HISTORY OF THE MINT

The Los Angeles music scene has quite an incredible history. Considered one of the country's top recording capitols of the world, L.A. has seen it's ups and downs when it comes to live music.

Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, and Miles Davis, are just a few musicians among the jazz greats that helped sustain the cool bebop craze of the 40's and 50's on Central Avenue in L.A.'s south side. All the while, there were Blues legends like Lowell Fulson ("Tramp" - popularized by Otis Redding), Jimmy Witherspoon ("Ain't Nobody's Business"), and Johnny Otis("Willie and The hand Jive") that were revolutionizing the mid-western blues sound, creating their very own sound, and calling it "West Coast Jump-Swing". Unfortunately, the Watts riots of the early 60's put an end to it all, destroying most of the more popular music venues in it's path.

It wasn't until the late 60's that L.A. would once again prevail. Venues such as The Whiskey A Go-Go and The Ashgrove were spawning bands like "The Doors", "The Jefferson Airplane", "The Byrds", and "The Buffalo Springfield, just to name a few. Albeit, jazz and blues was fading, but rock n' roll was very much alive and well in the "City of Lights". L.A. was attracting acts from all over the country, and was the place to be seen.

It also appeared that during a period of about 12 years ('67 to '79), L.A. had become the country's musical melting pot, providing a home base for established rockers (Jackson Browne, Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and The Mamas and The Papas) and seasoned jazz studio musicians (Larry Carlton, Tommy Tedesco, Robben Ford, Tom Scott, Lee Ritenour) who were creating their very own scene in North Hollywood with the appearance of the "fusion" movement.

As music in L.A. became more and more of a commodity, nightclub talent bookers became increasingly less sensitive to the public's musical tastes, and practices such as "Pay to Play" became prevalent on " The Strip". To the nightclubber and music fan, it was truly a "hit and miss" proposition when it cam to seeing and hearing live music.

When The Mint came into play in the late 80's, it was owner, Jed Ojeda's vision and inspiration as both a blues musician and an avid clubber to try and duplicate what was lost in Los Angeles in the early 80's. "I wanted to create a place where you could go any night of the week and hear great music...Guaranteed!!!"

In it's infancy, The Mint was the first club in Hollywood to offer blues, and R&B seven nights a week. As a result, L.A. was soon to experience a wave in live music it hadn't seen for a very long time. Blues clubs were popping up all over Hollywood, including B.B. King's and House of Blues (which recruited some of The Mint's house bands)and the musicians that initially started The Mint were now part of "the circuit".

As blues music became over-saturated, The Mint reinvented itself, and became a place for emerging artists, which gained the attention of the recording industry, becoming an "A&R haven". Along with roots music (Blues, R&B, and Jazz), The Mint was now delivering a cool eclectic mix of music, breaking bands such as Ben Harper (Virgin), The Wallflowers (Interscope), Tonic (EMI), Jeff Buckley, Macy Gray, G. Love & Special Sauce, among a host of many more.

Several live shows were recorded at The Mint during this time. Two shows in particular grabbed the attention of NARAS, and earned a Grammy nomination (Jimmy Witherespoon featuring Robben Ford - Live at The Mint) in 1994 and a Grammy winner for best contemporary blues in 2000 (Taj Mahal's "Shouting in Key").

Jed Ojeda left The Mint in the late '90's to work A&R at a record label. In late 2003, due to various circumstances, The Mint closed it's doors.

Fortunately in 2004, Todd Christiansen, owner of "14 Below" in Santa Monica came to the rescue and bought The Mint. Todd, along with his partner Tim Sheehan, decided they needed to restore the "Good Ol' Mint" to it's majesty and grandeur that defined the club.

The club underwent a complete face lift, including refurbishing the sound system, kitchen, and dining/lounge area. Now great music is not the only reason to come to The Mint.

The booking was put back into the hands of Jed Ojeda, and since opening day in January 2005, The Mint has seen the likes of Jackson Brown, Bonnie Raitt, Joe Ely, Blondie Chaplin, Bernard Fowler, and the list just keeps on growing. Although Jed has since opted on a different career path, he left the reigns in the very capable hands of bookers Leah DiBonaventura and Wood Fowler.

Yessiree, The Mint is Back, and is taking no prisoners!!! Welcome back everybody, and give yourselves a round of applause for sticking it out with us.

The following is a short list of artists that have graced us with their presence:

Mick Jagger, Mick Fleetwood, Keb Mo, Johnny Rivers, Ian McLagan (The Faces, Rolling Stones), Charlie Sexton, Billy Preston, Joe Walsh, The Wallflowers, tonic, Olivia Newton-John, Chaka Kahn, Ron Wood, Ben Harper, Joe Sample, Mick Hucknell (Simply Red), Mazzy Star, Nils Lofgren (The E-Street Band) Chuck Leavell (The Allman Bros., The Rolling Stones), Natalie Cole, Stevie Wonder, The Allman Bros., The Black Crowes, Leo Nocentelli (The Meters), Eric Burton (The Animals, War), Robben Ford, Jimmy Witherspoon, Jack Johnson, G.Love & Special Sauce, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, Elvis Costello, Mick Hutchence (INXS), Ivan Neville, Blondie Chaplin ( Rolling Stones, Beach Boys), Bernard Fowler ( Rolling Stones), Shelby Lynne, and many, many more....