Remembering Maxine ‘Mickie’ Cummings

Imperial Beach is saying goodbye to a local business owner who passed away Saturday, April 16.

Maxine “Mickie” Cummings, owner of Mickieʼs Bar & Grille on Old Palm Avenue in Imperial Beach, purchased the bar in 1982 and ran it for almost 29 years. She set her own standards, giving people a place to relax in a tranquil setting, while listening to the popular and up and coming jazz artists she loved.

“I love jazz, and it will always be a part of me, just like Mickieʼs Bar & Grille is too,” said Mickie.

As a young girl from Glendale, Calif. her dad worked for BPM, requiring her to move around a lot. Other destinations in her life included San Francisco, Hawaii, Hollywood and Guam.

As a young child, she attended jazz sessions on Sunday afternoons with her family, where she heard the music that would stick with her for life. In Guam, when she opened her first bar, the jukebox was loaded with jazz, and, of course, she offered live jazz music performances.

When relocating to Imperial Beach, she felt the location for Mickieʼs Bar & Grille was ideal because of the close proximity to the beach.

“The jazz music and the fish in the tank keep rowdiness down and the atmosphere relaxed,” Mickie contended.

She never wanted to be too far from the ocean, a feeling shared with most IB residents. She always believed in presenting her bar in a way that would create a serene feeling for her customers.

The bar is decorated with some paintings of jazz clubs, giving it a retro feel. And with a Chet Baker recording playing on the jukebox, walking in the door is like a quick ride back to the era of “cool jazz.”

Her jukebox consists mostly of jazz recordings, with artists such as Miles Davis, Charlie Parker and Billie Holiday. Mickie had a first-hand experience with many jazz greats; she saw Ella Fitzgerald, Tommy Dorsey, Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Jerry Mulligan, Turk Murphy, Pat Yankee and many others live.

Recently, she was very pleased to feature the sounds of a local jazz group “Teagan
Taylor Trio.” For her to be able to feature at her bar, "such fine local talent," that performs the style of music she loves, was a real treat, according to Mickie. A Sunday afternoon with live jazz was the way to do it.

So next time you stop by Mickieʼs, step up to the jukebox, select a song you have never heard before by some jazz cat from the past, and enjoy that old jazz feeling. That is what she would have wanted.

No memorial services have been planned for her since Mickie had expressed to close friends that this was not wanted. However, information on a memorial party for Mickie will be released in the coming weeks.

Robert Sheehan, a good friend of Mickie's, contributed to this article.