When Maynard Sloate and Joe Abrahams leased the space at 5510 Hollywood Boulevard and opened Mambo City they essentially kept everything the way it was when it was known as the Mural Room. The wall murals were left intact, the cocktail tables and dance floor were left intact, and the only change needed was the exterior sign.
For Jazz City they remodeled the front using glass blocks, added a large marquee where guest jazz artists could be announced, and a new neon sign proclaiming Jazz City.
Los Angeles Jazz Clubs
JAZZ CITY PART TWO THE MURAL ROOM – MAMBO CITY – STRIP CITY
The noun “city” had been used with modifying attributes over the years to define an entity that personified the ultimate of that “______” city. New York and San Francisco both had their “Bop City” clubs and in the spring of 1952 Roy Harte and Remo Belli opened “Drum City” in Hollywood as the headquarters for all things drumming. Maynard and his new partner, Joe Abrahams, opened “Mambo City” at 5510 Hollywood Boulevard in 1954 and at the same time opened a burlesque club, “Strip City” at the corner of Western Avenue and Pico Boulevard.
Continue ReadingJAZZ CITY PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAY AVERY & HOWARD LUCRAFT
JAZZ CITY PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAY AVERY & HOWARD LUCRAFT © James A. Harrod, Copyright Protected; All Rights Reserved Frequent visitors to my blogs will have noticed that I feature the jazz photography of Ray Avery and Howard Lucraft. Both were contemporaries who documented the jazz scene in Los Angeles at recording sessions, jazz clubs, and […]
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