Hitting the Right Notes : Hot Jazz Club Could Herald Better Times for Its Crenshaw Neighborhood

When the Jazz Etc. Supper Club opened its doors five months ago, even its owners weren’t sure if an elegant jazz spot could survive in a seedy Crenshaw-area shopping center, where “the night life” was something most people tried to avoid.

“My dream was to build a beautiful, first-class jazz club in this community,” said Earl Hunter, a former record promoter who owns the club along with two partners, Isaac Sutters and Mel Embree.

Hunter’s gamble began to pay off within weeks of the opening. The club, situated in the old Santa Barbara Plaza shopping center, now draws scores, sometimes hundreds of jazz enthusiasts nightly, and has become the focal point of what is widely regarded as a resurgence of night life in the Crenshaw area.

“I had my doubts we would make it when we started,” said Sutters, a retired singer and recording industry promoter who is Hunter’s brother-in-law. “We wanted a club that would not only appeal to the people who live in this community, but would also be a place for anyone who loves good jazz.”

The club’s Sunday jam sessions, starting in the afternoon and lasting long into the night, draw young musicians from all parts of the city. Jazz-lovers come to hear the new artists, and also because they know there’s a good chance a well-known musician or singer will join in, like the night when singer and guitarist George Benson sat in on a set.

Monday nights are celebrity nights--a recent one honored Dionne Warwick. She did not perform, but the audience went wild when blues singer Linda Hopkins, backed by an 18-piece orchestra, did several numbers in tribute to the special guest.

For the young musicians, the jam sessions are big moments in their lives.

“If you are a musician, performing in front of a live audience like this is the best thing for you,” said Richard Grant, a trumpet player. “You need to play all the time, but playing before an audience is what helps you to get your chops together.”

The crowd is a racial mosaic, somewhat more than half black, generally affluent and mostly over 35.

“It’s the kind of club that helps to attract and retain people accustomed to quality music,” said Charles Stewart, chief deputy to state Sen. Diane Watson (D-Los Angeles). “It’s the kind of adult entertainment we want to have more of in the Crenshaw area.”

Nightclubs are not new to Crenshaw. The Pied Piper and Flying Fox, for example, have been there for years, attracting a mostly younger audience. One of the best known jazz spots in the area is Marla’s, owned by actress Marla Gibbs. More recently, Gibbs has established the Crossroads Arts Academy, a theater, in nearby Leimert Park. The area is also the home of renowned jazz drummer Billy Higgins’ World Stage, a jazz workshop that has launched the careers of numerous young musicians.

Complimenting the mix has been the arrival in recent years of several new restaurants.

“Crenshaw Boulevard has become a center for jazz and night-life,” said Randall Willis, another local musician. “Older people say it reminds them of parts of South Side of Chicago or Harlem.”

Like many of the great jazz clubs of the past, Jazz Etc. and other Crenshaw area night spots have the advantage of being based in the community that provides much of their support.

“All too often, music gets separated from the people,” said Don Nelson, an office worker who lives in the Crenshaw area. “It’s affordable for the average person to go down and listen to some good jazz music and get a chance to see what is going on.”

The immediate neighborhood is not the greatest. Santa Barbara Plaza is a vast, run-down strip mall on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, just west of Crenshaw Boulevard. The city is trying to figure out how to redevelop the shopping center. It is on the edge of Baldwin Village, an apartment community that for years has had problems with drugs and gangs. Until recently, it was often popularly referred to as “the Jungle,” ostensibly because of its lush greenery. Residents, trying to shed the negative connotations of the term, now strongly prefer the Baldwin Village name.

“We still get calls from people who want to know whether we are safe,” said Embree, the club’s part-owner. “They ask, ‘Are you located in that area called the Jungle?’

“Sometimes it takes some convincing to get them to come take a look at our club. . . . Once they come into the club, take a look around and see that everything is fine, they are hooked.”

Embree, 62, a former professional football player and construction company owner, gutted and remodeled the building, which had housed a series of failed nightclubs over 30 years. The sleek finished product has a soft green interior, dining accommodations and two bars.

The owners say they believe the club’s upscale ambience has helped keep potential troublemakers away. A security force and bright tennis court-style lights in the parking lot may also have a deterring effect on miscreants.

“They respect what we are doing here,” said Randy (Roughhouse) Harris, the club’s maitre d’. “We have brought jazz to the Jungle.”

Years ago, when jazz musicians were associated with drugs and other social problems, a jazz club might not have been considered such a community asset. Now, however, Jazz Etc. is welcomed as a stabilizing influence.

“Today jazz musicians have clean images,” said Willie Jones, a keyboard player who lives in Ladera Heights. “These guys don’t drink or smoke--they are clean-cut, serious young guys.”

Among the young musicians, there is something timeless about their relationship with the music. Mark Shelby, a bass player for Black/Note, a group that performs regularly at the club, spoke earnestly about the importance of becoming grounded in the basics.

“We can’t create our own sound without studying the masters--Coltrane, Armstrong and Ellington,” he said. “If we pay some respect, some homage to the masters, then you can take music to another level.”

The search for a higher level led Ark Sano, a 28-year-old native of Japan, to Los Angeles. He had just finished school and was searching for a job. Now he is Black/Note’s pianist.

“I was told that Los Angeles would be the best place to find a gig, because New York and Boston are too competitive,” Sano said. “When I came to Los Angeles, they told me to go to Crenshaw.”