Times Bar and Cafe is closed indefinitely

The times apparently haven't been kind to the Times Bar and Cafe.

A mainstay for Twin Cities jazz lovers and diners, the intimate supper club in northeast Minneapolis shut its doors earlier this week, and its website says "closed until further notice." Owner Dan Lessard could not be reached for comment.

Guitarist Robert Bell, whose gypsy-jazz quartet, the Twin Cities Hot Club, performed there every Sunday, said Lessard told him he has two to three weeks to raise funds or find other investors to stay in business.

"It's hard to say if it's temporary or permanent," Bell said.

Originally located near Orchestra Hall in downtown Minneapolis, where it thrived throughout the '80s, the Times was forced to relocate in 1999 to make room for Target's new headquarters.

It survived the move and -- along with its neighbor Nye's -- anchored the nightlife scene along East Hennepin Avenue in northeast Minneapolis for many years with its fondue, sandwiches and such regular acts as the Wolverine Jazz Trio, crooners Lori Dokken, Judi Donaghy and Arne Fogel and the TC Hot Club.

"We always had good crowds there on Sundays," said Bell, "but, of course, there are seven nights a week."

Donaghy, too, reported a good turnout when she and Dokken sang there on Valentine's Day.

"We're all pretty hopeful they can come out of this," Donaghy said. "Especially once the music community finds out, something good might happen. The Times is a real staple. Nobody wants to lose it."