Where Are They Now? 6 Stories Revisited : Bebop Records: Where a fixture of Reseda’s music scene once was, Vortex offers art and poetry readings.

When Bebop Records closed in June, the Valley lost one of its favorite hangouts.

Bebop sold used records by day, and by night became an unusually eclectic stage for song and poetry. Such well-known musicians as Los Lobos, Exene Cervenka and Jane’s Addiction performed there. The likes of Jim Carroll, Kate Braverman and La Loca read there.

But owner Richard Bruland called it quits after eight years when city officials cited him for hosting performances without a proper permit.

Now the Reseda shop has reopened with much of its aestheticism intact. A Burbank woman named Melody Cooper has rented the storefront and converted it into a gallery.

The newly named Vortex offers shelves of pottery and walls filled with paintings and collages. Art classes are given on a regular basis. Poets will be glad to know that a small performance space in the rear is used for 7:30 p.m. readings on the second and last Wednesdays of each month.

“I’m trying a lot of different things,” Cooper said. “I want to keep changing the art on display.”

Twenty local artists are showing works at the gallery. When there are no customers, Cooper works on her own art, pottery. Two wheels and a considerable amount of clay dust inhabit the premises.

And Bruland--who left the business world to concentrate on his painting--is scheduled to show some of his work at Vortex in the coming year.

“Richard is happy to be gone and doing his art,” Cooper said. “And I’m very happy to be here. I think it’s good for everybody.”