Please join the Blue Whale in celebrating Los Angeles club owner Catalina Popescu, who will be honored at a party where she will receive a local "Jazz Hero" award from a national jazz writers organization.The party is free and open to the public, and will be followed by a concert,, featuring the Ferenc Nemeth Trio at 9 pm. Ferenc was nominated for the 7^th Annual Independent Music Awards for Jazz Album of the year in 2007.  Admission to the concert is $15.

This year's "Jazz Hero" awards will be presented in conjunction with the 2012 Jazz Journalists Association's Jazz Awards  http://jjajazzawards.org/ honoring significant achievements in jazz music and journalism."Jazz Heroes" are activists, advocates, altruists, aiders and abettors of jazz who have had significant impact in their local communities. 

In 1986, Catalina Popescu and her late husband Bob Popescu founded Catalina’s Bar & Grill, a live jazz music club on Cahuenga Boulevard in Hollywood, CA.  Patience, passion and persistence have paid off - their club is a world renowned institution in the heart of Los Angeles. Today, Catalina’s Bar & Grill is located on Sunset Boulevard and continues to host the best of the best in jazz music.

With her gracious and beautiful spirit, Catalina continues to welcome those that she meets with a warm smile. http://www.catalinajazzclub.com/

The Jazz Journalists Association (JJA) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation, promoting the interests of writers, photographers, broadcasters and new media professionals covering jazz. The JJA supports the creation and dissemination of accurate, balanced, ethical and informative journalism on all of jazz's genres; the growth, development and education of the jazz audience and the dissemination of information pertaining to jazz to the general public, by providing forums for the discussion of jazz-related issues and events, fostering the development of journalistic and presentation skills among new journalists and the continuing development of such skills in journalists already engaged in the field.

To read more about  this year's Jazz Heros, please visit: