The Blue Whale

The Blue Whale Jazz Club

When I hear the name, Blue Whale, I think of the Pacific Design Center...also known as Moby Melrose in West Hollywood. On Saturday night after our gargantuan dinner at Harold & Belle's with Audrey and Jeff, we zoomed downtown to the other Blue Whale. It's a jazz club on the top level of Weller Court in Little Tokyo. Easy parking in the building that also houses the Marukai Market.

Audrey and Jeff are into jazz. They saw pianist Josh Nelson perform on Friday night and wanted to catch his set again. When we arrived, around 9:30, the place was packed and we had to wait a bit to get into the club.

Jeff, Audrey, Larry....waiting

Luckily, the club is all windows, so we could see inside and hear the music too. For this gig, Josh's band sat in front of a screen displaying images of old movies that fit his compositions.

Screen, inside the Blue Whale

There were clips of the Hindenburg, Charlie Chaplin's "Modern Times," Harold Lloyd clips and other Sci-Fi classics by the likes of H.G. Wells and more. It was a really cool way to hear and SEE original jazz.

Josh Nelson's current CD

After a few songs, some people left and we were ushered inside the club. It's a very modern space, bar at the back, low slung pleather hassocks placed throughout the club instead of tables and chairs...quite a comfy atmosphere.

Club Interior

Larry and I stayed for the rest of the set. Audrey and Jeff stayed for the second set. On our way down to the parking area, we spied a beautiful sight, our City Hall, bathed in blue lights. Many buildings around L.A. were blue-lit on Saturday night for this reason. It was quite startling and beautiful. Blue Whale....blue lights.