During our recent trip to Los Angeles, one of my highlights of the trip, was a visit to The Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach, where the pier and The Lighthouse were prominently featured in the 2016 jazz musical film La La Land. Still, the main reason for going was to pay homage to probably the most important jazz club historically on the west coast, which helped foster the development of the cool jazz movement, where legends like Chet Baker, Gerry Mulligan, and Miles Davis performed, and the famous Lighthouse House band led by Howard Rumsey.

There have also been several important live recordings made at The Lighthouse, including Art Pepper’s Live At The Lighthouse ’52, Lee Morgan’s Live at the Lighthouse, Cannonball Adderley’s Quintet at the Lighthouse and Mose Alison’s Mose Alive!

We visited during our first night in L.A., it was raining slightly and quite chilly out, it was Samba night at The Lighthouse, where an instructor and DJ were teaching simple samba moves to the 20-something persons gathered on the dance floor. At first, we were a little disappointed that we wouldn’t be able to hear live music. Still, it was just as well, because instead, of looking at the framed historical photos and signages on the wall, we could feel the presence of history in the place, and even though no live music was playing, feel the energy the venue still resonates.