Hollywood is hip to jazz's new vibe

Hollywood is hip to jazz’s new vibe

By Steve Baltin

March 27, 2008 12 AM PT

EVEN before Herbie Hancock’s upset win for album of the year at this year’s Grammy Awards thrust jazz back into the spotlight, Hollywood was feeling the love for the cool cats that made the scene. Right now, one can find jazz nights at no fewer than three Hollywood hot spots, and a walk into Teddy’s on a recent Thursday night for the Danny Masterson-hosted Fat Sam’s Grand Slam showed that the growing appreciation for the timeless music is no novelty.

As the stellar quintet launches into Thelonious Monk’s “Straight, No Chaser” sometime after 11:30, the sharply adorned guys and gals (the night has a dress code of ties for gentlemen, and dresses are strongly suggested for the ladies) huddle in tightly on the tiny dance floor to get their swing on.

Chris Breed, who owns the Green Door, which hosts jazz on Tuesday nights, has seen the crowd embrace the music, to the tune of 400 guests on a recent Tuesday. “People sit and take it seriously,” Breed says. “The conversation stops and the focus shifts to sound.”

It’s not just fans who are taking notice. On that Thursday at Teddy’s, John Mayer is also on hand. Then again, Mayer, who would get up and jam several songs, is a fan as well. “I have been to every jazz night in Hollywood,” he says. And Mayer, who’s stood on stage alongside such titans as B.B. King, Buddy Guy and Eric Clapton, says the combo at Teddy’s is the real deal. “These guys are joyous, outgoing and giving,” he says, later telling the crowd during his jam, “Give it up to yourselves for having such great taste.”

Certainly there is a respectability in hitting a jazz club, as it can be seen as both cultured and sophisticated. Masterson, who started the night at Guy’s four years ago before moving to Teddy’s earlier this year, was trying to create that vibe. “I moved out here from New York in ‘93, and there was no young, cool jazz spot in L.A,” Masterson says. “So my really good friend Joe Firstman was doing sort of him and two dudes in T-shirts at La Poubelle, playing some cool old music. And I was like: We should just make this basically a Cotton Club, but a kids’ Cotton Club. It turned out really good, and then everybody’s sort of dancing, laughing and having fun. It’s got a different sort of vibe than the normal hip-hop club, which is more like trying to get laid, trying to get drunk. This is a little classier.”

Elisabeth Baron is a marketing director for Hennessy, which sponsors the night at Teddy’s. It’s that more adult vibe that got her and her company involved. “You’ve got really sexy people dressed up and enjoying live music,” she says. “I haven’t found this a lot in L.A.”

Maybe not before, but it’s getting a lot easier to find.

theguide@latimes.com

FAT SAM’S GRAND SLAM

WHERE: Teddy’s, Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, 7000 Hollywood Blvd.

WHEN: 11 p.m. Thursdays

PRICE: No cover

INFO: (323) 466-7000

GREEN DOOR

WHERE: 1429 Ivar Ave.

Hollywood

WHEN: 9 p.m. Tuesdays

PRICE: No cover