Landmark Hermosa: Lighthouse Cafe

The not only has been a landmark in Hermosa Beach since the 1940s, but also in the Southern California music scene.

In its early years, jazz legends such as Buddy Guy, Miles Davis, Howard Rumsey, Chet Baker, and Shorty Rodgers reportedly could be found performing at the local restaurant, according to the company's website.

And now the Lighthouse Cafe continues to host events on Sunday afternoons.

The story behind the restaurant and its musical roots can be found in an archived article written by Dick Williams for the Los Angeles Mirror in Oct. 16, 1954. Williams wrote:

One day after World War II, Rumsey, a tall black-haired chap, was strolling the town. He was tired of playing in big band groups and could get nowhere with his own big group.

He walked into the Lighthouse. It was virtually empty. Developed that Owner John Levine had bought it, sight unseen, on the basis of its huge wartime business.

Rumsey asked Levine if he'd ever experimented with a music policy.

"Everybody and his brother has tried to tell me how to run this place," Levine snapped. "Now you walk in off the streets and tell me what I should do."

But he finally agreed to give Rumsey a chance.

"I hired the loudest musicians I could find," Rumsey reminisces. "We propped the front doors open and started to blast off. The people began to filter in. Pretty soon the place was full. There were more people than Levine had had in the entire preceeding two weeks."

Rumsey and his group were hired on the spot.

Since then, Rumsey has had three different jazz groups. He considers the current one the finest of the lot. The personnel: Rumsey on bass, Bob Cooper (husband of singer June Christy) on tenor sax, Bud Shank on alto sax, Claude Williamson, piano, and Stan Levey, drums. Claude Williamson on trumpet, joins them in week ends.

Congratulations to , , , and  for correctly guessing today's Landmark Hermosa. We'll have a new trivia next week.

Do you have any Lighthouse Cafe memories to share?