Zardi’s 1955 Sam Donato and Ben Arkin had been tinkering with the décor of Zardi’s ever since they acquired the club in 1953. The woven raffia ceiling that was framed in bamboo remained but the backdrop below the ceiling behind the musician bandstand changed several times. The strip below the bamboo termination of ceiling […]
Continue ReadingElla Fitzgerald
ZARDI’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 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 – 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 Reading