Largo is a nightclub and cabaret in Los Angeles, CA, known informally as Café Largo[1] or Club Largo, known for its retinue of musical and comedic performers and for the Friday night "residency" of singer-songwriter Jon Brion, which has made the club a must-visit for fans and professional musicians.[2]
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Owner Mark Flanagan founded Largo in the early 1990s. (In the 1960s, the Largo, owned by Chuck Landis, was a strip club on Sunset Blvd.) [3]The club had a moment of notoriety in 1992 when the Jewish Defense League, threatened "trouble" if a planned concert on behalf of Palestinian causes was not canceled; for the safety of patrons, Flanagan reluctantly complied. In 1996, Flanagan re-established Largo as an intimate cabaret with live music mainly in the piano bar tradition. Largo's original location on Fairfax Avenue had 100 seats with a maximum full capacity of 130, and regularly sold out, with frequent sightings of celebrity musicians and actors in the audience. The club had a strict no talking or cellphone use policy during performances, but surprisingly allows audience members to live blog on their laptops.
Flanagan is the business manager and song writer for musician-producer Jon Brion and persuaded Brion to take a regular Friday-night residence at Largo. Brion's extensive friendships brought more talented singer-songwriters to perform at the club, notably including Aimee Mann,[2] Michael Penn, Fiona Apple,[2] and Elliott Smith. Over the years, the list of semi-regular performers at the club has included Neil Finn,[2] Mr. E of the Eels, Robyn Hitchcock,[2] John Doe, Ben Folds,[2] Grant-Lee Phillips,[1] Rickie Lee Jones, Rufus Wainwright, Jakob Dylan, Teddy Thompson, t.A.T.u., Brad Mehldau and Colin Hay.
The typical Largo show involves a mix of music and stand-up comedy. Mann and Penn developed a road show called Acoustic Vaudeville on the Largo format, which they have taken to Chicago and New York. Seinfeld co-creator Larry David is seen performing stand-up comedy at Largo in his 1999 HBO special "Larry David: Curb Your Enthusiasm". Brion names the genre celebrated by Largo as "unpopular pop", and underlines the emphasis on lyrics with "We're all song sluts here."[2] Many of the Largo regulars have had infamous histories of albums their labels won't release. Though generally tied together by this common esthetic, performers come from many traditions including country, rock, and cabaret.
Brad Mehldau released a jazz album produced by Jon Brion entitled Largo (album). Toad the Wet Sprocket singer/songwriter Glen Phillips performs regularly and has recorded a live album Live at Largo at the club. Andy Prieboy developed his musical White Trash Wins Lottery at the club. Condoleezza Rice rehearsed her famous duet with Yo-Yo Ma at Largo in 2001. The band Tenacious D largely got their start at Largo, which in turn launched the career of actor/comedian Jack Black. Dan Finnerty started The Dan Band at Largo, doing monthly shows there before his stints in Old School and Starsky & Hutch. The band Wild Colonials largely got their start at Largo with a successful Tuesday night residency that lasted nine months during 1992/1993. In 1993 at the height of the Los Angeles spoken word scene of that decade, Largo hosted several events featuring L.A. writers Viggo Mortensen, Scott Wannberg, Ellyn Maybe, S.A. Griffin, Tequila Mockingbird and Linda Ravenswood. A five track CD of Elliott Smith playing solo at Largo was released in October 2007, accompanying Autumn de Wilde's book, Elliott Smith.
On June 2, 2008, Flanagan closed the club and moved to the Coronet Theater on La Cienega Blvd, renaming it Largo at the Coronet. That space seats 280 people in the main room and 65 in the "Little Room."[4] When not being used for a show, the Little Room is often open for beer and wine before and after the mainstage show. Jon Brion continues his residency on a monthly basis, performing one Friday and Saturday, usually near the end of each month and sometimes doing a second set in the Little Room after. He has also begun to incorporate video samples of musicians into his musical performances.
http://articles.latimes.com/1986-03-10/news/mn-2927_1_chuck-landis