Danny Bensusan opened the Blue Notice in Greenwich Village in 1981 and helped it rapidly grew to become dwelling to a few of the greatest names in jazz. Dizzy Gillespie, Sarah Vaughan, Oscar Peterson and Lionel Hampton are simply a few of the iconic acts who performed there, and Chick Corea, Peterson, Keith Jarrett and James Carter recorded reside data there.
Now, 44 years later, Danny’s son Steven is bringing the Blue Notice to Hollywood. The venue, which has areas in Waikiki, Milan, Napa, Tokyo and extra, will lastly open its doorways Thursday, with Blue Notice staple and ambassador Robert Glasper doing two units every Thursday and Friday.
“It’s an important market for us,” Steven Bensusan tells The Instances. “A lot of the industry is based there. It’s a major city and we want to establish ourselves there as the West Coast hub.”
Like every part in L.A. this chaotic 12 months, the membership’s journey has been tumultuous. Initially scheduled to open in late March, the Blue Notice’s premiere was delayed due to development delays following the wildfires in January.
“We were very sensitive to the situation,” Bensusan says. “We also didn’t want to rush at that point, as well. So, it was delayed — construction delays, permitting delays, everything like that. But we didn’t want to rush to get it open.”
The unique March 26 date was so locked in that the membership’s director of programming and expertise purchaser, Alex Kurland, had booked nearly the entire 12 months out from that date. So, when every part was pushed again by greater than 4 months, Kurland needed to rebook your entire schedule.
Grammy-winning jazz pianist and composer Robert Glasper would be the first act to carry out on the Blue Notice L.A.
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Instances)
“It’s a balance and it’s a puzzle. It’s a combination of rebooking, reorganizing when acts are available and what makes sense for acts, Kurland says. “There isn’t one situation or scenario that results from how everything unfolds. Some acts we definitely did lose for sure because they needed to play their market play or they just couldn’t make it to the West Coast. Luckily, everyone was very understanding and accommodating.”
The one factor they did know was that at any time when the venue was prepared for opening evening, the headliner could be longtime Blue Notice favourite Robert Glasper.
“We were not going to open the club without Glasper being the opening talent. We have a very deep relationship and alignment with him, and he wanted to open it,” Kurland says. “It’s a partnership and we’re all in it together.”
Glasper has turn out to be synonymous with Blue Notice by way of his annual October residency in New York Metropolis, generally known as “Robtober,” and curating the Blue Notice Jazz Competition Napa on the finish of August.
Whereas Glasper takes over the New York Metropolis location annually, everybody concerned is adamant that the Blue Notice Los Angeles will very a lot mirror L.A. in each method and be a totally distinct entity.
“L.A. culture itself, the artists that are from L.A. and represent L.A. and the soul of L.A., but that’s going to change the vibe of the Blue Note anyway, because we’re definitely going to incorporate a lot of that,” Glasper, the cultural ambassador and a accomplice within the L.A. location, says. “We want L.A. to feel like it’s L.A.’s Blue Note, not like Blue Note New York moved to L.A. We’re trying to give L.A. its own voice through the Blue Note.”
Based on Kurland, that plan is already in impact and can proceed to very a lot be mirrored within the reserving.
Renderings of the skin of the brand new Blue Notice Los Angeles opening Thursday.
(Courtesy of the Blue Notice)
“There are acts that are within the lineup that have not played at a Blue Note previously, and that’s really important that we’re engaging talent and artists that are having their debut moments within a Blue Note just because L.A. is going to be a very fresh and progressive approach to booking and programming,” he says. “So not just booking acts that we have pre-existing history with but really focusing on talent that we are building new relationships with and talent that are having their initial new experiences in the Blue Note, maybe acts that you typically see playing in much bigger venues, acts like Charlie Puth, acts like Ben Folds.”
An enormous a part of the Blue Notice aesthetic is making distinctive moments by way of distinctive collaborations or unannounced visitors, like Stevie Surprise or John Mayer leaping onstage after sitting within the viewers.
Each Glasper and Kurland are advocating closely for and count on quite a lot of these moments with L.A. musicians.
“Collaboration is a huge goal every single day always from a programming standpoint and thinking about the booking more as moments rather than just the transaction of filling dates on the calendar,” Kurland says. “Really being particular about how to maximize really special bookings that that are not just on tour and not just available, but that are curated and programmed.”
Glasper has his dream jam. “I would love for Stevie Wonder to come in there and just do music he wants to do that’s not even his. Everybody gets to see Stevie do Stevie, but I know Stevie would love to just do music he appreciates including jazz music, he can go in there and just do a piano trio night. That’s my number one in my mind. Number two is having Stevie join Herbie [Hancock] together.”
Bensusan factors out the L.A. menu may also differ, with many extra vegan choices than the New York location, and distinctly L.A. choices resembling Peruvian scallops and a crispy rice tuna taco.
Nonetheless, the best distinction, Bensusan factors out, is the L.A. location would be the first with two rooms, an A-room for the headliners, and a B-room for growing artists and shock jams, podcasts, no matter.
Renderings of the Foremost Room at Blue Notice Los Angeles.
(Courtesy of the Blue Notice)
“I’m also looking forward to really opening our first club with that second room that we’re calling the B side, which we’ll be able to experiment with and book younger artists that maybe can’t draw in the bigger room and then help develop them so that they can, and giving them the exposure within our marketing and our advertising efforts and help give them more gigs,” Bensusan says.
“That room will serve multiple purposes. Yes, it will be an opportunity to put on and place developing acts that are not big enough necessarily to play the Blue Note, but that can grow to play the Blue Note, or acts that are engaging in underplays,” Kurland provides. “Also thinking about programming that room next to the Blue Note, and maybe there’s a holistic connection between the act playing in the Blue Note. For example, maybe Robert’s playing in the Blue Note room, and Battlecat is DJing in the B side. We’re thinking intentionally about how to elevate the vibe and elevate the curating. It’s connected.”
For Glasper, having the 2 rooms is vital for his aim as cultural ambassador — making the Blue Notice the spot in L.A. for musicians.
“L.A. is a big a— ocean of talent and legends. It just started lacking a place for everybody to let their creativity out. And I want Blue Note to be that place,” he says. “I want to start a jam session for a certain night there. So, everybody knows nightly you can go here because they used to have that in L.A. You knew on Tuesday night, you can go to this place or Monday nights you go to that place for jamming, It’s going to be an opportunity for so many people, to have a place to be and enjoy all the things.”
As a lot as Bensusan, Glasper and Kurland agree on Blue Notice L.A. being a multi-faceted facility, Bensusan’s final aim on the finish of the day isn’t any totally different than his dad’s 44 years in the past in New York. “We want to create the mecca for jazz in L.A.,” he says proudly.
