St. Mark’s Tries to Please the Ear and the Palate : THE MUSIC : Catering to the Casual Diner and the Aficionado

Jazz great Lee Konitz had a rough time when he played St. Mark’s in Venice in late December. More than once, the venerated saxophonist--finding that whistles and honks from his horn wouldn’t get their attention--actually yelled at raucous customers, telling them to pipe down. It didn’t work.

“It’s really not a room designed for listening,” remarked Red Callender--the venerated bassist who has worked and recorded with such giants as Louis Armstrong, Lester Young and Charlie Parker during his 45-year career--before hitting the bandstand at St. Mark’s on a recent Wednesday. “But they have fun, and that’s the point.”

When St. Mark’s first opened four months ago, operators Michael Quinn and Francois Petit, two of five partners that own the room, wanted it to be a top-name jazz club that was also a first-class restaurant. Several supper clubs in the Los Angeles area offer a mix of quality cuisine and jazz--the Vine Street Bar & Grill and Catalina Bar & Grill in Hollywood and Bon Appetit in Westwood are just three. But St. Mark’s is the first such room in the Venice area--and one of the first to employ head chefs from name restaurants.

Originally, Quinn and Petit booked such musical giants as Konitz and guitarists Joe Pass and Barney Kessel. And while most customers would sit still for the “French-Italian with a touch of American Nouvelle” cuisine that Petit and his chefs devised, many wouldn’t for the musicians or the cover charge that was imposed to pay for their talents, which ran as high as $20.

“We started with big name artists--mostly jazz artists because that’s the kind of music we all liked--as a promotional idea to let people know we were trying to achieve the finest in everything, both food and music,” said Quinn. “But we couldn’t maintain it. The types of artists we hired conflicted with the restaurant environment, where a lot of people are here for dinner and are not concerned with big names.”

Quinn, who handles the music and business end of affairs at St. Mark’s while Petit oversees the restaurant and staff operations, decided a lower-key approach was necessary. “You can have an idea or concept,” he said, “but if it doesn’t fit with what the people want, you have to change.”

So instead of the Konitzes, Passes and Kessels, St. Mark’s now books lesser-known though quite solid artists such as Stan Behrens and the L.A. Jazz All-Stars (a dandy trio featuring Art Hillery on piano, Red Callender on bass and Earl Palmer on drums), Patrick Tuzzolino, Eddie Baytos and others. Top-name jazz players like Cedar Walton--a modernist, who, like Pass and Konitz, tours the world--will remain the exception, not the rule.

But people like Behren can more than take care of business. On that recent Wednesday, the slim musician--nattily dressed in a black-and-white striped shirt with a modern bolo tie, black slacks and shoes, all of which matched his full head of wavy, combed-back hair--picked up his flute and played easy, cooking lines on “Swingin’ Shepherd Blues.”

Then, after a bluesy version of “One Note Samba” on tenor sax, he switched to harmonica for a rousing take on the old favorite, “See See Rider.” Hillery, Callender and Palmer worked in and around the leader’s efforts, making the man at the microphone, who got hooked on the blues when he was a pre-teen, sound even better.

As cheerful and vigorous as the music was, it garnered only modest attention from the moderate-sized crowd at the three-month old establishment, but, as Callender pointed out, the musicians knew what to expect.

Behrens, who from 1976-78 worked and recorded with organist Jimmy Smith and was spotlighted on the soundtrack that blues bassist Willie Dixon composed for the 1989 film, “Ginger Ale Afternoon” (Skouras), has helped Quinn with the new music policy, both by suggesting musicians and working the room.

“I told Mike that there were great guys, right here in L.A., that, as long as the salary’s decent, will want to gig,” said Behrens, who leads his L.A. Jazz All-Stars about once a month at St. Mark’s.

The room currently alternates between swing-styled jazz artists playing danceable tunes and R&B;/blues artists, often with a New Orleans tinge. The bands start at 9:30 p.m., and on Wednesday-Saturday, various solo pianists begin at 7 p.m. Regular bands include Behrens and his Blues All-Stars every Sunday and Baytos and the Nervis Brothers doing New Orleans-ish tunes every Monday. A Mardi Gras Party will be held Tuesday, pianist Bob Long’s Trio arrives Wednesday, keyboardist Billy Crew and the Memphis Zoo are in March 2-3 and the V.I.P. Trio with pianist Walton, bassist Pat Senatore and drummer Billy Higgins works March 9-10.

There’s kind of a tricky cover charge policy. There’s no cover charge Sunday-Thursday, though a two-drink minimum at the tables is imposed--there’s no minimum at the bar. On Friday-Saturday, those ordering dinner, including late supper, are charged $5 cover, while those coming in strictly for the music, whether they sit at tables in the lounge or in the dining room, or stand in the bar area, pay $10, with no minimum.

And while that Wednesday may not have been jumping, the following Saturday was. Petit had more than 250 reservations for dinner--the room seats 150 and the service staff seemed to be running all night--and Behrens and crew, with Cynthia Speer adding spirited vocals, were joined by such guest artists as pianist/singer Yve Evans and bassist Leslie Baker. The musicians clearly had a fine time delivering such tasty items as “Lover Man,” “Do Nothin’ ‘Til You Hear From Me,” “I’m Beginning to See the Light” and “Song for my Father.”

It’s on nights like these that St. Mark’s can be delightful--and disenchanting. The club is U-shaped, with the lounge/bar giving way to a covey of tables under the mezzanine and fronting the stage, with two banks of suede-covered booths at stage right that complete the room. If you have dinner reservations, or are lucky enough to get a table in front of the stage, you’ll be able to see the musicians; if you have to stand in the back of the bar, you won’t. And though Quinn has installed two video monitors in the bar and one in the mezzanine that will broadcast action from the stage, that won’t satisfy those who like to observe their entertainers in the flesh. On weekends, those arriving after 11 p.m. have a better chance of securing the tables, available on a first-come, first served basis; during the week, St. Mark’s is usually less crowded, though not always. Calling ahead is recommended.

Excessive volume continues to be a problem. St. Mark’s is a modern melange of concrete, stainless steel, brick and other non-sound-absorbing stuff, and it can be darn hard to hear the band, even if you can see it. Quinn said he’s trying to overcome that drawback. Since Konitz’ appearance, he’s carpeted all the dining areas and the bandstand, put up Sonex sound-absorbing material and installed sound panels behind the bandstand.

“Then we went through the sound system, and replaced a lot of hardware, and speakers that didn’t function properly, to try to control and improve the sound,” he said.

Did it work? “It’s much improved,” Quinn said. “We have guys working now to eliminate the bugs. To my ear it’s fine. In a place like this, there’s always going to be a certain amount of ambient noise, but we’re cutting it down.”