Culver City was in its infancy when the Volstead Act spelled “Prohibition” in 1919. The city, incorporated just two years prior, was rapidly becoming “The Heart of Screenland,” with three major studios, all situated along Washington Boulevard. There were also several small studios like the architecturally distinct “Willat Studio.” Culver City was fertile ground for the entertainment of the movie crowd – and everyone else.
Perhaps the best-known nightclub was Frank Sebastian’s Cotton Club, originally known as The Green Mill. Sebastian was already experienced in the entertainment business before he came to Culver City. In his book “Out with the Stars, Hollywood Nightlife in the Golden Era,” historian Jim Heimann mentions the already-successful Sebastian’s Café on Windward Avenue in Venice.
Sebastian’s customers enjoyed “Las Vegas-type acts” at his “Cotton Club” on Washington and National boulevards. It offered valet parking, three dance floors and full orchestras, rivaling the club of the same name in New York, N.Y. Louis Armstrong played at Sebastian’s Cotton Club, and, in fact, lived on Wade Street in Culver City in the 1920s. Early residents Clarita Marquez Young and Charles R. Lugo, (my dad), identified the house years ago. The current homeowners have county records showing Armstrong as its first owner in 1923 and it has held city “landmark” status since 1991.
In the April 7, 1999 edition of the International Herald Tribune, there was a fascinating interview of band leader Lionel Hampton, who had just concluded a week playing drums in the Meridien Hotel at Porte Maillot. In the article, Hampton acknowledged that he started at the age of 18, in 1926, at the Cotton Club in Culver City with band leader Les Hite.
Hampton remembered Sebastian being tired of his old band after a few years, so he brought in Armstrong to front Hite. Hampton recalled Sebastian’s introduction of Armstrong and Hampton as “The world’s greatest trumpet player, Louis Armstrong, with the world’s fastest drummer, Lionel Hampton.” Hampton achieved the status of one of the jazz greats before he died in 2002.
In the 1920s, one of the options on New Year’s Eve was to enjoy the music at Sebastian’s Cotton Club. Happy New Year!