The most famous bar in Uptown if not all of Chicago, the Green Mill is one of famous gangster Al Capone's former speakeasies from the Prohibition-era roaring '20s (check out his photo on the baby grand behind the bar); it was also a fav of Charlie Chaplin and Gloria Swanson. The oldest jazz club in the US (and presumably the world), under Dave Jemilo's care, it remains one of the city's liveliest jazz venues and still serves a mean Manhattan and martini. Chicago (officially named the City of Chicago) is the third largest city in the United States (after New York City and Los Angeles), with an official population of 2,896,016, as of the 2000 census. ... Alphonse Gabriel Capone (January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), popularly known as Al Scarface Capone, was an infamous Italian-American gangster in the 1920s and 1930s, although his business card reportedly described him as a used furniture dealer. ... For other persons named Chaplin, see Chaplin (disambiguation). ... Gloria in one of her many movie roles. ... Jazz is an original American musical art form originating around the start of the 20th century in New Orleans, rooted in Western music technique and theory and marked by the profound cultural contributions of African Americans. ...

The history preceeds its mobster-studded days. Opened in 1907 as Pop Morse's Roadhouse, "happily morose" was the name of the game, as it served as a stopping place for mourners "to celebrate the passing of a friend" before proceeding to St. Boniface Cemetery. A scant three years later, new owners converted the roadhouse into the Green Mill Gardens, emphasis on the "garden." Lantern-lit outdoor dancing ran into the wee hours, carried by headliners like Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor and Sophie Tucker. Actors Wallace Beery and Bronco Billy Anderson "also visited the Gardens, hitching their horses to the outdoor post and settling down for a drink after a days work filming westerns at nearby Spoor and Anderson Studios (known as Essanay Studios)," says the Mill's Web site. Not exactly the Chicago you know, eh? Asa Al Jolson Yoelson (born to Jewish immigrants Moshe Reuben Yoelson and Naomi Etta Cantor - the original family name was Hesselson - in Seredžius, Lithuania on May 26, 1885 or 1886, and died in San Francisco, California on October 23, 1950) was an acclaimed American singer and actor whose career... Eddie Cantor in the 1920s Eddie Cantor (January 31, 1892 - October 10, 1964) was a comedian, singer, actor, songwriter, and one of the most popular entertainers in the United States of America in the early and middle 20th century. ... Sophie Tucker, 1917 Sophie Tucker (January 13, 1884 - February 9, 1966) was a singer and comedian, one of the most popular United States entertainers of the first third of the 20th century. ... Essanay Studios was a motion picture company founded in Chicago, Illinois by George K. Spoor and Bronco Billy Anderson under the name Essanay (S and A). It produced silent films with such stars as Ben Turpin, Wallace Beery, Francis X. Bushman, Gloria Swanson and Charlie Chaplin. ...

So it's appropriate that once across the threshold, you step into another era. The atmosphere makes you want to kick back with a few martinis and hear some cool jazz, both of which are superb here. The blues, big band and swing bands are also great; the list of folks who have held down a weekly gig at the Mill is worthy bunch. The Sunday night poetry slam (the world's first) is usually exciting and intellectually stimulating. Amateurs are often welcome to participate if they arrive in time to register. Slam poetry is a form of performance poetry that occurs within a competitive poetry event, called a slam, at which poets perform their own poems (or, in rare cases, those of others) that are judged on a numeric scale by randomly picked members of the audience. ...