The Jazz Bakery is a nonprofit organization. To followers of the scene, that statement is a redundancy, of course. In Los Angeles, saying a jazz club doesn't make money is like saying a restaurant doesn't serve scrap iron.
In 18 years as president and artistic director of the Jazz Bakery, Ruth Price has always known that fresh music doesn't translate into hefty profits. Lately, though, Price has found it harder to offer quality at a discount. Last May, the Jazz Bakery lost its space in Culver City's old Helms Bakery complex when its philanthropic landlord, Wally Marx Jr., died. Since then, Price and the Jazz Bakery's 13 directors have scoured the city for a new permanent location. They report some excellent prospects but can confirm only that the club will remain on the Westside and that its status as a quiet concert venue will continue.
While the hunt proceeds, the Bakery has been distributing loaves and fishes across L.A. County with innovative “Movable Feast" concerts, which have included a sold-out performance by veteran pianist-singer Mose Allison at Largo at the midtown Coronet Theater, a presentation of singer Tessa Souter at Venice's Ivy Substation and a well- attended show by pianist Hiromi at the Japan America Theater in Little Tokyo.
Its next concert, which features drummer Antonio Sanchez's quartet, will occur at the Musicians Institute in Hollywood on Saturday, followed in April by performances featuring the Tomasz Stanko Quintet and the Benny Golson Quartet.
The Bakery opened with French pianist Michel Legrand in 1992 and has hosted a consistent roster of top talent, including swing originators such as Benny Carter and bebop dazzler Phil Woods. It has booked singers of standards (Oscar Brown Jr.) and masters of the cool (Lee Konitz), offered avant-garde hero Cecil Taylor and counterculture bridge builder Charles Lloyd. The club has explored fusion with Stanley Clarke, New York modernism courtesy of Dave Douglas and everything in between.
“Some jazz fans tend to be very resistant to the idea that there will always be new musicians coming up," said Price recently while lounging in her Benedict Canyon home. “Yes, I believe that Miles and Trane and Diz [ Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Dizzy Gillespie] are irreplaceable, but that doesn't mean that there's not a forward motion."
In 18 years as president and artistic director of the Jazz Bakery, Ruth Price has always known that fresh music doesn't translate into hefty profits. Lately, though, Price has found it harder to offer quality at a discount. Last May, the Jazz Bakery lost its space in Culver City's old Helms Bakery complex when its philanthropic landlord, Wally Marx Jr., died. Since then, Price and the Jazz Bakery's 13 directors have scoured the city for a new permanent location. They report some excellent prospects but can confirm only that the club will remain on the Westside and that its status as a quiet concert venue will continue.
While the hunt proceeds, the Bakery has been distributing loaves and fishes across L.A. County with innovative “Movable Feast" concerts, which have included a sold-out performance by veteran pianist-singer Mose Allison at Largo at the midtown Coronet Theater, a presentation of singer Tessa Souter at Venice's Ivy Substation and a well- attended show by pianist Hiromi at the Japan America Theater in Little Tokyo.
Its next concert, which features drummer Antonio Sanchez's quartet, will occur at the Musicians Institute in Hollywood on Saturday, followed in April by performances featuring the Tomasz Stanko Quintet and the Benny Golson Quartet.
The Bakery opened with French pianist Michel Legrand in 1992 and has hosted a consistent roster of top talent, including swing originators such as Benny Carter and bebop dazzler Phil Woods. It has booked singers of standards (Oscar Brown Jr.) and masters of the cool (Lee Konitz), offered avant-garde hero Cecil Taylor and counterculture bridge builder Charles Lloyd. The club has explored fusion with Stanley Clarke, New York modernism courtesy of Dave Douglas and everything in between.
“Some jazz fans tend to be very resistant to the idea that there will always be new musicians coming up," said Price recently while lounging in her Benedict Canyon home. “Yes, I believe that Miles and Trane and Diz [ Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Dizzy Gillespie] are irreplaceable, but that doesn't mean that there's not a forward motion."
