LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — LA club The Jazz Bakery closed its doors on Sunday after losing its lease but the venue's owner, Ruth Price is looking for a new home for the venue.
"I've been really stressing the word moving, not closing," Price told the L.A. Times "But it's been really hard to get people's mind-set away from the most dramatic thing they can think of. It is pretty dramatic any way you look at it, frankly."
The Jazz Bakery had been bolstered by grants and its non-profit status, it had been, like many other jazz venues, suffering in the grim economic climate. The L.A. Times reported that the Bakery had been having a hard time filling to it's 214 person capacity, even with well-known artists.
The Jazz Bakery was one of only two clubs in the L.A. region that regularly booked nationally touring Jazz artists. The remaining venue, the Catalina Bar & Grill follows the pattern of many Jazz clubs in requiring patrons to purchase dinner or a two drink minimum in addition to charges at the door and for parking, a policy that can push the price of concert attendance out of the reach of prospective younger fans.
Price is reportedly weighing her options and the L.A. Times reported that she's in talks over a possible partnership with the Grammy Museum downtown to stage a series of shows there starting in late summer. Price is also in talks with Culver City's Kirk Douglas Theatre to use the space for jazz performances on open nights.
"Everywhere we go people talk about our cachet," Price told the Times. "And my joke is I wish we had cash instead of cachet!" – CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
