Ok. You are probably tired of me enthusing about how so many things in LA are just great. (Well, those things I say are true, it is great, blah, blah, blah). However, sometimes things are just annoying in that “if we all agreed to fix this it would easily not be this way” sort of way. Here’s one such example:
Tuesday night. I went with two friends, Carol and Ilaria, to see an excellent group called Brazilliando play at Vitello’s in Studio City. It was a reminder of one of the frustrating aspects of LA nightlife. Basically, it was raining a bit outside, and combined with the fact that it was after 9:30pm, this just wiped out the audience. People don’t stay out very late much here especially during the work week (there are several nightspots, some of which I’ve mentioned in previous posts, which are exceptions to this rule, but not nearly as many as you would imagine for a city this size) even when the weather is fine, and when you combine that with a slight chill in the air, or a bit of moisture on the road, people just scamper off to their homes. So we turned up there to catch the second set and maybe hang out for maybe an hour and a half. The people at the font desk looked at us like we were nuts as we came in so “late” (9:30pm), and were not even sure if there was anything going on upstairs (the performance space is above the main restaurant floor).
They let us go up anyway…. The band was beginning to pack up, and there was nobody -absolutely nobody- in the room (upstairs at the back). Just lots of empty tables with solitary candles. It was 9:35pm. Carol knew the percussionist (Ami Molinelli), and so after fond greetings and introductions all around, they agreed to play a bit more. Just for us. We sat at a table and tried to order food. Nope, kitchen closed early. At 9:45pm!!? (After Ilaria pressed a bit, they agreed to go and see if they could find a salad and some bread, which did materialize.) The bar was eventually convinced to produce me a gin and tonic, and we settled down for a personal performance. I tried to put out of my mind my memories of struggling through the snow to get to various Jazz clubs in New York and finding it pleasantly packed with other intrepid music-seekers willing to brave the weather. (Wonderful freezing cold snowbound trips up from Princeton to the Village Vanguard spring to mind….) I tried to put out of my mind memories of listening to excellent performances into the wee hours of the morning in any number of jazz clubs….. What on earth is wrong with these soft Los Angelenos? Sigh.
They ended up playing for us for at least 45 minutes, and they were really great! If you’re in town looking for a sweet, understated, swinging, small (Samba, Bossa Nova…. Brazillian flavoured) Jazz group, look out for Brazilliando, with Robert Kyle (Saxophones, flute), Kleber Jorge, (vocals, guitar) and Amy Molinelli (percussion…really making the whole thing swing). See Kyle’s website for dates. [Update: That night we had Mitchell Long on guitar and vocals, by the way, (see photo) and you can look at his website here.]
-cvj
April 10th, 2006 at 5:58 pm
Clifford,
The difference between New York and younger cities like L.A. (that grew up after the invention of the automobile) is population density. Just compare the skylines. L.A. is still a flat town. Had Spiderman lived in L.A., he would have been reduced to driving his SUV to chase after villains.
April 10th, 2006 at 7:43 pm
Belizean,
That is a difference, I agree, but in my opinion that is not the key difference in this case….. this is much more to do with a different attitude.
Actually, Spiderman can not get terribly far in New York by purely swinging from skyscrapers either. Once he’s cleared a fair amount of lower and mid Manhattan, the terrain’s hardly any different from much of mid city Los Angeles.
Cheers,
-cvj
April 10th, 2006 at 8:22 pm
Without appearing to invoke the spookiness of hidden variables in this thread, if the Jazz Clubs of L.A. close early at night, does that enable the Spiderman of L.A. to stop spinning his web early as well?
April 10th, 2006 at 8:53 pm
I’d say it would be hard to stay in business with this kind of traffic?
Are moods shaped by the weather in LA? Hence, home is the place where one is most safe and sound, least they get rained on, or caught in a wind?
I think the terrains could change much in tolerance, if what LA had thought as cold and dreary, New York thought, ah what the heck just another day?
I think that as well coming from the weather I do, to those who are having fun in the garden already.
April 10th, 2006 at 9:29 pm
What kind of traffic? Traffic woes are exaggerated in LA. Sure there are bad times to be on the road, but those times are rather well-defined. It’s not perpetually traffic bound, as commonly suggested. Just part of the mythology. Also, at the time Jazz clubs would be open in LA, I can get from one side of the city of LA to another -diagonally- in 20-25 minutes by car. There’s no traffic.
-cvj
April 10th, 2006 at 10:42 pm
LOL! It’s true, Los Angelinos are a bunch of softies.
But on the other hand, I did have the pleasure of attending the “Nihilist Film Festival” in a book store in Santa Monica one evening. I’d say that more than compensates…
April 11th, 2006 at 8:12 am
L.A. might lack traffic congestion on its streets. However, L.A. – most definitely – does not lack carbon dioxide congestion in its atmosphere. To rid L.A. of its atmospheric woes, has L.A. (with tongue-in-cheek) discovered a viable method for carbon dioxide sequestration? Anyone with a peripheral interest in our fuel/carbon conundrum should view the following set of webcast lectures: 1) at Caltech (10/13/2004), David Goodstein: Out of Gas, 2) at Caltech (5/25/2005), Nathan Lewis: Powering The Planet, 3) at Princeton (3/30/2006), Steven Chu: The Energy Problem and 4) at Cambridge (WGBH) Forum, Michael Klare: Blood and Oil. I warn you that one must have the stomach to view these webcast lectures. Our future fuel situation/carbon-cycle problem appears rather grim. Perhaps I am being over-spooked by this impending global problem?
April 11th, 2006 at 9:07 am
Oh Geeez….Cynthia, did you actually view the lectures you referenced? What on earth does carbon dioxide sequestration have to do with car traffic? or with the thread?
—-
Dear Cynthia,
Thanks so much. No more wise thoughts on this topic on this thread please.
-cvj
April 11th, 2006 at 9:42 am
Years ago, in LA, I ended up in the hotel bar as the only audience for the house band (there was football on the big screen in the other bar). This somewhat divisive situation soon degenerated into a jam session, in which I took part and enjoyed immensely. The following night my thirsty scientific colleagues were most impressed when I was greeted by the band as the English guy that rocks.
April 11th, 2006 at 11:07 am
Clifford,
Are your alluding to the fact that Angelinos are weather wusses? That the weather is so nice there that local rain storms are headline news? Or are you referring to the notoriously weak night life and the relative lack of opportunities to socialize there?
I don’t know whether things have changed much recently, but L.A. has never been a great town in which to be single. While I’ve never lived on the east coast, my experience with midwestern and southern college towns is that it’s far easier to
get laidmeet people there than in L.A.April 11th, 2006 at 11:17 am
Belizean,
I would not go as far as saying that there is a lack of opportunity to socialize here. I think that things are just organized differently. While the New-York style jazz club model is not so easy to find here, there are a ton of other ways of socializing.
And I’m sorry you did not have a good time being single here. That’s sad, since I think this is possibly one of the best cities on the planet in which to be single. Meeting people (I will ignore your crude struck remark) is remarkably easy, and you can make friends of all types from numerous parts of the world and walks of life.
Summary: I was just talking about the fact that people go home early, and that this is even worse during the rain. I was not extrapolating this into a condemnation of the entire social scene in LA, which can be *fantastic*, if you just go outside your door and find it.
-cvj
April 12th, 2006 at 1:53 pm
This doesn’t represent the LA i remember from 30 years ago. Or maybe these sorts of things were happening, but i was into scenes that were vital and alive, and that didn’t even start until well after 11PM. Getting across the city in 20-25 minutes isn’t getting “across” the city really. Clubs with late night vitality are vastly more spread out than that, and it maybe that inside a radius of 15 miles of the Silverlake district people just don’t want to be out and about. Expand that radius to 30 or 50 miles, and one does begin to discover that the city is very much alive with music and life. Jazz in Valencia? Fusion in Ojai? I think maybe what it is represents is the general unwillingness for people to make the effort to get out of their smaller circles. We used to drive, a lot, to see music; but how many people now would leave upper Malibu to go to a Zappa show at the Swing Auditorium in SanBerdu??
April 20th, 2006 at 1:15 pm
I just happened upon this blog and noticed my picture, so I would like to make a carrection:
Kleber Jorge is the regular band member in “Braziliando” but that night at Vitellos, it was me, Mitchell Long, filling in for Kleber.
Hey, just a note to let you know we loved playing for you, your coming in saved the night. It was my first time playing there, and it was sad that there were not more people there, its a great room.
Believe it or not, empty rooms or not, Jazz does live on in LA. Infact I was talking with a guy that came out to review the show that night who was telling incredible stories about the great jazz scene here over the years. Jazz comes and goes out of style to the public but it never dies to the artists. But I agree this town closes down too early!
April 20th, 2006 at 3:50 pm
Mitchell….Yeah, I was confused by the name I got from the other website…it did not seem right, but I had not written down the names after you guys all introduced yourselves. So thanks for the update (how on earth did you find this post, I wonder), and I will update the post!
And yes, I agree that there is excellent Jazz in LA once you dig a little. It just is parcelled out differently, and less late nights (and strong liquor!) is involved, for better or worse.
(If you’ve time, give me shout out to let me know when and where you’re playing next, by the way!)
Cheers,
-cvj
June 28th, 2006 at 12:25 am
[...] Here’s something different: This was a really dedicated crowd, and not the usual lot that one seems to get in LA (and several other cities in the US, I’ve noticed…but especially LA): (1) They all came back (more or less) after the interval, and (2) They stayed out late! (Contrast with e.g. here). There was food -excellent food- and wine served *after* the concert, starting almost at 10:00pm, and people stayed and chatted intelligently about the music afterwards. In other words, they did not rush off to get on the highway like the building was going to explode, which is the usual pattern you get of concert attendees. Wow. I guess this means they joined the club to do this sort of thing and they really meant it. Excellent. Ironically (given the name of the Da Camera Society -and I know the meaning is different- they were not happy with the idea of anyone taking any photos, so I did not press the point. I cannot offer you any shots of the space or the performers this time.) [...]