In a Baltimore basement, a jazz detective strikes gold

Record producer Zev Feldman (left) and John Fowler, a charter member of the Left Bank Jazz Society, meet outside the Charles Theater in downtown Baltimore. The building once hosted some of the best jazz musicians in the country. (Michael Zamora/NPR)

John Fowler sat in the lobby of the Charles Theater comparing it to the place he used to know.

There was no marquee outside announcing the next performer. The restaurants and shops around the street had changed. The building that used to have a library now consisted of popcorn machines and movie posters. And the two flights of stairs that had previously led to a ticketing area and a stage had disappeared.