The Lotus
Lotus at Diamond Head / Jazz night at the Lotus at Diamond Head hotel runs from 6:30–9:30pm, but don’t think of it as a pau hana happy hour beer bust—you’re not going to get tequila poppers and Pabst Blue Ribbon here. That’s perfect, because honestly, sometimes you need to get away from that crowd. And this is home of the Diamond Head Grill, where you can get king crab fondue for 15 bucks or pan seared ‘ahi with foie gras for $32. The idea is to relax over a bottle of wine, possibly dinner, and appreciate the music—the volume is low enough to carry on a conversation, but most seem enraptured with the band, and with the room. Watching the crowd listen appreciatively on Thursday evening, it’s hard to imagine that this same room will house Wonderland the following night. But tonight the room fits perfectly with the motif, with quiet, simple elegance, a low-lit, laid back setting and a metal ceiling design that goes on forever—like some jazz solos.
By 8pm the majority of tables are filled, and the bar manager has to fetch a few more seats for the bar. With the room this packed, it’s odd to think Jazz Nights at Lotus at Diamond Head has been going longer than the newly-renamed hotel itself. For that, you can thank David Rohner.
“I came here around November to see my friend play, and there wasn’t anybody here,” Rohner said. “And I was thinking that the acoustics are great, why aren’t there any people? I had produced some concerts at Red Elephant and other places and through that I had built an e-mail list. The wife and I had been going out to jazz clubs for the last couple of years. I thought I could do something really good here. I went to management and told them they needed to raise the pay, because once you do that, you’ll get the best musicians. When that happens, you’ll make this work.”
And work it has, even after a sudden change in the management and name of the hotel itself. “We had our first Jazz night on January eighth,” Rohner joked, “And the next day the hotel had a new name. There was a guy chipping the “W” off the wall in front of the building as you walked in.”
But despite all the promoting and all the work, Rohner stays out of the spotlight. “I was one of those weird teenagers,” he explains. “The first album I bought was Lionel Hampton. I’m an old soundman, I’m an audiophile, I just love music.”
From there, the question follows if he ever sits in with the musicians he so admires.
“Oh no, I don’t play. Playing an instrument requires discipline. I was always short on that.”
He pauses for a moment, reflecting. “This—what I do—this is fun.”
Jazz Thursdays
Lotus at Diamond Head, 2885 Kalakaua Ave.
Getting in: Thursdays, 6:30–9:30pm, $5 cover
Dress code: Stylish but casual
Soundtrack: Take a guess, genius
Signature drink: Wine by the bottle
Sightings: Dean Kawa, DeShannon Higa, Jeanette Trevias
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