The Lighthouse Café is a

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

located at 30 Pier Avenue in Hermosa Beach, California. It has been active as a jazz showcase since 1949 and, under the name "The Lighthouse", was one of the best known West Coast jazz clubs from the 1950s through the late 1970s. In addition to jazz,

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

to rock - among other genres of music - are performed at the venue, including bookings of local artists such as Jett Prescott and George Stanford.

History

restaurant A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and Delivery (commerce), food delivery services. Restaurants ...

called "Verpilate's" was built a short walk from the ocean at 30 Pier Avenue in 1934, and it was converted into "The Lighthouse", a bar, in 1940 ("Café" was added to the official name only when the business was sold in 1981). The club first began showcasing

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

music on May 29, 1949, when owner John Levine permitted bassist/band leader Howard Rumsey to start a recurring Sunday

jam session A jam session is a relatively informal musical event, process, or activity where musicians, typically instrumentalists, play improvised solos and vamp over tunes, drones, songs, and chord progressions. To "jam" is to improvise music without ...

on a trial basis. The experiment was a success. Rumsey became club manager soon after and put together a house band called the Lighthouse All-Stars. While the club also hosted visiting groups, the Lighthouse All-Stars became an ensemble in its own right, which had among its guest musicians

Chet Baker Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool". Baker earned much attention and ...

, Gerry Mulligan and

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

. The longest-running members of the Lighthouse All-Stars were Bob Cooper (

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (whi ...

), Conte Candoli (

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

), and Stan Levey (

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

). West Coast jazz stalwarts Shorty Rogers, Richie Kamuca, Bill Holman, Bud Shank, Shelly Manne, and Jimmy Giuffre were also regulars in the early days. Max Roach was the regular drummer for a while in 1953. The club also became an important venue for recordings;

Art Pepper Arthur Edward Pepper Jr. (September 1, 1925 – June 15, 1982) was an American jazz musician, most known as an alto saxophonist. He occasionally performed and recorded on tenor saxophone, clarinet (his first instrument) and bass clarinet. Active ...

, Lee Morgan,

Cannonball Adderley Julian Edwin "Cannonball" Adderley (September 15, 1928August 8, 1975) was an American jazz Alto saxophone, alto saxophonist of the hard bop era of the 1950s and 1960s. Adderley is perhaps best remembered by the general public for the 1966 soul ...

, Mose Allison,

Ramsey Lewis Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis Jr. (May 27, 1935 – September 12, 2022) was an American jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and radio personality. Lewis recorded over 80 albums and received five RIAA certification, gold records and three Grammy Awards ...

, Art Blakey, Charles Earland,

Grant Green Grant Green (June 6, 1935 – January 31, 1979) was an American jazz guitarist and composer. Green has been called one of the "most sampled guitarists." Biography Grant Green was born on June 6, 1935, in St. Louis, Missouri, to John and ...

Elvin Jones Elvin Ray Jones (September 9, 1927 – May 18, 2004) was an American jazz drummer of the post-bop era. Most famously a member of John Coltrane's quartet, with whom he recorded from late 1960 to late 1965, Jones appeared on such albums as ''My Fa ...

Cal Tjader Callen Radcliffe Tjader Jr. ( ; July 16, 1925 – May 5, 1982) was an American Latin Jazz musician, often described as the most successful non-Latino Latin music (genre), Latin musician. He explored other jazz idioms, especially small group mod ...

, the Modern Jazz Quartet, The Three Sounds, the Jazz Crusaders, and Joe Henderson all made recordings there. "The Lighthouse" sponsored an inter-collegiate jazz festival in the late-1950s, and the competition's winners included Mike Melvoin and Les McCann. John Levine died in 1970, and his family sold the club to Rudy Onderwyzer, manager and part-owner of Shelly Manne's club, "Shelly's Manne-Hole". Rumsey left "The Lighthouse" in 1971 to open the "Concerts By The Sea" jazz club in nearby Redondo Beach, and Onderwyzer sold the club again in 1981. The new owners remodeled it and mostly discontinued the jazz-music policy. From the mid-1990s, jazz slowly began to come back to the club, first on Sunday afternoons, then on a two-days-a-week schedule, with local artists such as Ray Pizzi, Michele Faber, and Edmond Allmond.

Recordings made at the Lighthouse

*1951:

and Shorty Rogers – ''Popo'' (Xanadu, 1980) *1952: Art Pepper – ''Early Days, Vol. 1'' (Vantage, 1991) *1953: Stan Getz – ''The Lighthouse Sessions, Vol. 1'' (Norma/Vantage, 1991) *1953: Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars – ''Sunday Jazz a la Lighthouse'' (Vol. 1 & Vol. 2) ( Contemporary, 1953) *1953:

and the Lighthouse All-Stars – ''

Witch Doctor A witch doctor (also spelled witch-doctor), or witchcraft doctor, is a kind of magical healer who treats ailments believed to be caused by witchcraft. The term is often misunderstood, and they could more accurately be called "anti-witch doctors ...

'' (Contemporary, 1985) *1953:

and the Lighthouse All-Stars – ''At Last!'' (Contemporary, 1985) – recorded on the same day as ''Witch Doctor'' *1958–60: Joe Gordon and Scott LaFaro – ''West Coast Days'' ( Fresh Sound, 1992) *1960:

– '' The Cannonball Adderley Quintet at the Lighthouse'' ( Riverside, 1960) *1962: The Jazz Crusaders – '' The Jazz Crusaders at the Lighthouse'' ( Pacific Jazz, 1962) *1962: Curtis Amy – '' Tippin' on Through'' (Pacific Jazz, 1962) *1964: Cannonball Adderley – ''Live Session! Cannonball Adderley with the New Exciting Voice of Ernie Andrews!'' with Ernie Andrews (Capitol, 1964) *1965:

Trio – '' Hang On Ramsey!'' ( Cadet, 1965) *1965: Mose Allison – '' Mose Alive!'' ( Atlantic, 1966) *1966: Art Blakey and the New Jazz Messengers – '' Buttercorn Lady'' ( Limelight, 1966) *1966: The Jazz Crusaders – '' Live at the Lighthouse '66'' (Pacific Jazz, 1966) *1967: The Modern Jazz Quartet – '' Live at the Lighthouse'' (Atlantic, 1967) *1967: The Three Sounds – '' Live at the Lighthouse'' ( Blue Note, 1967) *1967: The Jazz Crusaders – '' Lighthouse '68'' (Pacific Jazz, 1969) – reissued as ''Live Sides'' (Blue Note, 1980) *1969:

– ''Cal Tjader Plugs In'' (Skye, 1969) *1969: Richard "Groove" Holmes – ''X-77: Richard "Groove" Holmes Recorded Live at the Lighthouse'' (World Pacific, 1969) *1969: The Jazz Crusaders – '' Lighthouse '69'' (Pacific Jazz, 1969) *1970: Lee Morgan – '' Live at the Lighthouse'' (Blue Note, 1971) *1970: Joe Henderson – '' If You're Not Part of the Solution, You're Part of the Problem'' ( Milestone, 1970) *1972: Charles Earland – '' Live at the Lighthouse'' ( Prestige, 1972) *1972:

– '' Live at the Lighthouse'' (Blue Note, 1973) *1972:

– '' Live at the Lighthouse'' (Blue Note, 1973) *1972: Ramsey Lewis – ''The Groover'' (Cadet) *1974: Ramsey Lewis – ''Solid Ivory'' (Cadet) *1979: Horace Tapscott Sextet – ''Lighthouse 79, Vol. 1'' (Nimbus West) *1979: Horace Tapscott Sextet – ''Lighthouse 79, Vol. 2'' (Nimbus West) *1981: Joe Farrell Quartet – ''Last of the Lighthouse'' (Unreleased) *1989: Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars – ''Jazz Invention (40th Anniversary Reunion Concert)'' (Contemporary) *1999: Phil Norman Tentet – ''Live at the Lighthouse, Hermosa Beach, California'' (Sea Breeze) *2003: ''Sunday Afternoons at The Lighthouse Cafe: The Jack Nimitz Quintet'' (Woofy Productions) *2004: ''Sunday Afternoons at The Lighthouse Cafe: The Arno Marsh Quintet'' (Woofy Productions) *2004: ''Sunday Afternoons at The Lighthouse Cafe: The Bob Enevoldsen Quintet'' (Woofy Productions) *2004: ''Sunday Afternoons at The Lighthouse Cafe: The Med Flory Quintet'' (Woofy Productions) *2004: ''Sunday Afternoons at The Lighthouse Cafe: The Lennie Niehaus Octet'' (Woofy Productions) *2005: ''Sunday Afternoons at The Lighthouse Cafe: The Dave Pell Octet'' (Woofy Productions) *2005: ''Sunday Afternoons at The Lighthouse Cafe: The Jack Sheldon Quintet'' (Woofy Productions) *2007: ''Sunday Afternoons at The Lighthouse Cafe: Andy Martin/Scott Whitfield Quintet – A Tribute To Carl Fontana, Set 1'' (Woofy Productions) *2007: ''Sunday Afternoons at The Lighthouse Cafe: Andy Martin/Scott Whitfield Quintet – A Tribute To Carl Fontana, Set 2'' (Woofy Productions)

Filming location

;Film *'' Sideout'' (1990) *'' La La Land'' (2016)

Filmography

*2005: ''Jazz on the West Coast: The Lighthouse'' (RoseKing Productions, Kenneth Koenig) -DVD-

References

* Gioia, Ted. ''West Coast Jazz: Modern Jazz in California 1945-1960'' (Oxford University Press, 1992) *"Lighthouse Café"/"Nightclubs and Other Venues". '' Grove Jazz'' online.

External links