Dr. Theda Palmer Saxton

Saxophonist Bill Saxton always dreamed of owning a jazz club in his home neighborhood of Harlem.  Three years ago he achieved that dream, when he and his wife, Dr. Theda Palmer Saxton, opened Bill’s Place, on W. 133rd Street.

What he didn’t know at the time was that the space was once home to a speakeasy where the likes Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday and Fats Waller performed.

Now Saxton plays jazz every Friday night in his club – and tells the history of W. 133rd Street, once dubbed “Swing Street,” between sets.