CLUB REVIEW : K.O. for Blue Mondays

Small’s K.O., a tiny, trendy Hollywood club, may be packed too tightly on weekends with pasty-faced scenestresses and grunged out guys, but Mondays are the best-kept secret in town.

Not only is the Melrose Avenue bar comfortably below its legal capacity on the first night of the work week, but the deejay plays a selection of blues that you won’t find anywhere else in town.

For the past 2 1/2 years, deejay David Kimball hasn’t missed a gig, offering a weekly education in one of America’s most beloved forms of music. One night, for example, Kimball’s set, which typically runs 9:30 p.m.-2 a.m., was highlighted by Clifton Chenier’s “Big Mamou,” Sonny Boy Williamson’s “Bring It On Home,” Elvis’ “I Washed My Hands With Muddy Water” and Slim Harpo’s “Tip On In.”

Kimball didn’t just stick with old-school blues, however. He also wove in some blues-laced rock: Led Zeppelin’s “Riverside Blues,” ZZ Top’s “El Diablo,” Bonnie Tyler’s “It’s a Heartache” and the Rolling Stone’s “Let Me Go.”

The comfortable music volume allows guests to have conversations without yelling across the cafe-styled tables, and his set is simply so good, each attempt to leave the venue is thwarted by another great number you just got to hear.

A word of caution: The venue’s secondary smoke could probably set off fire alarms.

Small’s K.O., 5574 Melrose Ave. (at Gower Street), Hollywood, (213) 469-8258 .