How Hollywood’s Legendary Catalina Jazz Membership Endured for 37 Years

This story is a part of an ongoing Eater LA collection in regards to the final nice jazz supper golf equipment of Los Angeles, the place the pioneers of the jazz fusion period are on stage for his or her last curtain name.

On any given night time at Catalina Jazz Membership in Hollywood, proprietor Catalina Popescu does a last walk-through at nighttime, transformed warehouse minutes earlier than a jazz present begins. Live performance-goers wander throughout the worn purple carpet, eyes mounted on a stage illuminated in deep blue, violet, and purple lighting — the common colours of jazz golf equipment. For the second, the devices are at relaxation. Because the lights dim, your entire membership appears to snap into place underneath an industrial checkered ceiling that fades into darkness as performers, like iconic bassist Marcus Miller and his band, stroll onto the stage.

Jazz golf equipment have an extended historical past in Los Angeles that stretches again to the Nineteen Twenties on Central Avenue, the place followers listened to dwell performances at legendary rooms Membership Alabam and the Dunbar Resort. In 1945, bebop pioneers Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie performed a two-month run at Billy Berg’s, a jazz venue in Hollywood. Elvin Jones’s 1972 Dwell on the Lighthouse recording in Hermosa Seashore impressed post-Coltrane saxophonists like Michael Brecker, Bob Berg, and Bob Minzter.

When Popescu and her husband Bob opened Catalina Jazz Membership in October 1986, a decade after leaving communist Romania, it was the heyday of LA supper golf equipment that showcased refined postmodern jazz, a style that blends complicated improvisation with electrical beats, in addition to extra pop-oriented easy jazz. Studio Metropolis’s the Baked Potato, Westwood’s Bon Appetit, and different in style Valley venues Le Cafe and Cafe Cordiale had set the stage for Catalina Bar & Grill, fueling Angelenos’ urge for food for up to date jazz music. Kenny’s G’s sappy soprano saxophone hit, “Songbird,” was the quantity 4 monitor on the Billboard Scorching 1oo, an unheard-of feat that was orchestrated by music mogul Clive Davis’s vigorous marketing campaign. The feeding frenzy of dwell music venues surged with the bossa nova-leaning La Ve Lee in Studio Metropolis and easy jazz-oriented Spaghettini down in Seal Seashore. It was the late Nineteen Eighties and Los Angeles was dwelling to a resurgent dwell jazz scene.

A technology of postmodern jazz artists of their prime discovered a captive viewers at Catalina Bar & Grill, initially positioned alongside a chaotic strip of Cahuenga Boulevard earlier than it moved to its present 235-seat Sundown Boulevard location in 2003. “It was at all times a problem crossing that road, but it surely was price it for the purchasers, for an opportunity to see these nice musicians,” says Popescu. She’s proper. I used to be one in every of them.

In 1989, I used to be ending my final 12 months on the College of the Pacific’s Conservatory of Music and visited Los Angeles to catch a Brandon Fields set at Bon Appetit in Westwood. After commencement, I performed in blues, up to date jazz, and R&B teams within the Bay Space however typically dreamed of shifting to Southern California to play with LA musicians in its legendary jazz golf equipment. Whereas touring with Bay Space blues legend Chris Cain within the fall of 1995, I made the transfer to Los Angeles to pursue a profession taking part in saxophone.

Sadly, by the point I arrived in LA, Le Cafe and Bon Appetit had already closed. Dwell jazz in Los Angeles was trending downward following a collection of occasions, together with the 1990 recession, 1992 Los Angeles rebellion, and 1994 Northridge earthquake. However I might nonetheless go to Catalina Bar & Grill to see each one in every of my favourite artists that got here to city, and it shortly grew to become a go-to hang-out for me, the place I might take pleasure in garlicky fries, seafood pasta, and lengthy pours of sauvignon blanc whereas listening to inspiring, thunderous trendy jazz units by the likes of Michael Brecker, Mike Stern, and the Dave Weckl Band.

Virtually 20 years later, on a cold night in October 2023, I returned to Catalina — now known as the Catalina Jazz Membership — to see Marcus Miller carry out. I wasn’t the one one excited. The viewers, principally individuals of their late 40s, 50s, and 60s, had come to listen to one of many world’s most influential jazz bassists play.

Like many Los Angeles supper golf equipment, Catalina attracts from the effectively of California delicacies and Italian meals that’s now seen as dated however soared in reputation within the Nineteen Eighties and Nineteen Nineties. Starters embody a beet and mesclun salad punctuated by damaged morsels of goat cheese and walnuts; fried calamari rings accompanied by chipotle aioli; and pork and tangy veal meatballs — Popescu’s favourite dish — underneath a tent of grilled ciabatta slices. Eighties hits like shrimp scampi and blackened catfish nonetheless play prominently as entrees on Catalina’s menu.

Our server Frank Chavez, who has labored for Catalina Jazz Membership for 21 years, handed us a menu that now consists of in style Mexican American starters like nachos, chips and guacamole, and brief rib quesadillas. However the core of the supper membership fare stays a number of pastas and assertion entrees — dishes like seafood fettuccine with caper-white wine sauce, a rack of lamb with rosemary cabernet tarragon sauce, and hen piccata.

Miller kicked off the set sporting blue denims, a black “Jazz Isn’t Lifeless” T-shirt, and his signature black felt porkpie hat. He switched between a pair of Sire basses and his trusty 1977 Fender Jazz Bass, laying down the funky, soulful grooves which have outlined his profession. As Miller soared with lyrical ease over the intro to “Run For Cowl,” our mains arrived. A row of eight plump shrimp sat face down in a pool of buttery caper sauce, surrounded by a mound of rice pilaf and steamed greens. I dove into the ice cream scoop of mashed potatoes positioned subsequent to an an identical steamed vegetable medley — broccoli, two sorts of squash, and carrot — that got here with the restaurant’s tangy, salsa-laced blackened Cajun catfish.

The meals at these supper golf equipment doesn’t simply have to return out quick. Kitchens at supper golf equipment are sometimes small — and typically even nonexistent. After I was taking part in at La Ve Lee within the early 2000s, I remembered seeing pan racks being delivered from an area restaurant with salads, appetizers, and dinner plates coated in plastic wrap. The dishes have been warmed up on-site, however jazz lovers gamely accepted it: Dinner and drink minimums preserve the music flowing. One of many oldest jazz golf equipment within the metropolis nonetheless solely serves baked potatoes for meals. Catalina’s menu is designed to accommodate all of the friends arriving on the identical time and putting orders simply earlier than the cats start to play. There’s one fixed in regards to the viewers: They’re there to assist dwell music, and the meals is usually secondary.

A spot like Catalina Jazz Membership, with its retro Cal-Italian menu, might not be held in the identical esteem as different Los Angeles establishments like Musso and Frank’s, Dan Tana’s, or Casa Vega, however stays a eating vacation spot for Angelenos who assist — and, in some circumstances, survive on — dwell music. Landmark eating places like these possess a timeless high quality and may be given just a little leeway relating to their time capsule menus and design as a result of they maintain sentimental and cultural worth.

Catalina Jazz Membership’s plates of primavera pasta, served in opposition to mellifluous tenor saxophone tones, remind me of a time when Los Angeles was an important heart of dwell jazz. The supper membership’s meals is inexpensive, however, extra saliently, it’s relatable to the gang. Music lovers who frequent supper golf equipment would probably be turned off by costly chef-driven menus that might render them unable to handle the cumulative price of a canopy, drinks, and dinner. Whereas the membership’s Italianesque dishes are dated in comparison with the likes of Bestia, Mom Wolf, or Antico Nuovo, to some diners, they fulfill like an encore.

At 67 years outdated, Popescu nonetheless works the room and books the bands, lots of whom preserve coming again out of respect for the unlikely jazz promoter. “I used to be not all for jazz, however I got here from a rustic the place we couldn’t see [movies, television, or anything censored by the government] — however I used to be in a position to hear Dizzy Gillespie,” she says.

Catalina met her husband, Bob Popescu, an American born in Romania, in 1975 whereas he was vacationing at a preferred Romanian seashore on the Black Sea. “He wooed me by filling a taxi filled with dozens and dozens of purple roses on our first date,” she says. Following a long-distance courtship, the couple married, and in 1976 Catalina and her mom got here to dwell with Bob in Los Angeles, the place he ran a number of companies. Though neither Bob nor Catalina had a musical background, they have been interested in the artists and their cultured viewers.

“Jazz audiences are so refined — savvy and educated individuals. I like jazz music. And, extra importantly, I like jazz musicians,” she says. Earlier than they opened the supper membership, Catalina labored for a decade as a supervisor at Bullock’s Wilshire Tea Room, a swanky Artwork Deco eating room that served tea, finger sandwiches, escalloped white fish, and crab a la Newburg. It’s the place Popescu discovered about service and elegance within the restaurant business. Although California-Italian meals was the newest eating pattern within the late ’80s, Catalina drew on her personal expertise to develop the menu and repair mannequin. “Our menu displays consolation meals that satisfies Los Angeles audiences, however now we have to verify it may also be ordered and served shortly,” says Popescu.

Within the early days, the couple struggled to realize traction, however have been in a position to attraction artists like Gillespie to return play at Catalina Bar & Grill. In keeping with Popescu, her husband cold-called the jazz legend, and Gillespie discovered his Romanian accent and jovial character not possible to say no to. All year long, Popescu stays in contact together with her steady of artists like they’re household. Birthday messages, vacation greetings, or simply pleasant check-ins are routine, and the assist Catalina Jazz Membership has given these artists through the years doesn’t go unnoticed. “{Our relationships} with music professionals are crucial to us. We nurture these relationships, and we rely on one another,” says Popescu. Thirty-seven years later, Catalina nonetheless will get on the telephone, and the artists present up. Within the late ’90s, Catalina Bar & Grill was one of many few locations I might depend on every week to see jazz legends for a really cheap value.

In 2003, Catalina and Bob took a danger in shifting what was already a longtime establishment to a bigger venue off Sundown Boulevard in Hollywood. Within the early 2000s and 2010s, up to date jazz was in decline. By 2010, beloved native radio station the Wave had eliminated all references to “easy jazz” in its branding, and in the identical 12 months, the introduction of the controversial Transportable Folks Meter, or PPM, led radio stations nationwide to drop the style in a single day. In 2014, jazz music was listed because the least in style music in the USA in response to Nielsen’s year-end report. And but Catalina Jazz Membership stayed busy in its new location. “Catalina is among the uncommon nice ones that pulled that transfer off efficiently and nonetheless is flourishing,” says skilled drummer Bernie Dresel, band chief of The BBB That includes Bernie Dresel.

For Los Angeles-based musicians like Dresel, Catalina was a spot the place musicians and jazz listeners might congregate throughout these lean years for the style within the 2000s. As Catalina Jazz Membership tailored to the diminished curiosity within the style, the jazz neighborhood relied on Popescu’s knack for bringing everybody collectively. “[Supper clubs] have been essential to the neighborhood of Los Angeles and to the musicians like myself which have known as Catalina one in every of our favourite properties to play and listen to music regionally,” says Dresel.

After an extended day of studio classes for films, tv, and information, Dresel might stay up for taking part in with bands like all-star up to date jazz powerhouse Gordon Goodwin’s Huge Phat Band; legendary composer Johnny Mandel; and former Completely satisfied Days star and jazz singer Don Most. Catalina Jazz Membership, seeming unflappable, stored jazz alive in Los Angeles for its devoted followers, and offered a payday for prime native musicians — that’s till the COVID-19 pandemic suspended dwell music performances around the globe.

In 2020, when the membership remained closed in the course of the pandemic, lots of its employees members needed to discover work elsewhere. However Popescu had earned sufficient loyalty that servers like Chavez ultimately returned when Catalina Jazz Membership reopened on July 15, 2021, although with extra seating restrictions and uncertainty. “Though I used to be making extra at [Century City’s] Toscanova, I missed being right here and got here again,” he says. Luis Guzman, the restaurant’s chef de delicacies, began as a line cook dinner at Catalina 29 years in the past. “Guzman began out as a dishwasher, however quickly took over the kitchen, and we’ve labored collectively on the menu,” says Popescu.

Catalina has at all times offered a platform for jazz’s main artists, however after greater than 50 years, the guts and soul of this highly effective style is winding down, with lots of its final performing practitioners passing away or retiring from touring. Chick Corea’s loss of life in 2021 marked an unofficial finish to an period. (“We’re shedding so many nice musicians,” says Popescu.) On Could 12, 2024, probably the most influential alto saxophonist in up to date jazz, David Sanborn, died on the age of 78, whose practically six-decade profession outlined the position of the instrument throughout all in style American music.

Even at this time, Popescu’s supper membership depends on in-house promotions and its enduring hospitality to maintain jazz lovers coming again. The unstated fact about supper golf equipment is that there’s an interdependent connection between the artists on stage, passionate homeowners who preserve well-known rooms going, and the viewers. If big-name artists resolve to headline a present, that membership turns into the place to be.

Whereas legacy acts assist to protect the establishment, Popescu is at all times in search of new expertise. Latest performers embody Dayren Santamaria, an acclaimed Cuban violinist, and Brian Justin Crum from America’s Acquired Expertise, each of whom boast sizable Instagram followings. “We at all times adapt ourselves to the altering occasions and that features discovering new methods to succeed in audiences. We’ve got the ardent assist of our legacy acts, however we nurture new and rising artists,” says Popescu.

Even after 4 many years, Popescu welcomes a neighborhood of artists, staff, and patrons with one function: to convey jazz lovers the music they will’t resist. Legendary percussionist Poncho Sanchez performed on New Yr’s Eve, and up to date exhibits featured the nice Cuban trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, and David Benoit, a prime easy jazz pianist. Folks from throughout have come to Los Angeles to see their favourite artists at Catalina Jazz Membership, like sports activities followers who dream of seeing a baseball sport at Fenway Park or a soccer match at Maracanã Stadium. The supper membership has defied the chances, and it’s exhibiting no indicators of slowing down. It could appear outstanding, however for Popescu, it’s a easy system.

“Years and years — 37 to be actual — of arduous work, persistence, a number of smiles, and nice music,” says Popescu. The jazz supper membership isn’t useless. Lengthy dwell the jazz supper membership.