It was one of those Friday nights when I was in the mood to get out of the house, but not entirely sure what to get out to. “Out” was more important than “where”, you see. Wanted to do a bit of thinking and to relax and let the heavy week of too many meetings fall away from my shoulders.
In the end, I did a combination of things. After my mood, followed by my 
trajectory, turned away from Pasadena (where I was planning to see Persepolis, as was my original plan – I’ll do it later… really want to see that film) at about 10:30pm I arrived in the Valley and hung out at Charlie O’s which is one of the more happening of the neighbourhoody jazz clubs in LA. (Sadly, in this context, “happening” by LA late night standards means that there’s more than about nine people present.)
There’s always something on each night and you can just walk in and sit at the bar to hear the music. I went to sit and listen to trumpeter Nolan Shaheed and his quartet for the evening play through a few hard bop standards. He seems to be a Lee Morgan and Freddie Hubbard fan (from his style and choices) and that sits rather well with me. Pianist John Beasley was particularly sparkling as a soloist. It was a good visit overall (despite the $9 G+T and $6 bottle of sparkling water and it being all the way in Van Nuys), with a local cluster of enthusiastic regulars who all seemed to know each other, which is always good to see.
Got a bit of winding down done, with a bit of scribbling into my little black book (No, no, not the phone numbers of promising interesting women I met (…wrong universe, I think…), but partial to-do lists that I will no doubt not refer to again, a few ideas for the homework for next week for my GR class…) A lot of my thinking was centered around why my semester seems busier and more filled with meeting-after-meeting than ever before, even though -ironically- the last two Spring semesters I took on an extra course and this time I only have the one, which is ticking along nicely. I’m puzzled by this and need to figure it out. Is it that I’ve been saying yes to too many things again? Bad habit of mine, not saying “no” enough, coupled with meddling in rather a lot of things and creating more things to do. Once again I made mental notes to tighten up on these matters so as to find more space for my own stuff. I’ve already failed so far in my plan to have at least one day a week when I can completely hide and work on projects of my own. Going to have to fight to get one back…
Somewhat after midnight I decided to pull off into Hollywood and finish off the evening by checking out one of my favourite watering holes, the Cat and Fiddle. Hadn’t been in a while and felt it would be good to have my usual Hoegaarden there and sit in a corner and listen to the bustle of the merry folk while thinking some more about this and that. To my surprise, the guys at the door still remember me (even though its been more than a few months since I’ve been there), and after exchanging a few how are yous I went to get my drink and sit on a bench off to the side, produced my little notebook and pen, and continued my reverie…
-cvj
Thanks. Dancing is indeed fun.
The Catalina I know well… and I’ve discussed it and other clubs here before (see the related posts). It can be good, but also routinely does not succeed very well as a jazz club.
The “sitting-type” of Jazz, as you put it, is what I’m really talking about. Where people are actually listening to the music and creating music in a real jazz club setting, as opposed to making pleasant sounds for people to dance to (which is nice, but is something else). I completely agree with you (as I’ve said above) that there are lots of bits of jazz and related music to be found in reasonable quantities if one counts the “dinner-jazz” models, and the “dance-jazz” models, and so forth. What I’m trying to say is that it is puzzling that a city like LA does not support much in the way of what you think of as the sitting-type jazz. There are very few true jazz clubs (dedicated to the music every night with world class musicians coming through- the Bakery being the best, and it has issues – by the way the plastic chairs have been improved upon), and the few that there are have very low attendance for a city this size.
Cheers,
-cvj
Oh, and if you just prefer the sitting-type of jazz, Catalina Bar & Grill on Sunset is always a nice choice. Cover gets a bit steep, unfortunately.
Agreed, but swing can actually apply to a wider range of music than most people think it does. For instance, a newer type of dance includes more of the blues music I had previously not associated with the “swing scene”. Even more modern music such as Van Morrison’s Moondance can be danced to.
As for live music, it varies from venue to venue, but yes, there are rotating bands that will play here and there. I believe Jonathan Stout’s Campus Five played at the free concerts in Culver City and MacArthur Park’s newly renovated amphitheatre last summer. Barbara Morrison comes about once a quarter to Lindygroove in Pasadena, too. Rusty’s Rhythm Club in Playa del Rey often hosts live bands a couple times a month, as well. Maxwell DeMille’s Cicada Club in downtown always has live bands on Sundays. Mora’s Modern Rhythmists are always playing at different spots around town. Once in awhile, bands will stop by from out of town (or even internationally) on a tour of the LA swing scene.
Live music is always a blast. Even better if it can be danced to. =)
Hi,
For swing-type music, yes, maybe. (Even though it is a very small component of the whole.)
Is the music live? That would be a lot of fun, I agree.
-cvj
I personally think the best place to enjoy some of this music is at swing dance venues. Esp if you prefer some of the older bits from the 20’s and 40’s. At the least, you know everyone there is enjoying the music at least as much as you (and a lesson is often included in cover charge!)
Oh… the Jazz Bakery is an interesting case. It is the one place that really tries to meet the Jazz Club model, and as a result I support it! You should go!
However, it is basically a square room with plastic chairs lined in neat rows in front of an elevated stage (something to do with the rules with being a non-profit… they can’t put money into better furniture and so forth I’ve heard)…. and supporting it means that on some nights, you can have a big worldclass headliner playing their ass off on the stage with about 10 people in the audience. That same person playing in New York (or even London) on that same night would have people out the door, jammed against the walls, and sitting on the piano. In a city this size it is baffling to see someone like Cyrus Chestnut or Joshua Redman playing to ten people. (To be fair, there are some nights when it is packed too.)
-cvj
I completely understand where you are coming from. I am so frustrated with the jazz “scene” in Los Angeles. It just baffles me that there’s is NO jazz culture in L.A. in spite of the city being dubbed as the entertainment capital of the world. I once tried “Red, White and Bluezz” in Pasadena and just like you said, the food was mediocre and over priced, the people were loud and I could hear the musicians properly. Sigh…don’t get me started on this. 🙂
I haven’t been to the Jazz Bakery. From what I hear, well…it ain’t all dat great.
Hi,
Yes, there’s any number of places that “do a bit of jazz” from time to time during the week. I know several of them. All very pleasant and welcome… and all (or most) well short of an actual jazz club with atmosphere. These are not Jazz clubs – venues dedicated to the music.
I actually find the prevailing “dinner jazz” model that reigns in LA highly frustrating. Usually you are forced to sit on the sides where you likely have no view if you are not dining, and the tables are then held for people who are asked to pay way too much for mediocre food, and who are most often (sometimes understandably) more interested in having a conversation over dinner (raising their voices to be heard over the music) than shutting up and paying attention to the artists over on the stage. Might as well just put on a CD. And then, being tied to the dinner schedule, these places often are done by 10:00pm or so, essentially (and if not most people inexplicably just leave anyway), at about the time when normally the second set in a real jazz club begins, and where the best music of the night is to be found…Sigh…
I could go on more about this, but I’ll sound like a broken record…
Cheers,
-cvj
You should try the Downbeat Cafe off of Sunset and Alvarado. They play jazz there on Wednesdays and the food is not all that bad.
http://www.thedownbeatcafe.com/music.html
Largo (opposite Canter’s) sometimes has good jazz.
With me, I have to take on too much and do too much to get anything done. Besides, I need all that mental stimulation. The balance is tricky.