Ball and Chain Nightclub in Little Havana, Miami

On a street named Calle Ocho, in a neighborhood known as Little Havana, in the city of Miami, stands a night club known as Ball and Chain. This establishment serves up some of the city’s most famous cocktails, entertainment, and a legendary story that reflects various facets of its neighborhood’s culture and history. Whether learning about the establishment’s history, listening to the music influenced by the neighborhood’s inhabitants, or hearing about the community created in the wake of their immigration, visitors to Ball and Chain are bound to discover that this small nightclub anchors a huge spot in the narrative of Cuban culture and immigration.

Ball and Chain’s Beginnings Ball and Chain began as the Ball and Chain Saloon in 1935, when the live music performed there served as a backdrop for the gambling and drinking that ran rampant throughout the city of Miami. Ball and Chain’s original owners were perfectly suited to run a nightclub amidst that era’s lawlessness. Henry Schechtman was an entrepreneur whose business schemes included bare-knuckle fighting matches and selling bootleg cigarettes and stolen liquor.

Allegedly a member of the Jewish mob, Schechtman was arrested at least once for attempted burglary of a jewelry salesman’s car. Schechtman’s business partner, Ray Miller, had a criminal record that included at least one felony and arrest over public drunkenness. An apropos painting of a prisoner tethered to a ball and chain flanked the establishment’s entry in recognition of its name. Live music was always a major part of Ball and Chain’s pull, but In the 1940s and 1950s, it began to become especially well known for its jazz repertoire. Billie Holiday, Josephine Baker, and the white musician Chet Baker all played there, while the owners made unverified claims of many other famous names. (Note: this tradition of name dropping continued even after Schechtman and Miller had to close Ball and Chain’s doors and the venue became the Copa Lounge Tavern.

Employees during the reign of Copa would tell patrons that Nat King Cole once graced its stage as a ploy to drum up business.) Schechtman reportedly drew in many of the jazz performers, working against the deep-seated segregation at the time by personally securing housing for its African American entertainers. Perhaps ironically, or perhaps fittingly enough given Schechtman’s on-the-side business dealings, the original Ball and Chain went under in 1957 due to a lawsuit with Count Basie.

After a three day gig of playing at the venue, Schechtman stiffed Basie almost $8,000, causing the musician to take Schechtman to court. When the court ordered that Schechtman pay up $5,000, it effectively closed the doors of Ball and Chain, securing its fate as a music venue that would change owners and direction several times over before returning to its original name and purpose in the millennium.

Cuban Immigrants’ Contributions to Little Havana The demise of Ball and Chain in the late 1950s coincided with the uptick of Cuban immigrants to its neighborhood. In response to the dictatorship of first Fulgencio Batista, and later Fidel Castro, the area would see four major waves of Cuban immigrants throughout the next four decades. While every wave was created for different political reasons, one thing remained constant: that Cubans who sought political refuge were most likely to find themselves in Little Havana before anywhere else. That’s partially because the area was close to the Freedom Tower (then known as Miami News Tower): a building that provided governmental assistance programs and other resources for refugees.

The second reason that immigrants not only arrived in Little Havana, but ended up staying, was because of the strong community that sprang up with each wave. Enabled by the affordable housing offered by the area, Cubans immediately began rebuilding the neighborhood based upon the life they’d left behind. Cuban music, food, and culture quickly found expression in the area surrounding Calle Ocho. Some of this music played at the Copa Lounge Tavern before it closed its doors in 1967. After that point, the historic spot turned into a furniture store for almost three decades. Cuban Music’s RootsCuban music is incredibly diverse in both its origins and impact.

At its core, Cuban music pulls from African cultural traditions and Santeria, a religion that incorporates percussion into the fabric of its traditions. Cuban music’s best-known forms are also famous dances: the mambo and the cha-cha-cha are two such examples. But not all its musical styles also inspire dances of the same name: boleros are ballads, trova is a form of folk music, and son is traditional dance music found outside the popular forms. Its variety and popularity have influenced jazz, salsa, the tango, Afrobeat, and “nuevo flamenco” among many other musical forms. In the neighborhood of Little Havana, Cuban music became one of the most celebrated ways for its residents to reconnect to their cultural heritage. But through the end of the century, the establishment once known as Ball and Chain sat vacant, until a real estate firm known as the Barlington Group bought it and restored it to its original glory.

They gave it back its name, brought back a drink menu of classic cocktails, and began hosting live music that paid homage to the various musical traditions of Cuba and the other genres it influenced. While COVID-19 has temporarily closed the establishment’s doors, visitors outside of pandemic regulations can expect to encounter locals and tourists alike. As depicted by Route 1 Views contributor Katy Dolle, the flavor of Little Havana saturates every nook and cranny of Ball and Chain. History blends with the present moment, musicians pull from traditions both past and present, and the stories of Cuban immigration present themselves in not just the conversation, but the very fabric of the moment.