Unnamed Orchestra at the Grotto Club(2)

Musicians play at the Grotto club at two different points in Sanctuary. A second "orchestra," "from a downtown hotel," is hired to provide music at Red's funeral. A dispute arises about what kind of music they should play. "The leader" proposes "the Blue Danube" by "Strauss" (a detail which suggests these musicians are white, 244), another man proposes "jazz." But at the suggestion of the proprietor of the Grotto they first play "Nearer My God, To Thee," and then the "cornetist" plays a solo version of "In That Haven of Rest" (245). After that the music becomes more secular, as indicated by phrases like "a brassy blare" (246), but as the scene goes on, it is increasingly drowned out by the "pandemonium" created by the guests (248).