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14 flagships · 25 briefs · 8 dossiers · 965 entities — record updated October 4, 2026

Smartbar

CTL-E-0592 · Venue · other · 1982

PROVISIONAL evidence grade of this record

Smartbar opened in July 1982 at 3730 N. Clark under Metro owner Joe Shanahan, with Frankie Knuckles reportedly the first DJ.

Notes

Merged into canonical KG 2026-10-03 from MUSIC-001; source entity IDs: CTL-DR-MUSIC-001:music-001-node-024; source research type(s): venue. Description completed 2026-10-03 from the source research record (claims) during the KG completion pass.

Sources

Record CTL-E-0592 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · evidence grade: PROVISIONAL · 2 sources (1 primary) · CTL research: MUSIC-001.
Directory: all entity records · the knowledge graph

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Cite as: CultureTechLens, “Smartbar (CTL-E-0592),” CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph, October 2026. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-0592/

Chicago: CultureTechLens. “Smartbar (CTL-E-0592).” CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph. Chicago, IL: CultureTechLens, 2026. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-0592/
APA: CultureTechLens. (2026). Smartbar (CTL-E-0592) [Entity record]. CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-0592/
MLA: CultureTechLens. “Smartbar (CTL-E-0592).” CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph, 2026, https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-0592/

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The 35th Street Bronzeville CTA station, Chicago
The 35th Street Bronzeville CTA station, ChicagoPhoto: vxla (Eric Pancer), CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The Wabash Avenue YMCA, Chicago
The Wabash Avenue YMCA, ChicagoPhoto: Andrew Jameson, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Chicago Blues All-Stars performing live at Buddy Guy’s Legends, Chicago
Chicago Blues All-Stars performing live at Buddy Guy’s Legends, ChicagoPhoto: BluesAllstars, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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