Zardi’s 1954. 1954 provided a cornucopia of modern jazz for Los Angeles jazz fans. In addition to booming business at the city’s leading jazz clubs, jazz impresarios Gene Norman and brothers Norman and Irving Granz staged sell out concerts to meet the growing demand for modern jazz. Gene Norman continued to wear several musical […]
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ZARDI’S – 1953
Zardi’s adopted their final moniker in 1953 The musical merry-go-round of Sardi’s, Cardi’s, and Zardi’s settled with the latter name in March of 1953. The existence of the well-known New York restaurant might have been the motivation to make the name changes although evidence of any legal challenge did not make headlines in the newspapers. […]
Continue ReadingZARDI’S – 1951/1952
Zardi’s – 1951/1952 Ray Hewitt’s “The Spotlighter” column in the January 4th edition of the Daily News highlighted the vibrant entertainment scene kicking off 1951 in Los Angeles. The list of artists ran the gamut from top name jazz vocalists like Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, and Ella Fitzgerald to society orchestras like Phil Spitalny […]
Continue ReadingZARDI’S – 1949/1950
ZARDI’S – 1949/1950 A column in the Daily News from February 18, 1949, noted that Pete Daily and His Chicagoans had been pumping out their two-beat stuff in Hollywood’s Monkey Room to good crowds for a solid six months. The Pete Daily engagement at Sardi’s that began in August of 1948 continued through most […]
Continue ReadingZARDI’S – The Early Years
The space at 6315 Hollywood Boulevard was a restaurant in the early 1920s and 1940s before it became one of the top jazz clubs in Los Angeles in the 1950s.
Continue ReadingTiffany Club 1950/1994/2021
I visited 3260 West 8th Street in 1994 when I was checking street addresses for some of the major jazz clubs that flourished in Los Angeles during the 1950s. The Tiffany Club had long since ceased functioning as a jazz club or burlesque venue, it now catered to the neighborhood as a Mercado Y Panaderia. […]
Continue ReadingTiffany Club – 1956/1957
Tiffany Club – 1956/1957 Shelly Manne and His Men continued to be the headline attraction through December 1955 at Tiffany Club and were carried over into January of 1956. The continuing engagement included a special “New Year’s Eve Gala” at the club with favors, hats, horns, and noisemakers. Manne’s working quintet comprised Stu Williamson […]
Continue ReadingSHELLY’S MANNE HOLE – FIFTH ANNIVERSARY
By Charles M. Weisenberg “How many club owners could distinguish between Miles Davis, a glockenspiel and a C clef?” This question was raised about five years ago in an article by the poet Kenneth Rexroth who maintained that a jazz club is no place for a musician who considers himself a creative artist. Rexroth’s […]
Continue ReadingTiffany Club – 1955 – Part Two
Chris Connor opened at Tiffany Club on Friday, July 8, 1955. Slim Gaillard and his crew were held-over for the sixth time. Down Beat published a profile of Chris that started out on the wrong foot when they printed her last name as “Connors.” Corrected for entry here: New York—Young, energetic Chris Connor, the former […]
Continue ReadingTiffany Club – 1955 – Part One
The Lee Konitz Quartet with Ronnie Ball, Peter Ind, and Jeff Morton continued their December 1954 run into the middle of January 1955. After leaving Tiffany Club on January 13th, the quartet was booked into Maynard Sloate’s Jazz City where they continued to draw capacity crowds. In his youth Lee Konitz studied clarinet with a […]
Continue ReadingTiffany Club – 1954
Los Angeles in the mid 1950’s was a jazz lovers paradise. A snapshot of January 1954 provides an example. Billie Holiday was ending her current engagement at Tiffany Club, Bud Powell was opening at The Haig, Chet Baker and Russ Freeman were at Zardi’s, Nat “King” Cole was at Ciro’s, June Christy was at Trianon […]
Continue ReadingTiffany Club – 1953 – Part Two
The Tiffany Club opened the last half of 1953 with The Ink Spots plus comedian “Slappy” White.
Continue ReadingTiffany Club – 1953 – Part One
Tiffany Club had a stellar lineup during the first six months of 1953 – Nat “King” Cole – Billie Holiday – George Shearing – Dinah Washington – Johnny Hodges – Earl Bostic and others.
Continue ReadingTiffany Club – 1952 – Part Two
The Nat “King” Cole Trio opened at Tiffany Club on July 3, 1952. This was Cole’s fifth appearance at the remodeled Tiffany Club. Previous dates included December 1950; July, August and December of 1951. King Cole Trio Isn’t Dead, Beams Feather! Los Angeles—The King Cole trio, no matter what the publicity stories and the […]
Continue ReadingTiffany Club – 1952 – Part One
Chuck Landis budgeted over one hundred thousand dollars for talent in his Tiffany Club in 1952.
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