1881

Through Wildfire and Loss, the Music Plays On at This Pasadena Jazz Club | Eater LA

"Tucked on the corner of Washington Boulevard and Allen Avenue on the border of Altadena and Pasadena, this intimate jazz club and bar offers just 15 tables on the main floor and 11 seats at a long bar, where regulars might catch a Dodgers game or a movie on the corner TV during MLB season before turning their attention to a tightly packed stage. Opened in 2017 in a 1933 post-Prohibition building by Gail Casburn, her husband Judah, and their son Owen, it has grown from a single Friday jazz night into a refuge for a historic neighborhood, now hosting live music Wednesday through Saturday plus Brazilian jazz by Ted Falcon on the last Sunday of the month, with a $10 entry fee each night. The formerly bare stage is now framed by floor-to-ceiling blue curtains said to be on loan from Rod Stewart, and the room attracts a mixed crowd of millennials, baby boomers, and twenty-somethings who lean in close to hear saxophone, upright bass, and percussion from musicians who could easily hold court at places like Blue Note Hollywood, the Baked Potato, Catalina Jazz Club, or Andy’s in West Hollywood. After the devastating Eaton Fire in January 2025, when many musicians and the owners themselves lost their homes and possessions, the bar became a gathering point for survivors, hosting fundraisers for artists and remaining a place where guests talk quietly with one another or sit in shared silence. Behind the bar, Los Angeles veteran Adam Rettek has helped the place find its groove again with a focused cocktail program that includes the Key Change, a Lemon Drop riff with seasonal citrus cordial, the Hooch Pickle made with Bimini Barrel Gin, housemade dill honey, lemon, and a bitter, aromatic quinine aperitif with soda, and a mash-up of a Jack and Coke with a Manhattan that has become a signature. On any given night, curators and regulars like drummer Joel Taylor, pianist Quinn Johnson, Cuban-born Jimmy Branly, and visiting players such as pianists Roy Dunlap, Mitchel Forman, and Otmaro Ruiz, upright bassist Mike Gurrola, and drummers Gary Novak and Charles Ruggiero might take the stage, drawing a smaller but devoted group of music aficionados and people who love Altadena. Despite personal loss, Casburn is a constant, arriving with tired eyes but a warm smile and greeting, saying she loves working when everyone’s having fun and partying because it warms her heart and, in a time when many are still processing grief, everyone needs some of that love." - Mona Holmes