The premises at 1608 North Cahuenga in Hollywood housed a variety of tenents prior to becoming a major jazz club on the West Coast in the 1960s. In the early 1920s the address was listed as the location for sales opportunities, one product being a slenderizing cream, just send $3.50 with the ad for your supply of O’SLENDO! Later in the 1940s Superior Engraving occupied the space. Lawrence Young ran a print shop at the address in 1952, Printers of Hollywood.
The city of Los Angeles issued a change of occupancy permit in April of 1958 when Jack N. Kramer leased the space for a café with live entertainment. Kramer’s venture was part of a larger phenomenon sweeping Hollywood: COFFEEHOUSES — an article in the Los Angeles Times noted that “at last count (and there may be more already) there were about 30 coffeehouses here, serving the potent Italian version of java called espresso.” Live entertainment was offered at most of the new establishments. The Ash Grove became known at the place to hear folksingers and blues artists. Jack Kramer’s International featured jazz, folk, and flamenco in a September 27, 1958, ad headlining Shelly Manne, Barbara Dane, Bud Dashiell, Travis Edmundson, and Fiesta Flamenca. Shelly Manne continued to anchor entertainment that included the Bud Shank Quartet and the International String Trio in September and October of 1958.
Some name changes occurred in early 1959 when the venue was identified as Jazz Internationale featuring the Les McCann Trio with Gene McDaniels. The person requesting the name change was Herbert Cohen as noted in a public notice on January 9, 1959, in the Los Angeles Evening Citizen News. Les McCann’s trio featured the musicians that he worked with during his years at Los Angeles City College: Jack Bruce on bass, Alonzo Garibaldi on drums, and vocalist Gene McDaniels.
Newspaper ads in April identified the space as The Lamp featuring Stan Wilson with the McCann group continuing Wednesday through Saturday. It is not known if Herbert Cohen continued to be the person leasing the space and operating under the new name.
The coffeehouse boom continued in the 1960s and Les McCann became a featured artist at The Bit on Sunset Boulevard. Newspaper coverage of 1608 N Cahuenga is absent for most of 1960, so it is not known if the space was dormant and no longer offering music or espresso.
Shelly Manne must have acquired an affection for 1608 N Cahuenga as he seized the opportunity to open his own club there in late 1960. The December 22, 1960, issue of Down Beat noted that — “Shelly Manne finallty opened his Manne-Hole — with a wailing press and disc jockey party at which Manne’s Men, Helen Humes, Red Mitchell (cellist), and Jim Hall performed. In addition to Shelly’s group (Jack Sheldon, trumpet; Russ Freeman, piano; Chuck Berghofer, bass; Richie Kamuca, tenor saxophone) playing the beer-and-wine restaurant weekends, the blues voice of Big Miller rumbles out over Cahuenga Blvd.”
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