But for music lovers across the country, visiting Woonsocket is a bucket-list item: for the chance to spend an evening at Chan’s Fine Oriental Dining and Lounge.
One of the last supper clubs on the national touring circuit, Chan’s is a deeply respected venue for jazz and blues acts. Housed in a converted bank vault, the 130-seat club is stuffed with dinner tables and walls dripping in art. On a recent night, regulars shook hands across tables and the smell of Cantonese comfort food wafted from the kitchen. Servers flitted around jotting down last-minute requests. In the middle of it all was the owner, John Chan, checking in on each of his patrons.
“Tonight, we’re having spicy Szechuan string beans, Singapore rice noodles, some Chinese roast duck,” John said, smiling as he gestured at dishes on a table. “The roast duck is better than Chinatown.”
As forks clink against plates, the lights fade and the music rises. The evening’s act is the Martha’s Vineyard–based band Johnny Hoy and the Bluefish, and the crowd can’t get enough. In between sets, the band’s piano player, Jeremy Berlin, called Chan’s a legendary name in the music world.
“There’s nothing like it. It’s the hybrid of a world-class jazz and blues club and a real traditional Chinese restaurant, where you come into a room and you see paper dragons hanging from the ceiling and some of the great jazz and blues players performing,” he said.
While the restaurant has been in his extended family since 1905, John’s father bought it from a cousin in 1965. It was John’s idea to add music to the menu after his time as a student at Providence College in the mid-1970s.
“My roommates were DJs for the school’s radio station and they would bring home some of the great new releases — jazz, rhythm and blues, soul albums,” John said. “And I said, ‘This stuff’s pretty nice.’”
The first act took the stage in 1977, and the club’s reputation blossomed. By the early ’80s, beloved Boston-area radio personality (and GBH’s own) Ron Della Chiesa coined the slogan, “Chan’s: Home of egg rolls, jazz and blues,” and the legend was born.
“For the first four or five years, it was the hardest thing getting people to come up north from Providence. And now they say that they’ve never been to Woonsocket, but they’ve been to Chan’s,” John said. “So they come from all over now.”
With his signature pencil mustache and an impish twinkle in his eye, John is quick to show guests around. The club has an eclectic design, with teak tiles on the ceiling and hundreds of artworks depicting jazz greats, many of whom have performed here. Framed family photos hang alongside pictures of John shaking Tony Bennett’s hand. There’s a golden record donated by J. Geils, the legendary blues rock guitarist and founder of The J. Geils Band, for the club’s 25th anniversary.
Everywhere you look, his love and care are visible. The space is a temple to all things John holds dear — good food, good art and really good music.
“John Chan is a huge music fan,” Berlin said. “He’s the best kind of club owner because he truly loves the music, and he has a wide spectrum of what he likes.”
Chan’s has long hosted world-class acts, including Leon Redbone, Livingston Taylor, and Dizzy Gillespie — but perhaps more importantly, it’s also been a cornerstone of the local music scene, giving young artists a chance to hone their craft.
Many have gone on to become famous and John lists them off like family members:
“Shamika Copeland, she’s one of the biggest blues divas in the world today; Monster Mike Welch; Princess Grace Kelly, the saxophonist. I mean, she’s amazing — so they all have played here through the years, and now they’re in their 30s and 40s and they still come back.”
While Chan’s is beloved by music acts across the country, it’s also a local haunt for the Woonsocket community. Jerry McManus first came to Chan’s about 20 years ago, and became a regular. He’s at the club about three times a month.
“I like the ambience. ... There’s not a bad seat in the house. The food’s good, the prices are reasonable, no ‘standing room only’ baloney,” McManus said. “I’ve been to blues clubs all across the country in the last 10 years, and there’s not one that can hold a match to this.”
Every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night, there’s also karaoke in the back lounge, which could more accurately be described as a cozy townie bar attached to a jazz club. It’s as packed as the rest of the place. Raeann Fernandez, a regular at the karaoke mic, said the power of Chan’s can be distilled in one word: “Friends.”
“They always know your name, they listen to you, they all love you,” she said. “It’s like ‘Cheers,’ you always wanna go where everybody knows your name!”
Supper clubs like Chan’s are few and far between these days, but the scarcity of opportunities to experience live music like this, with a belly full of comfort food and a room full of friends, is what drives John.
“I’m running two of the hardest businesses to operate,” he said. “The restaurant business and entertainment. But it works. I’m passionate about it and I enjoy it. I meet a lot of great friends and customers and musicians, hear their stories. It’s just about keeping it going.”
This story was originally published by GBH. It was shared as part of the New England News Collaborative.
