Hooray for Hollywood...and CalJas

It's not that I never get to the heart of the Big Orange. Earlier this summer I attended the Leonard Bernstein 100th birthday concert at the Hollywood Bowl. Last summer I revisited Olvera Street after an absence of approximately four decades, and, also, for the very first time explored Universal Studios.

But the last time I set foot in Hollywood's oldest watering hole, Musso and Frank, I'd been tramping

Snuggling with Frank at Musso and Frank Grill

through the haunts of legendary detective Philip Marlowe on a Raymond Chandler's Los Angeles tour...and it had been 1979.  That afternoon I'd indulged in one of the dry martinis this bar is noted for. Yesterday, because Frank and I had a big evening ahead, we simply sipped a couple of Allagash White ales, served in elegant iced glasses, and shared a hot pastrami and rye and a Caesar salad, lavishly garnished with succulent anchovies. Scrumptious. We also demolished a few hunks of the Grill's famous sourdough bread. If I return, I'd simply make a meal of that bread alone and a couple of the veggie appetizers. And maybe try another martini, though they're no longer priced at $.60, as advertised on the menu posted next to the Gentleman's room.

Sinatra and Bacall

 I'd scrutinized the other patrons as we walked in through the back entry. (Tip: be certain to use the validated parking in the rear lot, accessible off adjacent N. Cherokee Ave.) Out of luck, alas, no stars to be seen. This steakhouse, with its roasts, chops, and made-to-order classics (Welsh rarebit, calves liver, flannel cakes), used to be a favorite drinking and dining sport for writers,
such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Hemingway and the aforementioned Chandler, as well as celebrities from the movie industry. The only stars we spied, though, were on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Just outside Musso's I leaned down and patted the one commemorating the actor once known as America's greatest living tragedian.

As we strolled down Hollywood Boulevard I nattered on to Frank about how I once paraded down it, tossing my baton as I did one-handed walkovers....it had been the Santa Claus Lane procession in 1949 when my majorette troupe, the Carpenterettes, had proceeded the Cadillac convertible carrying Grand Master Bob Hope. (Here's my story about that particular evening: http://atouchoftarragon.blogspot.com/2014/03/razzle-dazzle.html)

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From l-r, Tull, Babad, Hughes, Boatman, Young

Then as guests of the president of CalJas, Dale Boatman, we arrived at The Magic Castle, another Hollywood landmark. I'd only been there once before when a school chum of my son's, Todd Robbins, had been a featured magician.
This time, we were there not to see magic, but to hear it at a jazz concert in The Inner Circle. Our host, Dale, an accomplished jazz singer with flawless phrasing, long has been devoted to promoting this American music form in Los Angeles, Riverside and Orange Counties. Frank and I joined CalJas three years ago. We frequently attend local house concerts, but decided to fight the freeway traffic to get to Hollywood in the afternoon in order to catch the CalJas All-Stars' 25th performance at this venue. 

Becky Hughes at The Magic Castle

The Magic Castle lived up to its name. Even Invisible Irma, the ghost who plays the piano in The Music Bar, knocked out a great music hall version of Paul McCartney's "Your Mother Should Know," my request from the Beatles'  album "Magical Mystery Tour."

As we'd anticipated, the CalJas All Stars rocked the room. Dale, Becky and up-and-coming star Lia Booth, warbled, scatted and crooned. The four musicians all have worked with every famous name in the music business. There wasn't a number last night that wasn't worth the long commute from Orange County. Two particularly fascinating pieces included Luther Hughes' stunning bass solo on "My Romance," and Dave Tull's hilarious parody, "Every Other Day I Have the Blues."

Frank and I sit entranced at a recent CalJas concert in Westminster

For more about Luther Hughes' music company, Primrose Lane (where every day's a holiday), check out his website: http://primroselanemusic.com/index.html


If you, like me, love all that jazz....consider joining CalJas. Find out more about the California Jazz Arts Society here: http://www.caljas.org/   

.And for more about Musso and Frank and The Magic Castle:

http://mussoandfrank.com/history/
http://www.magiccastle.com/

Hall of Fame, Magic Castle