Active as a performer and club owner, Henry Baker (1921-2008) ran a haberdashery on Pennsylvania Avenue that was a meeting place for jazz greats performing at the Royal Theater and the clubs on the Avenue. He also operated jazz clubs: Peyton Place on Pennsylvania Avenue in the 1960s and, later, The Closet on Franklin Street.

Reppard Stone (1930-2019) came to Baltimore in 1949 from Macon, Georgia, to study at Morgan College. He became deeply involved with the Baltimore music scene, performing in the City Colored Symphony Orchestra and sitting in with older musicians performing in the clubs along Pennsylvania Avenue. He quickly achieved a reputation as a gifted arranger and performer. He taught at Douglass High School while pursuing graduate studies at Catholic University, receiving a PhD in 1974. He taught music for many years at Howard University.

In this interview, Henry Baker and Reppard Stone discuss musical careers and their encounters with well-known jazz musicians who visited Baltimore and played at clubs on Pennsylvania Avenue in the 1940s and 1950s.