Catalina Jazz Club — Restaurant in Los Angeles

Russell Thompkins Jr. and the newly reformed LA Jazz Orchestra live at Catalina Night Club 27 October 2022

I bore witness to greatness last night.

The bill promised this and delivered massively! This monster was brought to life by The Pamela Moss Foundation. The show featured two of the greats: Russell Thompkins Jr., legendary frontman for Philadelphia-based The Stylistics, and the newly reformed Los Angeles Jazz Orchestra, conducted by Charley Harrison and directed by Winston Byrd, Artistic Director. The band lit up Catalina Jazz Club on Sunset Boulevard last night to a capacity crowd.

This show was actually 30 years in the making according to Winston Byrd who related the story from the stage. I found many intertwined stories herein.

First, this was a dream of Byrd's, those 30 years ago when as a teen he played as a touring member of the Stylistics' band. Thompkins adding, "We told his mom and pop that we'd take care of this youngin' on the road". The bond between these two musicians is strong and deep indeed. The joy they evoked onstage and the passion and emotion from Thompkins' voice, to the power of Byrd's horn were centerstage. It was evident to the sold out crowd these two adored playing together.

But that is just part of the story, the real star of the evening was the LAJO. Massive horns with a drop-dead rhythm section. Under the direction of the incomparable Charley Harrison, the band was tight and strong, powerful but delicate, and a force to be reckoned with. One could call out each player for their amazing talent, musicianship and dedication to the world of jazz, but while as many adjectives could be applied to each, their collective tightness soared. Featured players filled the room with a whirling-dervish of energy and passion that swirled through this amazing show-space and hit each audience member in the heart and soul.

Thompkins' voice and delivery were spot-on, clear, concise and sublime, and while I was harkened back to my first contact with his voice while watching Don Cornelius' Soul Train as a young person (yes, I was "that kid" at a very early age) back in the early 70's, the new arrangements not only added life to what could have been a simple oldies review, which would have been just fine with this audience, it made them in new ways pop, float, and feel "brand new". When Artistic Director Winston Byrd took the stage with Thompkins and the band, there seemed to be a palpable rush felt by the crowd. This young man plays the trumpet like an old master on a runaway train; tearing up the notes like his life depended on it. A transcendent experience indeed!

The celebrity-filled crowd was part of the show as well in some ways. And not for the usual reasons. It showed the "jazz renaissance" in full swing (pardon the pun). Teenagers to octagenarians were in the room swaying and bopping along with the coolness of a coffehouse crowd in the 60's. It showcased that this music spans generations, race, culture, gender and station. It brings together people from all walks of life and it gives them a collective hope, joy, love, and peace at times with... or without a dose of heartache or melancholy. Jazz is alive again!

The space was comfortable, albeit a tad crowded due to the SRO status of the event but that did not take anything away from the show. The food was good and service was adequate but slow due to the aforementioned. Cocktails were hand-crafted and served beautifully.

This writer is hoping this is NOT just a "one time only" gig and that the LAJO embark on other endeavours along with the likes of Russell Thompkins Jr., and other featured guest vocalists. Don't change a thing fellas! If the LAJO keeps offering up stellar musicanship, fresh, relatable arrangements, and the power of jazz at its pinnacle, I say hang on cats and kittens, its gonna be...

My wife and I visited for dinner and the "It's Complicated" show on February 12, 2025....We enjoyed the show and the performances. Well done to all. BUT, we would like to share some thoughts about the service experience and those follow. This is not the first time we have been the Catalina Jazz Club. We were last there for Jimmy Webb and had both a great meal and service AND a great show. It really is a fine intimate place to enjoy live performance. The menu offers enough choices, the servings are plentiful and as noted before the performances we have seen were top notch.

But the service last evening was anything but and it was surprising and disappointing. We were seated at the front of the house, and within minutes of being seated we were asked about drinks and our order was taken. We were never told the name of our waiter, nor did he wear a badge so we could ask for him when we needed him. In fact, other than bringing us water and taking our order, we did not see him again until early into the performance when he dropped by to drop off the check.

Nobody came by to see if we needed anything or wanted anything. We had ordered two mains (the short rib pasta which was great and the rack of lamb which was superb and perfectly cooked and also a beet salad. We also ordered the bread basket with garlic butter but that did not arrive with our food. When the runner from the kitchen brought the salad he did not bring the bread. We could not find our waiter to follow up. When the runner came with our main courses we asked about the basket and were told by him "I'll check on it" and we did not see him again until our mains were finished and cleared. No sign of our waiter to ask about coffee and dessert.

After waiting 10-15 minutes, we asked the person serving the table behind us if we could get two cappucinos and a slice of carrot cake. He indicated that he did not know if they did cappucinos and we told him we'd take it if they did but whether they did or did not, we still wanted the carrot cake. He said, "I'll take care of it." We saw no coffee, no cappucinos and no waiter or runner after that until the bill came.

The place was busy but not full. The waiter was nowhere near us at any time once he took the orders from the tables adjacent to us. Sad for him....had he dropped by to see how we were and if he could get something for us, we would have ordered more food, more beverages, and left a larger type commensurate with the additional total of the bill. But our generosity was compromised by his absence from showing any interest in making sure our order was properly filled. With the cost of the bread ($6) and each dessert ($13 each) and two coffees or cappucinos (probably at least $8.00 each or more) it would have meant more profit to the Club, more gratuity to the waiter and more pleasure for us as patrons. At least the bill we received did not include charges for the food ordered and not received.

We are not restauranteurs by profession. But we have been to other clubs like Catalina. We wonder why they do not open at 6:30 and start meals service then so that during the performance the audience is spared being distracted by clanging dishes, silverware, and the like. We wonder how the artists on stage, pouring out their souls, feel about the tender moments of their singing being interrupted by stemware and dishes clattering in bins to be washed. And maybe, there would be more food sales if waiters stopped by to check on the folks whose orders they took....

We will certainly go back, but this time, when we order we are going to order appetizers, salad, mains, dessert and coffees all at once to reduce the chance of another less than stellar performance...

My wife took some of her business investors to see Tiffany Hadish, Tuesday 9/10/24 We have gone several times and spent abundance of money within the last year at this establishment, several times we have invited business associates, friends and family to the place for and nite of wonderful entertainment. Tuesday 9/10/24 was the worst night ever, for some reason the food, and hospitality was something to be questioned, my wife ordered the blackened fish on the menu, something she has never order before, and was not pleased with the taste, when she told the waiter she wasn't pleased with the taste, apparently it insulted the owner Catalina, she came over to our table made a big scene start screaming at my wife and her guest, she ask my wife what was the problem with the fish, and my wife stated again she didn't care for the taste, at this time the protocol would have been would you like something else? That was not ask, this lady Catalina aka owner, continued to yell, apparently her best form of communication, your gonna pay for that meal her words not mine, when my wife ask her to stop yelling she refused! Bottom line is the food was horrible, the service was horrible, spend hundreds of dollars in this place this year alone, the way she Catalina, aka owner treated my wife and her guest was unexceptable,! Catalina aka owner has no class, no respect, and certainly appeared extremely racist, as a women of color, who spends lots of money in this establishment deserves more respect, I recommend nobody attends this place, if you do please eat dinner before you come, if for any reason you are not happy with the service your opinions will not be respected, if you are a person of color you certainly don't have a chance for proper service, nor will you get the respect you deserve! This is just the beginning of my writings, I will be blogging this incident on other platforms especially those in Hollywood, also the better Business, yelp, and many more, Do Not Go to this restaurant, the chances of being respected...