Blue Whale

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123 Astronaut E.S. Onizuka St., No. 301, Weller Court Plaza, Third Floor Los Angeles, CA 90012

213-620-0908

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2 User reviews Write A Review

Hours: Sun 6pm-12am, Mon-Sat 8pm-2am

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Nikos Syropoulos

9:00 p.m. May 25

A recent study in a respected medical journal claims one in three people will be arrested before they are 23 years old. Nikos Syropoulos is 23, and...
John Daversa

9:00 p.m. May 26
Ryan Cohan, Bob Sheppard, Hamilton Price & Jason Harnell

9:00 p.m. May 29
The Doug Webb Quartet

9:00 p.m. May 30
The Romain Collin Trio

9:00 p.m. May 31

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Anthony Wilson Quartet - Blue Whale - 4/4/12

By Sean J. O'Connell | Thu, April 5, 2012

See also: Anthony Wilson, Guitar Pin-up, Begins His Month-long Residency at the Blue Whale Anthony Wilson Quartet Blue Whale 4/4/12 Better than... the guy from 24 Hour Party People playing guitar a... More »
Claudia Quintet With Theo Bleckmann - Blue Whale - 2/28/12

By Sean J. O'Connell | Wed, February 29, 2012

Claudia Quintet featuring Theo Bleckmann The Blue Whale 2-28-12 Better than...Theo Huxtable. The Blue Whale was filled to the brim last night for New York's Claudia Quintet performing works from the... More »
LA Jazz Collective - Blue Whale - 1/11/12

By Sean J. O'Connell | Thu, January 12, 2012

Matt Otto Duo Ariel Alexander Group Matt Otto Quintet Blue Whale 1-11-12 Better than...watching the People's Choice Awards Last night, after a few technical difficulties and a strict adherence to "j... More »
Walter Smith III Quintet - Blue Whale - 12/17/11

By Sean J. O'Connell | Mon, December 19, 2011

Walter Smith III Quintet Blue Whale 12-17-11 Better than...a set by Thurston Howell III Houston-born saxophonist Walter Smith III is a busy man. His first-call tenor frequently shares the stage with... More »

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dexterstory1 | Culver City, CA | 2 Reviews

| Sat, July 10, 2010

Coolest and most progressive jazz venue in Los Angeles. Stylish and comfortable. The owner Joon Lee is a vocalist himself and gets it. Bar staff keeps quiet during the performances. Rumi and Hafiz quotes on the ceiling and drawings of Miles and Coltrane on the wall. Not easy to find the first time but once you do you will be hooked. Five stars.
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alanna508 | Los Angeles, CA | 1 Reviews

| Sat, July 10, 2010

Last night (7/9/10) I went to the Blue Whale in Little Tokyo (directly across from the LADWP in Weller Court / 3rd Floor) to hear Marcel Carmago's set of musical puzzles. The Blue Whale opened discreetly a while back and has slowly picked up traction as a place run by true patrons of the arts. Marcel was set up in the main performance area surrounded by pedals and microphone stands. I got there just after he had started and what followed was a combination of beauty, humility, and rhythmic interactions that might serve well to be a philosophy for society. Marcel hails from Brazil, a land that conjures all things sensory and delicious. Think of the women, the cigars, the grilled delights. I don't think of the women, not too much except to be jealous of their tans, but the meat! The meat! It has flavor, soul, just the right seasoning, and a long tradition of good timing. Hence, Marcel. Very simply explaining the ideas behind the pieces we would hear, he played a series of compositions based on different principles of rhythmic development. He demonstrated a series of straightforward hand claps that evolved through addition, to illustrate how you could "build something from nothing, basically." Unlike some loop-based music which gathers force through layering and density and tight syncing, Marcel's approach was about another kind of listening and matching, not playing to a downbeat, but more to whatever was already happening. Filling in the spaces in between. Finding the right response. The results were unique and wonderful. In one piece, the pedals were used to arrange the music live--into sections and small movements that were epic and lyrical. In another, he created a beautiful lattice of melancholy harmonics that showed a completely different way of things holding together. And then, of course, there were the one man bass / breath / guitar / funk jams that had people howling from the rear of the room. These would usually start with Marcel carrying the beat in his body before a sound came out. But those sounds, they did come out. I've known Marcel to play pop/rock sets that were completely improvised and be able to find a way to contribute creative / original ideas without creating mayhem. After this show I felt like I had been privy to the underlying workings of his musical mind. By listening carefully and responding quickly. . . he can make a handshake with just one hand. If that doesn't make sense to you, catch his next show. Ba dum Bum.