Steamers Jazz Club article....
Posted: 31 Aug 2004, 02:22The following is an article in this Sundays local paper which might be of interest to friends of jazz and those living or visiting the LA area... also mentioned in the article is the now famous 'drop by' visit of Diana while Jeff Hamilton's trio was playing:
Some from the old board may remeber Steve Eddy, he once wrote an article on our own forum and even posted a time or two...
Sunday, August 29, 2004
Birthday of the cool
Steamers Jazz Club and Cafe and the West Coast Jazz Party celebrate 10 years of bringing top-notch performers to Orange County.
“I’m touching thousand and thousands of people’s hearts and souls with music, employing tons of people and perpetuating jazz, which was part of the dream.” Terence Love, owner of Steamers.
PHOTO: STEVE K. ZYLIUS, THE REGISTER
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•Steamers high notes
By STEVE EDDY
The Orange County Register
It's unlikely anybody will decide to jam to "The Anniversary Waltz," but there's plenty of reason to celebrate on the Orange County jazz front.
Steamers Jazz Club and Cafe in Fullerton and the West Coast Jazz Party are marking 10 years of doing what they do, proving, their principals say, that there is a ready, steady market for mainstream-style jazz in the county - if you do it the right way.
A decade ago, Orange County wasn't exactly devoid of jazz, but clubs came and went, and there were few, if any, regularly scheduled "festival" or party-type events.
Back in the early '90s, Terence Love, now 50, a sometime sound engineer and sometime jazz saxophonist reared by a big-band-loving dad, decided that working for restaurants and lumber yards wasn't the course he wanted his life to take. So he did what has caused myriad others to end up in bankruptcy court - or the psych ward.
He opened a jazz club – a real one, not a restaurant that has a "music policy" but a full-time, seven-nights-a-week mainstream jazz joint.
Working with two partners (since bought out), he borrowed money from his father and brother and plunged in with both feet, ran out of money, borrowed more, and persevered.
Now, 10 years later, Love is at the helm in his office/lair at Steamers, sitting pretty and ruminating on what the decade has meant to him - and to jazz.
"Not to sound like I'm patting myself on the back, but it's a great accomplishment in many ways," he said amid constant knocks on the door by Steamers staff and the incessant beeps of his computer. "Although sometimes I'll go, 'Jeez, I once had no gray hairs and less stress in my life.'
"But I'm doing what I want to do," he said. "I'm touching thousands and thousands of people's hearts and souls with music, employing tons of people and perpetuating jazz, which was part of the dream."
If that sounds like a boast, he's entitled to it. Steamers, known in the early days to a precious few locals, now has a worldwide reputation, prompted in part by the 60,000-member International Association of Jazz Educators' naming Steamers as the official club of its 1999 convention in Anaheim. And record stores and online sales outlets boast "Live at Steamers" CDs and DVDs.
And many nights, especially when a legitimate legend like vibist Terry Gibbs plays, there is a line snaking out the door, and Steamers looks like it's being stormed, a brash contrast to the rest of the generally tranquil West Commonwealth Avenue business district.
So, why the success where so many other jazz entrepreneurs have failed? For one thing, Love's got the only full-time club in the county. Other venues, like Kikuya restaurant in Huntington Beach, offer some mainstream jazz, but Steamers is steaming each and every night.
"It's accessible and affordable," Love said, "especially for young people." (No cover charge on weekdays and $5 on weekends, and those under 21 are welcome.)
"I remember when I was a kid, I couldn't go to a place, I'd have to sneak into Shelly's Manne Hole (a long-defunct L.A. club) with a fake ID," he said. In fact, a typical Steamers crowd features the usual middle-age to senior-citizen jazz buffs as well as students from nearby Fullerton College and California State University, Fullerton.
The atmosphere is relaxed, Love stressed, saying that when he is asked about a dress code, he replies, "Just don't stink!" He greets patrons at the door and has invested the bucks in a high-quality sound system and professional lighting. Love has nothing against other kinds of music, but there's no fusion, no "smooth" stuff.
His customers, he said, "know what they're getting every time."
He also treasures working with the players.
"They call us," he said. "They hear from someone who has played here, and they want to play here, too."
There is a steady stream of regulars on the Steamers stage, like crooner Dewey Erney, pianist Ron Kobayashi, guitarist Ron Escheté, a big band called Arlene and the Guys. And there are the Latin jazz Banda Brothers, with Love saying he is proud of advancing that style in the county. He has had major up-and-comers, mentioning singer Jane Monheit, and a slate of established stars like Gibbs and organist Joey DeFrancesco and certified legends like clarinetist Buddy DeFranco.
Noted drummer Jeff Hamilton's group was playing Steamers about a year and a half ago, and one of his cohorts - Diana Krall, the most popular jazz artist in the world - dropped by to sit in.
At the same time, Love offers student musicians the chance to share the stage with Grammy winners, and even hosts a bona fide jam session. Anybody can sit in.
Steamers is in a confined, rectangular space that legally can accommodate only 91 people, and Love is queried about why he doesn't expand - perhaps acquire the space next door and tear down the wall.
Quick answer: He likes things just as they are, and so do his customers.
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it," he said. "I'd have to charge more." But, more important, he said, an expansion could turn the funky and unique little Steamers into a "cavernous room" that would be devoid of its compressed, sometimes sweaty excitement.
"It's like at the baseball game," he said. "You love it when it's sold out."
But, he added with a grin, "If I get a line going out the door every day, then I'll move to a bigger place."
Some from the old board may remeber Steve Eddy, he once wrote an article on our own forum and even posted a time or two...
Sunday, August 29, 2004
Birthday of the cool
Steamers Jazz Club and Cafe and the West Coast Jazz Party celebrate 10 years of bringing top-notch performers to Orange County.
“I’m touching thousand and thousands of people’s hearts and souls with music, employing tons of people and perpetuating jazz, which was part of the dream.” Terence Love, owner of Steamers.
PHOTO: STEVE K. ZYLIUS, THE REGISTER
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MORE PHOTOS
RELATED STORIES
•Steamers high notes
By STEVE EDDY
The Orange County Register
It's unlikely anybody will decide to jam to "The Anniversary Waltz," but there's plenty of reason to celebrate on the Orange County jazz front.
Steamers Jazz Club and Cafe in Fullerton and the West Coast Jazz Party are marking 10 years of doing what they do, proving, their principals say, that there is a ready, steady market for mainstream-style jazz in the county - if you do it the right way.
A decade ago, Orange County wasn't exactly devoid of jazz, but clubs came and went, and there were few, if any, regularly scheduled "festival" or party-type events.
Back in the early '90s, Terence Love, now 50, a sometime sound engineer and sometime jazz saxophonist reared by a big-band-loving dad, decided that working for restaurants and lumber yards wasn't the course he wanted his life to take. So he did what has caused myriad others to end up in bankruptcy court - or the psych ward.
He opened a jazz club – a real one, not a restaurant that has a "music policy" but a full-time, seven-nights-a-week mainstream jazz joint.
Working with two partners (since bought out), he borrowed money from his father and brother and plunged in with both feet, ran out of money, borrowed more, and persevered.
Now, 10 years later, Love is at the helm in his office/lair at Steamers, sitting pretty and ruminating on what the decade has meant to him - and to jazz.
"Not to sound like I'm patting myself on the back, but it's a great accomplishment in many ways," he said amid constant knocks on the door by Steamers staff and the incessant beeps of his computer. "Although sometimes I'll go, 'Jeez, I once had no gray hairs and less stress in my life.'
"But I'm doing what I want to do," he said. "I'm touching thousands and thousands of people's hearts and souls with music, employing tons of people and perpetuating jazz, which was part of the dream."
If that sounds like a boast, he's entitled to it. Steamers, known in the early days to a precious few locals, now has a worldwide reputation, prompted in part by the 60,000-member International Association of Jazz Educators' naming Steamers as the official club of its 1999 convention in Anaheim. And record stores and online sales outlets boast "Live at Steamers" CDs and DVDs.
And many nights, especially when a legitimate legend like vibist Terry Gibbs plays, there is a line snaking out the door, and Steamers looks like it's being stormed, a brash contrast to the rest of the generally tranquil West Commonwealth Avenue business district.
So, why the success where so many other jazz entrepreneurs have failed? For one thing, Love's got the only full-time club in the county. Other venues, like Kikuya restaurant in Huntington Beach, offer some mainstream jazz, but Steamers is steaming each and every night.
"It's accessible and affordable," Love said, "especially for young people." (No cover charge on weekdays and $5 on weekends, and those under 21 are welcome.)
"I remember when I was a kid, I couldn't go to a place, I'd have to sneak into Shelly's Manne Hole (a long-defunct L.A. club) with a fake ID," he said. In fact, a typical Steamers crowd features the usual middle-age to senior-citizen jazz buffs as well as students from nearby Fullerton College and California State University, Fullerton.
The atmosphere is relaxed, Love stressed, saying that when he is asked about a dress code, he replies, "Just don't stink!" He greets patrons at the door and has invested the bucks in a high-quality sound system and professional lighting. Love has nothing against other kinds of music, but there's no fusion, no "smooth" stuff.
His customers, he said, "know what they're getting every time."
He also treasures working with the players.
"They call us," he said. "They hear from someone who has played here, and they want to play here, too."
There is a steady stream of regulars on the Steamers stage, like crooner Dewey Erney, pianist Ron Kobayashi, guitarist Ron Escheté, a big band called Arlene and the Guys. And there are the Latin jazz Banda Brothers, with Love saying he is proud of advancing that style in the county. He has had major up-and-comers, mentioning singer Jane Monheit, and a slate of established stars like Gibbs and organist Joey DeFrancesco and certified legends like clarinetist Buddy DeFranco.
Noted drummer Jeff Hamilton's group was playing Steamers about a year and a half ago, and one of his cohorts - Diana Krall, the most popular jazz artist in the world - dropped by to sit in.
At the same time, Love offers student musicians the chance to share the stage with Grammy winners, and even hosts a bona fide jam session. Anybody can sit in.
Steamers is in a confined, rectangular space that legally can accommodate only 91 people, and Love is queried about why he doesn't expand - perhaps acquire the space next door and tear down the wall.
Quick answer: He likes things just as they are, and so do his customers.
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it," he said. "I'd have to charge more." But, more important, he said, an expansion could turn the funky and unique little Steamers into a "cavernous room" that would be devoid of its compressed, sometimes sweaty excitement.
"It's like at the baseball game," he said. "You love it when it's sold out."
But, he added with a grin, "If I get a line going out the door every day, then I'll move to a bigger place."
Cheers to Love and Steamers!!