A place of heritage, music history in Nags Head

A souvenir program from the Casino, where many well-known musicians once played, is shown with the ledger from “The Last Resort” rooming house run by Nellie Myrtle Pridgen. Some names in the ledger are of musicians who performed at the Casino and had rented a room. (Courtesy of Chaz Winkler)

By catherine kozak
The Virginian-Pilot

NAGS HEAD, N.C. - At first glance, he was just another sand-coated tourist strolling around the front room of the Nellie Myrtle Pridgen Beachcomber Museum.

"Finally, he said 'I've been coming here for 40 years,' " Carmen Gray, a museum founder and Pridgen's daughter, recalled about that day last August. Then he started telling Gray that his mother had visited in the 1940s and stayed upstairs, something Gray knew was unlikely because Pridgen rarely rented rooms to women.

"I thought, 'Who is this man? He's crazy,' " she said.

Turns out that he wasn't. His mother had stayed nearby, but that serendipitous encounter was what led Chuck Redd, a vibraphonist and jazz drummer who toured with guitarist Charlie Byrd for 19 years, to plan two performances on the Outer Banks in December. He will be joined by his brother Robert Redd, a professional jazz pianist.

What clinched it is when Gray, whose mother grew up at Mattie Midgette's Store - where the museum is located - shared the ledger of names of people who had stayed at "The Last Resort," her mother's rooming house. Scanning the pages, Chuck Redd's wife Gail spotted the name of musician John Bunch, someone the couple recognized.

That led to a conversation about the legendary Casino, the nearby venue that in its heyday featured appearances by great entertainers such as Duke Ellington, Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis and Louis Armstrong.

Gray said that Redd told her he was a musician, but she had no idea until later how esteemed he is. She just loved reminiscing about the Casino.

"Anybody who was anybody played at the Casino," she said. "God, it was wonderful! I saw them all."

The museum is a repository of Pridgen's vast collection of shells, beach glass, toys, bottles, artifacts and other rejects of the sea that she found during her daily walks.

Redd, artist-in-residence at the Smithsonian Jazz Cafe at the National Museum of Natural History, was hooked by the combination of Nags Head heritage and music history. In addition to his live performances, Redd, who lives in Takoma Park, Md., is involved in jazz music education.

As a teenager, Redd, 48, used to go to the Casino with his brother to play pool. Once in a while, they'd sneak upstairs at night to see people dancing to live music, by then rock bands. His family had vacationed every year in Nags Head, he said, staying at the long-gone Jackson's Homes cottage court at milepost 14. Redd said he still visits Nags Head every year with his wife and son.

A cavernous place with big fans humming, the Casino, across from Jockey's Ridge, had "wood everywhere," a hit-filled juke box and always had its screenless windows open, Redd remembered. Going barefoot was preferred.

When he first went to Las Vegas as a young man, he said he was puzzled. "I remember saying, 'Hey, wait a minute! This isn't a casino.' "

Part of the Friday night program at Roanoke Island Festival Park will include an opportunity for locals to share memories about the Casino, Redd said. The brothers will perform a musical tribute to the musicians who performed at the club.

"What's beautiful about that," he said, "it's such a rich history we can draw from."

In all his years touring and performing music, though, Redd confesses he had never thought of getting a gig in Nags Head.

"My goal is to kind of bring back more live music to the Outer Banks and promote some jazz down there," he said. "I'd love to start this spark down there and see if we could get this going."

He also plans to do a program that Friday morning on jazz for the First Flight High School band.

Chaz Winkler, a member of the museum staff and the Outer Banks History Center Associates Board of Directors, said that whatever money is raised by the event will be donated to the Outer Banks History Center and hopefully put back into attracting more music to the Outer Banks.

Winkler said that Redd is taking the effort seriously.

"I think he wants to bring quality people down here," he said. "His energy and enthusiasm for this Casino thing is going to go through the roof."