Gary Fukushima
After years of frustration at how most clubs in Los Angeles viewed jazz and treated musicians, Korean-born vocalist Joon Lee decided to open his own, vowing to run it from an artist's perspective. Lee's commitment to the quality of the music above all else (framed in a elegant, modern space) has granted Bluewhale, in its sixth year of existence, most-favored status among jazz musicians and patrons alike. There is now an endless stream of jazz A-listers from New York and beyond parading through the club's custom-glass entrance, yet Bluewhale remains the most affordable option to see the very best jazz has to offer, with low ticket prices and no food or drink minimums, making the music accessible to a younger, hipper crowd. It's too bad the club is tucked away in a nondescript Little Tokyo shopping mall; here's hoping they can move to a new site sooner than later.
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