On just about any given night, Frank Poindexter could be found at Wally’s Cafe Jazz Club, the tiny South End mainstay founded by his great-grandfather in 1947.

The family-owned club has served for decades as a training ground for area music students, open 365 days a year and offering multiple sets a night.

But like so much else, that all came to a crashing halt in March, when the state ordered bars and music venues to close because of the pandemic — an existential threat to a club that relies on thin margins and a packed house to survive.