Can Blue Note become the new hot spot for jazz in Los Angeles?

West Coast outpost of the famous club opens Thursday with sets by Robert Glasper.

- BY STEVE BALTIN

JULIANA YAMADA Los Angeles Times THE STAGE is set for the Blue Note Los Angeles to open near the Cinerama Dome. It will have a room for headliners and a room for up-and-coming acts.

Danny Bensusan opened the Blue Note in Greenwich Village in 1981 and helped it quickly became home to some of the biggest names in jazz.

Dizzy Gillespie, Sarah Vaughan, Oscar Peterson and Lionel Hampton are just some of the iconic acts who played there, and Chick Corea, Peterson, Keith Jarrett and James Carter recorded live records there.

Now, 44 years later, Danny's son Steven is bringing the Blue Note to Hollywood. The venue, which has locations in Waikiki, Milan, Napa, Tokyo and more, will finally open its doors Thursday, with Blue Note staple and ambassador Robert Glasper doing two sets each Thursday and Friday at 6372 W. Sunset Blvd.

Image from the Blue Note. A RENDERING of the main room at Blue Note Los Angeles. The jazz club has locations around the world.

“It’s an important market for us,” Steven Bensusan tells The Times. “A lot of the industry is based there. It’s a major city and we want to establish ourselves there as the West Coast hub.”

Like everything in L.A. this chaotic year, the club’s journey has been tumultuous. Originally scheduled to open in late March, the Blue Note’s premiere was delayed because of construction delays following the wildfires in January.

“We were very sensitive to the situation,” Bensusan says. “We also didn’t want to rush at that point, as well. So, it was delayed — construction delays, permitting delays, everything like that. But we didn’t want to rush to get it open.”