At L.A’s Beautiful Vibrato Grill Jazz Magic Happens On A Nightly Basis

Nestled in Beverly Glen in L.A.’s Bel Air community, Vibrato Grill Jazz is the kind of hidden oasis where magic happens on a regular basis. Opened in 2004 by music legend Herb Albert and his daughter Eden Alpert, the gorgeous restaurant/jazz club has seen artists like Stevie Wonder, John Mayer and Johnny Mathis take the stage there.

While there last week I saw KISS’ Paul Stanley drop in. I was introduced Joni Mitchell there, by Cameron Crowe, when she was honored at an event put on by Quincy Jones and the Jazz Foundation of America.

Like I said, magic happens there on a regular basis. And there every night overseeing that magic is Eden Albert, the conductor of the one of a kind world that is Vibrato, which she likens to the famous TV bar, Cheers. She says they even have their own Norm (the barfly portrayed by George Wendt on the legendry TV show).

While there I spoke with Albert about some of the most famous moments she has enjoyed at Vibrato, her dream artists to play there — John Legend and Elton John — the location’s dual identity as a restaurant and concert venue and much more.

Steve Baltin: How long have you been here?

Eden Albert: Since 2004. So, we’re in our eighteenth year. New Year’s Eve is like the official opening night 2004. So, we went right into 2005. So, New Years is always fun here.

Baltin: You were saying as we were talking earlier it’s very much like a regular community?

Alpert: It’s a regular community. We always take four seats at the front of the bar, they’re usually for the neighbors that are here every night at 5:30 and then some stay, like my husband’s over there right now. It’s like a Cheers in Bel-Air, a little bit like a Cheers.

Baltin: In terms of the performers, you were saying those are mostly regulars as well.

Alpert: We have a lot of new people that we’re bringing in. I’m always looking for new artists. So, If someone gets called to my attention, I will listen to them. If they have a following here, we’ll have them here. There’s a protocol, so, there has to be both myself and Hussain Jiffry, who’s my dad’s bass player. We decide together. If he brings me someone, he’s like, “I want to know what you think about him.” He’s usually 100 percent right. Sometimes we’re both wrong, which happens very rarely and then sometimes it might not be our favorite person but they fill the room and it’s all about if we can fill the room. Because we’re a restaurant first. What my dad and I did with this place was making a good restaurant and good food and good music. Usually at a lounge or a supper club, you get one or the other. I think we hit it on the nail of both.

Baltin: Has there been that one discovery so far who’s been your favorite here?

Alpert: Brenna Whitaker, who’s usually playing with her band on Friday. And she actually play in my wedding, I have another friend. We don’t just do ajzz. We do pop, we do R&B. We had opera the other night. But it’s like Pop-up rocks. When my dad opened this place, he wanted to keep it straight, classic jazz. And I was like, “I’ll never make it. I’ll leave it.” And we do big bands, we do Bernie Dressel, we have Seth MacFarlane on the Sixteenth. Sometimes he does 18 pieces. Sometimes he does 12. So, it’s a little bit of everything because that’s the only way that we gonna draw up here from the younger audiences. And we’ve even done some of the high school Jazz bands. But Brenna’s my favorite. Brennan’s someone I found, because I used to work in public school. My dad taught me that if someone makes me to stop in my tracks and I’m not looking at them, and I get a feeling, then you know they got it.

Baltin: How much do you feel Vibrato reflects the LA jazz scene at this point? Or is Vibrato its own world?

Albert: It is its own world. And people come to me and they’ve heard of me. I feel like we’re something that nobody else has. We’ve kept it super classic without going like the Delilah way.

Baltin: So, for 2023, take me through some of the stuff coming up that you’re excited and as you say, are you always cycling in new artists?

Albert: No, we’re not always. We recycle a lot, we have a lot of rotating staff. Joe Rozum, he can play two pianos at once. He’s here next week. He’s already sold out. He’s great. But he’ll bring up various singers. So, I have another guy who brings in singers, June Twenty-Ninth they’re honoring myself and Melissa Manchester for some philanthropic work that I do. Billy Valentine, he’s classic old-school. He fills the room. I found him at Casa del Mar about eight years ago. And now, I’m going to say it’s like 12 years ago when Pat Senatore was working here. My dad’s original bass player in the Tone Brass.

Baltin: So, when was the last time your dad did play here?

Albert: Before COVID, so, like four years ago. Hussain and Bill Cantos play here all the time on a Saturday night. They’re kind of a once a month Saturday night rotation. And then they bring in an Amy Keys, who’s a great singer. Or they call it Vibrato and Friends.

Baltin: And let’s talk about the Jazz Foundation of America for a second. I’ve been so many great events here, so tell me about that relationship.

Albert: You’re talking about Quincy Jones Jazz Foundation event. That’s incredible. Randy Newman was last year. Last year was great. It was nice to see Randy. There’s been so many. That event is one of my favorite events.

Baltin: Also obviously it’s such a cool event where you bring in so many iconic figures.

Albert: I’ve had Tom Jones get up on stage. I had Brenna Whitaker playing one night. John Mayer came in with a friend of mine, loved her so much, got up and played 20 minutes. Stevie Wonder has gotten on the stage just ’cause he felt the vibe in the room and loved it. It’s a Vibrato vibe. It’s a different vibe here than anywhere else. And you’re not in the hub of West Hollywood. So we’re definitely our own. And I love when people that have lived here, even down the street, are like, “Can’t believe we’ve been here this many years and I didn’t know about you.” We really don’t advertise. It’s all from word of mouth. It’s my big mouth and then everybody else’s big mouth. So I really hustle this place.

Baltin: Who’s the dream artist to play that hasn’t done it yet?

Albert: I’ll call anyone and go out of my way to get people and it doesn’t matter who you are. Like getting Macy [Gray] up here was because we became such good friends and then she’s been in here. How could you not want to play in this room? We’re doing something now for them to make more money. Where we do like a three course dinner with like a Seth McFarland, Macy Gray, Taylor Day. It’s like a $250 ticket, but it includes a three-course dinner. So it’s kind of hidden in the price so that they get paid more. So, my god, that’s not funny. But, and I have my people that I’ve been trying to get in here forever — John Legend, Elton John.

Baltin: What’s the best thing that you can hear from people when they leave?

Albert: Well, like someone just left that had never been here with her 14 year old daughter and she’s like the vibe up here, the food, the service, everything is spectacular. It’s an experience. So you’re getting a whole experience. As a matter of fact, you can kind of see me on the website. There’s a video of me talking about, why do you want to come here? So there’s something different here. And it’s very special, I think because my dad’s eyes built this place and we had an acoustician. Everything in here from the wood being placed, the way these pods are. So that even those ceramic that goes up the stairs of plaster, that’s all sound. It’s very sexy.

Baltin: Is there one venue in the world that became the benchmark early on for when you were doing this?

Albert: I think for my dad, he wanted something like a Blue Note in New York. And he always wanted a place that was giving back to the artists. So it was never about us making money. It’s taken years to be in profit and he never cared about that. What he cared about was the musicians. And we do a cover charge now ’cause it’s the only way to pay those guys without coming out of my dad’s pocket. So for years we didn’t do a cover charge at all. But the only way to get the big artists is to have a cover charge and then they’re pushing in as much as we’re pushing it in advertising and marketing.