The Lighthouse led the way

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Back when I was bicoastal (almost- Charlottesville, VA and Long Beach, CA), I managed to find a great place to mellow out in the evenings. I really can’t recall what drew me to the place- perhaps there was a sign, perhaps it was musical sounds that carried to the street.

That place was called the Lighthouse Cafe. On Pier Avenue in Hermosa Beach. A short trip up the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway)- which around 9 at night wasn’t terribly crowded.
And, I bring it up now because Howard Rumsey passed away a month ago (it was only a few days when I wrote this)- at the ripe old age of 97. Howard was a bass player who managed to make this place THE place for jazz- both for established and hoping-t0-make it musicians.

Lighthouse Cafe

Now, he converted this place in 1949- long before I walked this earth. OK, he wasn’t the owner, John Levine was. But, Levine let him do it- adding such “nobody” players like Max Roach (jazz drummer), Shorty Rogers (trumpet player), Miles Davis (no way you don’t know who HE was), Cannonball Adderly (saxophone), Art Blakey (drummer and bandleader), among others- like Thelonius Monk!

In case you didn’t know it, Los Angeles also had a tremendous race problem back then. (If you are a fan of the author Walter Moseley, you’d have figured that out, even if you didn’t know the history.) So, that meant a lot of artists couldn’t really play the house without intimidation. But, Levine and Rumsey perservered and managed to make this tiny place into a giant for jazz afficionados.

I began coming after Levine passed away. And enjoyed it – and the second place Rumsey opened- Concerts by the Sea in Redondo Beach (which was even closer to my abode).

Maybe one day I’ll share my favorite places in the city. (That’s New York for those of you who don’t know the terminology.)

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