By Deepa Bharath
Daily Breeze
You had to strain your ears to listen to that music.
You had to focus and hear past the pounding techno beat, the hip-hop, whooping twentysomethings and the clinking of beer glasses and dishes on Sunday afternoon at Hermosa Beach's Pier Avenue to hear those perfect notes and that soft drumbeat.
The fluid sounds flowed effortlessly from the instruments of the musicians who once dominated the local jazz scene, playing weekend after weekend at the famous Lighthouse Cafe, renowned all over the world for its finger-snapping, soul-stirring jazz.
The musicians came to Hermosa Beach to celebrate the unveiling of bronze plaques honoring jazz musicians who put the city on the world map from the early '40s.
The 18-inch-by-16-inch plaques, mounted on the sides of granite cubes, now stand on Pier Plaza in the vicinity of The Lighthouse Cafe, where musician Howard Rumsey and owner John Levine in 1949 created a world-famous venue for jazz. Rumsey's band, The Lighthouse All Stars, recorded “Live at the Lighthouse," at the restaurant, which put Hermosa Beach on the jazz map.
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For more information contact All About Jazz.
