Catalina Bar & Grill Getting a Face Lift

The city’s premier jazz club, Catalina Bar & Grill, will close for 30 days following saxophonist Pharoah Sanders’ Tuesday-Aug. 3 run. But that doesn’t mean a summer vacation for owner Catalina Popescu and her staff.

The club will use the dog days for what manager Manuel Santiago describes as “a general face lift,” relocating the stage into the former dining area, upgrading the sound system and the lights as well as bringing in new paint, furniture and carpet.

“August has always been our slowest month so what better time to do it,” says Popescu of the make-over closure. “And this summer’s been slower than normal. Even Disneyland is having slow attendance.”

Catalina, which celebrated its 10th anniversary earlier this year, has only closed once before for remodeling, when a central stairwell was removed to improve sight lines.

The club will reopen Sept. 2 with keyboardist Joe Zawinul and the Zawinul Syndicate. The McCoy Tyner Trio, trumpeter Wallace Roney with Lenny White and Geri Allen and drummer Dave Weckl’s band are all scheduled to appear later in September.

When asked if she’s ever considered moving her club to other parts of town, Popescu admits that Hollywood can be a difficult neighborhood. But, she emphasizes, through the hard work of community agencies, things there are on the rebound. “Hollywood has been good to us. I know some people have their opinions about it, but we’ve never had any trouble here. Maybe we’ll move somewhere else after another 10 years.”

* Manny Oquendo & Libre play Catalina Bar & Grill, 1640 N. Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood, tonight-Sunday, 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. $15. (213) 466-2210.

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Deficit Baking: The Jazz Bakery schedule, mailed out in July, contained one startling bit of information. According to the flier, the jazz-devoted, nonprofit concert space has been running an annual deficit of more than $30,000.

“It’s not a surprise,” says Jazz Bakery president and artistic director Ruth Price. “That’s just the way nonprofits run. It doesn’t mean that we have any plans to close.”

“That $30,000 is pretty typical of what we’ve had [in deficit] each of our five years,” explains Bakery board Chairman Maurice Hall. “It’s worked into our budget as the difference between what we take in at the door and what it costs us to [present the shows]. It’s the amount that we as a nonprofit group have to make up in donations and fund-raisers.”

Price attributes the size of the deficit to various reasons. The Bakery does not take in money, as do most clubs, from the sale of food or drinks (the Cafe Cantata inside the Bakery is a separate entity). The summer bounty of free jazz concerts at a number of the area’s museums provides stiff competition.

July has been a particularly difficult month for the venue. Helms Avenue, which fronts the Bakery, was completely torn up for repairs between Venice and Washington boulevards on July 7. Price worries that the street closure, scheduled to end July 31, has left some thinking that there’s no nearby parking or that the club is closed (the large Helms complex parking lot at the corner of Helms and Venice Boulevard remains open).

Hard luck also fell on a planned fund-raiser with Stephane Grappelli, scheduled for Sept. 19 at the 1,000-seat Wilshire United Methodist Church, when the 89-year-old French violinist canceled his American tour, which included the Bakery date. The Bakery is looking to schedule another fund-raiser on a future date.

But there’s been good news as well. Accompanying the announcement of the deficit came a call for donations, one that Price says was well-met with $11,000. And earlier this month, the Los Angeles County Arts Commission awarded the Bakery a two-year, $6,000-a-year grant.

Price says not only will the performance space stay open--its August schedule includes Arthur Blythe-Horace Tapscott, Louie Bellson, Art Farmer and Denny Zeitlin--but it will continue to maintain its high level of musical quality.

* The Roger Kellaway Trio plays the Jazz Bakery, 3233 Helms Ave., Culver City, tonight at 8:30, $18, and 10:15 p.m. $16. The Phil Woods Quintet plays Saturday, 8:30 p.m., $22, and 10:15 p.m., $20; and Sunday, 6 p.m., $22, and 8 p.m., $20 (310) 271-9039.

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Other Venues: Not all the jazz club action resides in L.A. County. These outlying venues are worth checking out:

* The Jazz Hall, 29 E. Victoria St., Santa Barbara, has, over its 2 1/2 years, such names as Elvin Jones, Kenny Barron, Wallace Roney and Chick Corea as well as a host of local acts. The hall, known for its attentive audiences, is usually open only on weekends, except for special engagements. This weekend the Gus Trio plays tonight, saxophonist John Nathan Haffner plays Saturday, both $5. Drummer Gerry Gibbs Quintet with saxophonist Ravi Coltrane plays Sunday-Tuesday; $15. (805) 963-0404.

* 66 CA, the restaurant at 66 S. California St. in Ventura, features local jazz bands Tuesday-Thursday, bassist Henry Franklin’s trio every Friday-Saturday with special guests (this weekend pianist John Rangell on Friday, trumpeter Richard Davis and pianist Dwight Dickerson on Saturday) and blues or bluegrass on Sunday. No cover. (805) 648-2266.

* Steamers Cafe, 138 W. Commonwealth Ave., Fullerton, is an extremely music-friendly place with a fine sound system and a host of mostly Southern California-based artists. Herb Geller, the Anthony Wilson Quintet, the Brad Mehldau Trio, Kurt Elling, Poncho Sanchez and others will play here in August. Tonight, it’s pianist Cecilia Coleman’s quintet. No cover. (714) 871-8800.

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Free Jazz: Bassist Mark Shelby of Black Note leads a quintet to accompany the Jazz Antiqua modern dancers today at the California Plaza Watercourt, downtown, noon. (213) 687-2159. . . . The JazzBirds with fluegelhornist Stacy Rowles and trombonist Betty O’Hara appear tonight on the courtyard of UCLA at Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Cultural Center in Westwood, 6:30 p.m. (310) 824-6365. . . . Bassist Art Davis’ quartet with pianist Horace Tapscott plays L.A. County Museum of Art, today at 5:30 p.m. . . . The Horace Tapscott Quintet plays the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Little Tokyo, Thursday, 5 p.m. (213) 621-1749. . . . Guitarist Bruce Lofgren’s quartet plays Saturday at Pedrini Music in Alhambra, 1:30 p.m., (818) 289-0241. . . .