Blue Gardenia

Status: Closed

Parish: Acadia

Location: Rayne

Images courtesy of Megan Barras

Opened 1955,the club was named after the 1953 film “The Blue Gardenia” which featured Nat King Cole. Well known performers include Rockin’ Sidney, Clifton Chenier, Irma Thomas, Bobby Blue Bland, Earl King, and Solomon Burke. Ray Charles, en route to another gig, stopped to sit in with Burke in the mid- 1950s. The club also featured notable DJs: R.L. Boudreaux, Toka King, Joe Thomas and Raymond Simmons. It closed in 1993.