Over the decades of its lifetime, the Ambassador Hotel on Wilshire Blvd had many bands and many singers play the famed Cocoanut Grove nightclub, but for the longest time its house band was led by Freddy Martin. His career started in the early 1930s but by the 40s he was playing the Roosevelt Grill in New York and the Cocoanut Grove. In 1957 he recorded a live album, by which time he had launched the career of a crooner named Merv Griffin. Judging from the missing “D” in the huge sign, I’m guessing this photo was taken late his career.

This is the cover of his live album: