Current mood:	cold
Entry tags:	jazz, los angeles, music, quotes

Jazz At The Aqua Lounge
"Life begins at the end of your comfort zone." -- Neale Donald Walsch


ivy_blue invited me to go with her to The Aqua Lounge in Beverly Hills to check out Jeff Goldblum's jazz ensemble Monday night. I hadn't seen them since the New Year's Eve __wolverine__ took me out to the same place for a night of opulence several years ago. I was eager to get out and spend time with one of my closest friends. I absolutely adore ivy_blue. The added bonus of a unique Los Angeles experience was just icing.

It was a nutty night. Beverly Hills has an iconic place on the world stage but the reality is very different than the fairytale people believe. It's a strange place where great wealth clashes with eccentric personalities, social climbers and sordid underground glitterati. Motives are plentiful and the water is full of sharks. It can be intimidating for those who aren't in the know. But it's down right entertaining for those who get the joke.

The band's first set was miserable to get through. The room was uncomfortably full and people were busy playing their Beverly Hills games. At some point during that time we ran into testaclese who was there with his creative partner in crime and a lovely friend from Canada. I wasn't terribly surprised as I saw a few other familiar faces from various scenes when we first arrived. Honestly, it's not often that I go out and not see at least one person I know. While Los Angeles is a massive place it's also very small in a social sense.

The second set was far more pleasant as the crowd thinned and we had the best vantage point to be found without a table. It was also easier to hear the music. There was something of a free for all going on this particular evening with singers and musicians drifting on and off the stage sporting varying degrees of skill. It's a generous habit of Mister Goldblum's and very in keeping with jazz traditions of being inclusive. While it sometimes was an assault to my eardrums I quietly admired the sharing spirit of someone who had every right to be less open or patient with the world.

We spent a good portion of the evening perusing the cast of characters lurking about various corners of the lounge. There was the Urban Zoro with his blinged out hip hop posse, the Vegas card dealer, two different versions of Mo (The Three Stooges), a Dynasty reject stuck in the 80's and an assortment of working girls hunting for big game. I could probably write an entire novel on all the conversations and interactions I witnessed from this one night alone that few of you would believe to be real rather than figments of my imagination.

I prefer Hollywood's flavor of crazy and creative glamour. It's not starkly sordid or desperate in the same way. Something about all that money in that part of town brings out the worst in people from behavior to agendas. Even though I was laughing in genuine amusement for most of the evening, I was a little shell shocked by the end of it all because it has been awhile since I was knee deep in that world.

ivy_blue and I parted with testaclese's company after the second set ended around midnight and drove back to the safety of gloriously outrageous Hollywood. I should be sleeping right now as I have a busy day ahead of me but I was too amped up to relax. All that input after a relatively quiet week was more than my brain could process as it occurred.