These Joints Are Jumpin’

Kevin Eubanks just can’t get far from Jay Leno.

The two, who already share a TV studio five nights a week for “The Tonight Show,” now share a venue in Hermosa Beach on Sundays. Leno’s been a mainstay at the Comedy & Magic Club for years, and now Eubanks has brought his jazz band into the adjacent Lounge at the Beach.

The two clubs are close--sharing the same address and management--not unlike Leno and his bandleader-sidekick. But it seems to work out.

“We’ve been looking for a local place where we could write and play new music and have fun,” said Eubanks, who’s been playing at the Lounge for about three months. “This place has worked out great. . . . The band really looks forward to playing here.”

During the nearly two-hour show, the Kevin Eubanks Band shows the crowd what it can do with more than a few sporadic minutes before commercials. The four-piece band, most of whom are “Tonight Show” regulars, includes Marvin “Smitty” Smith on drums, Gerry Etkins on keyboards and Philip Bynoe on electric bass. They play a nonstop set of mostly original music with plenty of crowd-pleasing hard-core jams and solos to satisfy even the most savvy jazz fan.

The mood onstage is relaxed, and the interaction with the audience is playful. Lounge regular and Eubanks friend Arsenio Hall--who sometimes opens for Leno--occasionally gets into the act, teasing the band about song titles or the way they introduce the story behind a particular piece.

“Three more drinks and it won’t matter what you call the song,” shouted Hall, after Eubanks introduced a song with the working title “Sweet Nothing.”

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All the music and laughs are in good fun, which is exactly what Lounge and comedy club owner Mike Lacey wanted to create. Hoping to infuse some new energy and style into what was formerly Igor’s Bar & Grill--a dull, dungeon-like bar with a haunted theme--Lacey created a simple cabaret showroom that features live music on weekends. The Lounge, which still harbors some relics from Igor’s, features hardwood floors, linen-dressed tables and an outdoor patio. On Friday and Saturday nights the club goes concert-style, clearing the tables for a standing-room, twentysomething crowd. The Eubanks show on Sundays is a mellower supper club setting that attracts all ages.

“Live performance has always done well here,” said Lacey. “In a sense you could say we’re going back to our roots.”

* The Lounge at the Beach, at the Comedy & Magic Club, 1018 Hermosa Ave., Hermosa Beach. 18 and older in the comedy club; 21 and older in the lounge. The Kevin Eubanks Band, Sunday, 7:45 p.m. $10 cover. Jay Leno, Sunday, 7 p.m. $25 cover. Reservations recommended. (310) 372-1193.