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Howard Rumsey passes ...

Howard Rumsey, leader of the Lighthouse Allstars gone at 97.

I used to haunt the Lighthouse Cafe in Hermosa Beach when I was in high school back in the middle 1950's. What a great group they were. I suggest that West Coast jazz lovers who post on this site find their music, readily available on Ebay, and add it to their jazz collection.

www.nytimes

Happy listening guyz.

PS: I originally posted this in the wrong forum. It belongs here in "Music."
128x128oregonpapa
elliotdrum
13 posts
 
I started going to the Lighthouse around 1958 when I was
12 years old. Back in those days grown ups were generally
not very nice to kids. At the Lighthouse Howard Rumsey
made everyone including kids feel welcome.
Howard was a prince -when the Lighthouse started to charge
a cover charge around 1962-63 I didn't know there was a need to have more money to bring, Howard let me in free but
he did ask me to please tip the cocktail waitresses $2 to make them happy. The cocktail waitresses wore outfits similar to Playboy bunnies so that was easy to do.
When Howard opened Concerts By The Sea in Redondo Beach he
put together possibly the best set up Jazz club in history!
oregonpapa's avatar
oregonpapa OP
4,867 posts
 
Elliotdrum ...

Back in 1955/56 my buddy and I used to frequent the Lighthouse two to three times a week. We wouldn't leave until closing. Staying awake at school the next day presented a challenge.

The musicians and the waitresses were very kind and understanding to us as they realized how much we loved the music. We'd sit in the back booth and sip coffee all evening at twenty-five cents a cup. Very expensive at the time for high school kids as that was when gasoline was twenty-five cents per gallon. Four cups of coffee would have paid for a weeks worth of gas for my '49 Mercury custom.

Just as a side note ... was Rod Bacon's paintings still hanging there when you were going? They were the ones that always featured musical notes among among Rod's abstract art. When we were going, Rod Bacon sat at the booth next to us with his oils and canvas' painting away. I loved his work. Years later, I was looking at a home for sale and lo and behold, there was a Rod Bacon paining hanging on the wall. I tried to buy it on the spot, but the elderly lady who owned it said it would be like selling one of her grand kids. *lol*.

As you said, Concerts by The Sea was a great venue too. I had a wonderful time there listening one evening with a friend. The featured artist? Dexter Gordon. He was a VERY soft spoken gentleman ... but when he played his sax he blew the dang walls down!

Gotta say ... those were the wonderful days of great jazz clubs in the SoCal area.

Thanks for posting.
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