The end of February technically marks the end of Black History Month. But for a year-round reminder of the impact of Black entrepreneurship on Bloomington-Normal, look no further than the Gaston family.
The Gastons are now in their third generation of business ownership in Bloomington. Patriarch Robert ran a downtown barbershop for many years. His son James runs the music club Jazz UpFront downtown today. And James’ niece, Shayla, now owns a salon in Bloomington.
“I’d like to see not only Black people, but everybody – throw a little more support to minority-owned businesses,” James Gaston told WGLT’s Sound Ideas. “Black and brown businesses. Walk in the door and spend a little money. Get to know the people. … Don’t get me wrong: A lot of people do support minority businesses. But we need more, all the time.”
James Gaston was born and raised in Bloomington. He’s one of 12 siblings.
Gaston said one of the things he learned from his dad about business was persistence.
“He was a force to be reckoned with,” Gaston said. “He handled his business. I can remember seeing him on the phone, I was sitting right there. He’d get things done. He’d call the bank. He’d call the auto dealership. He’d call the doctor. He’d get the results that he wanted from whoever he was talking to, and I always admired that about him.”
His father, also known as Gat, earlier worked at GE in Bloomington but “wasn’t feeling like he was moving up in the business.” He decided to do his own thing instead – becoming a barber. He first cut hair in the neighborhood and then moved to open his own shop.
“He couldn’t actually lease a building in town because he was a Black man. A friend of his – a white gentleman – said ‘Bob, I’ll take care of you on that.’ He leased my Dad’s first shop and sold him the lease for a dollar,” Gaston said.
Gaston’s dad ran that shop – called Gaston’s Upper Cut – for about 40 years, including time alongside his son, Gary. It’s actually Gary’s daughter, Shayla Gaston, that owns the Begorgeous Beauty Lounge at 1112 E. Oakland Ave., Bloomington.
James himself is busy with Jazz UpFront, which after years of planning finally opened in 2015. For the last six years, he’s also planned the Front Street Music Festival every August in downtown Bloomington – a major undertaking.
“We’re hanging in there, man. It’s more about the love of the business than the profit of the business. I know most people would think that’s crazy if you’re a business person. But I don’t see myself ever getting rich in what I do. But I love what I do,” Gaston said. “I’m happy, and that’s the key. When I hear Chuchito Valdés or Samara Joy or Brianna Thomas or Gary Muhammad or Preston Jackson come in my club and hit that first note, I’m in heaven.”
James has been in the music business – and around musicians – since the 1970s.
Earlier in life, he was an active musician himself. One of the biggest acts he was with was Band X, which he joined around 1967 when he was only a sophomore in high school along with a lot of other “talented local cats,” as he puts it. One of those cats was Delmar Brown, who’d go one to become an acclaimed jazz and R&B pianist.
Gaston got his first job at the Red Lion Inn, once a famous music venue in Bloomington where big acts came through like REO Speedwagon, Cheap Trick, Woody Herman’s Thundering Herd, Little Richard, and “Chaka Khan before she was Chaka Khan,” Gaston said.
As a kid, Gaston’s dad would take him to the Bel-Air Club (now the Skate N Place on Morris Avenue), owned by Dick Bell, another formidable Black businessman in Bloomington-Normal.
“I used to sit up in the balcony and watch the music, and I just fell in love with music. The possibility of being the guy who brought that type of talent and music to the community – that’s what I wanted to do! So, as soon as I got an opportunity to do my own thing, I did it.”
