Jean-Pierre Boccara is a French-Italian-American

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

and artist known for founding several clubs in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Lhasa Club, Lhasaland,

Café Largo Largo, also called Café Largo, Largo, darling!, or Club Largo, is a nightclub and cabaret in Los Angeles, California. Largo is known for its musical and comedy shows and for the Friday night residency of singer-songwriter Jon Brion. History C ...

, and Luna Park were known for bookings across many genres including music, spoken word, comedy, cinema,

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

, and pre-digital media art shows.

Early life

Born in

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

and raised in Paris, Boccara first came to Los Angeles in 1976 as a film student. He directed and produced two short films in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, ''L'Homme Désintégré'' (''The Disintegrated Man'') in 1978 and ' (''For Example:'' ''Poison in the Water'') in 1979. ' had its distribution rights revoked after being censored by the French government as "an apology for terror."

The Clubs

Lhasa Club (1982–1988) in Hollywood

The three hundred person capacity multimedia space functioned as a stage, art gallery, cinema, special events venue, and café. Named by the

LA Weekly ''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. The paper covers music, arts, film, theater, culture, and other local news in the Los Angeles area. ''LA Weekly'' was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin (among others), ...

"Best after hours hangout" in 1982, "Best avant-garde club" in 1983, and "Best cabaret" in 1984, the club was often covered in media outlets including KCRW, LA Weekly and the LA Times. In 1984, a live album entitled ''The Lives of Lhasa'' was produced by Boccara, Anna Mariani, and David Yuratich. In 1987, Boccara began a film of one hundred performers performing short pieces in front of a single camera. Only about a third of the project was completed. Final edited footage was released in 2015 as ''The Lhasa Club Tapes'' on the ''Lhasa Largo LunaPark'' page on YouTube and ''Lhasa Largo LunaPark'' on Facebook.

Lhasaland (1988–1989) at the Musician's Union in Hollywood

The one thousand person capacity, multimedia two-level concert/party hall presented major national acts including

Devo Devo is an American new wave band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1973. Their classic line-up consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs ( Mark and Bob) and the Casales (Gerald and Bob), along with Alan Myers. The band had a No. 14 ...

The Knitters The Knitters are a Los Angeles-based band who play country music, country, rockabilly and folk music. The Knitters' name is a play on the name of the folk group The Weavers. Background The Knitters formed in 1982 as a side project to the band ...

and

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Basildon, Essex in 1980. Originally formed with the line-up of Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher (musician), Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke, the band currently consists ...

. Music and film industry parties included the L.A. Weekly 10th anniversary party.

Café Largo (1989–1992), on Fairfax in Hollywood

The 120 seat club and restaurant featured comedy, jazz, world music, spoken word, live music and record industry showcases. In 1990, the LA Reader said "Largo mixes food and music memorably" and the

named it the "Best Supper Club" in 1991. It was sold in 1992 and operated until 2008.

Luna Park (1993–2000) in West Hollywood

The seven hundred person capacity multi-level nightclub featured two stages with live entertainment, dancing, and a global cuisine restaurant. Cited for "Triple the ambiance" (Daily News, 1994), "Best food in Los Angeles" (Buzz, 1995), "Best food in a nightclub" (L.A. Weekly 1998), "The best nightspot in town, with a great Euro-Asian menu..."(Travel and Leisure 1998), and "Possibly the best music club on the planet" (Los Angeles Magazine, 1999). The LA Times coverage and reviews of the performances were extensive.

Henry Rollins Henry Lawrence Garfield (born February 13, 1961), known professionally as Henry Rollins, is an American singer, writer, spoken word artist, actor, comedian, and presenter. After performing in the short-lived hardcore punk band State of Alert in 1 ...

, recorded the DVD ''Henry Rollins - Live in Luna Park'' featuring ''Henry Rollins VS Iggy Pop'' at the venue. During its seven years span Luna Park hosted

Beth Lapides Beth Lapides (; ) is an American writer, comedian, producer and host, best known for creating Un-Cabaret. Un-Cabaret Lapides is the creator, host and producer of Un-Cabaret, a live show that has become widely acknowledged as the first alt-com ...

' ''

Uncabaret UnCabaret is a Los Angeles–based alternative comedy company that produces live, TV and web projects. History UnCabaret was created by performance artist-turned comedian Beth Lapides whose frustration with the comedy club scene of the late 1980 ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boccara, Jean-Pierre Living people Nightclub owners American restaurateurs French emigrants to the United States Filmmakers from California Nightclubs in Los Angeles County, California Former music venues in California Year of birth missing (living people)