Visitors to Central Avenue, between Vernon Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard anytime between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Saturday, September 20, will catch an earful: a mix of swing, blues, and Latin sounds that carry some impressive historic roots. It is time for the annual Central Avenue Jazz Festival.
“We have an exciting lineup of performers,” Ninth District Councilman Curren D. Price Jr. said. “The entertainment is going to be outstanding.”
This year, the festival is scheduled to feature Joel Ross, Jazzmeia Horn, and Gregory Porter, who has twice won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album: first in 2014 for “Liquid Spirit” and then again in 2017 for “Take Me to the Alley.”
The free event also spotlights younger, emerging artists who are continuing this rich art form, including the USC Jazz Ensemble, the Young Musicians Foundation, the Devin Daniels Quintet, Las Chikas, and Carmen Lundy.
At the time of this writing, all artists are subject to change. “It’s not just a concert, but a community experience,” Price added.
The festival also presents a diverse selection of culinary experiences, art, culture, and four different pavilions, along with the live music performances on three different stages.
“We have a health pavilion, a jobs pavilion, and other services, all designed to provide the community with information they need to be successful,” Price said.
“In addition to musical sounds, there’s delicious food,” he continued. “Soul food, Asian fusion, and food trucks, again representing a good cross-diversity of resources.”
Established in 1996 by then Councilwoman Rita Walters, the annual Central Avenue Jazz Festival will feature over a dozen performances and is the musical “crown jewel” of the summer, attracting jazz aficionados from all over Southern California and jazz performers from throughout the country. One may also feel the presence of performers from a bygone day as they stroll down “The Avenue,” as it was once called.
Historic jazz corridor
“Central was the hotbed of music in the 30s and 40s,” Price said. “Some people mistakenly believe that music was all that was going on there. There were professional offices: doctors and lawyers. There’s a lot of history to be celebrated.”
During the early 1900s, jazz greats such as Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Charles Mingus, Gerald Wilson, and Dexter Gordon played on “The Avenue.”
Yes, those musical legends also performed on larger Hollywood stages back then, but they weren’t allowed to stay the night in that area of town. The infamous covenant line along Washington Boulevard demarcated the areas where African-Americans were allowed to live.
Black musicians slept in the hotels on Central Avenue, like the Hotel Somerville, which were built and owned by Blacks in 1928. John and Vada Somerville were the first Black people to have a hotel in South L.A. Prior to the covenant line, the Black community in Los Angeles had been centered around 12th Street and Central, near downtown.
Somerville ran into financial problems and had to sell the hotel to a group of white owners, but when Black community members were able to buy back the property, they renamed it the Dunbar Hotel, after Paul Laurence Dunbar, one of the first influential Black poets in American literature.
Before their night’s rest at the hotels on The Avenue, artists performed late-night gigs in the many clubs and hangouts that popped up on Central—Jack’s Basket Room, Ivie’s Chicken Shack, Dynamite Jackson’s, Shepp’s Playhouse, Cadillac Cafe, and Local 767, the headquarters of the local, all-black musician’s union.
These were the launching points for the careers of many musicians. The surrounding area soon became the heart and soul of Los Angeles’ African-American community.
By day, Central Avenue was a pleasant downtown for the majority of Black people in Los Angeles; it was middle class, respectable, and family friendly. By night, it turned into a dynamic, multicultural thoroughfare of musical entertainment.
“The dizzy white lights are dancing daringly again; lightsome, lilting laughter is tinkling from lips curved merrily in happy faces of white, brown, cream, or rich orange as the gay, many-colored gowns of women of all races flutter like so many tropic butterflies,” California Eagle columnist Harry Levette wrote in 1931.
The Dunbar Hotel featured a nightclub called the Club Alabam, and although the location now operates as Dunbar Village, an apartment building for elderly tenants, its front will feature a prominent stage during the jazz festival.
Years ago, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Cab Calloway, Thelonious Monk, Charlie “Bird” Parker, Buddy Collette, and Art Tatum jammed on The Avenue and walked the same sidewalk areas as festival visitors will soon walk.
Community vs. commercial
The Central Avenue Jazz Festival is free, thanks to the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs, the Coalition for Responsible Community Development, and Concerned Citizens of South Central Los Angeles, among others.
“We appreciate the support,” Price said. “We’re making sure to reach out and get a good cross-section of supporters.”
Festival goers should take into account the warm weather and bring comfortable shoes to explore all the different vendors and activities and hats to shield the sun, along with funds to purchase food and merchandise. Bags and personal items may be subject to inspection.
Only on-leash service animals of disabled persons can enter the festival grounds. Large umbrellas and tents are not allowed. Neither are barbecue pits, professional video and audio equipment, skateboards, drones, alcohol, or drugs.
Festival parking is extremely limited, and the councilman’s office recommends using Metro or rideshare providers to travel to the festival. Early morning festival goers may find parking at Wadsworth Elementary School at 981 E. 41st St.; Washington Carver Middle School at 4410 McKinley Ave.; or St. Patrick’s Catholic Church at 1046 E. 34th St.
“I’m proud to celebrate the 30th year of the Central Avenue Jazz Festival, a rich cultural tradition that unites our community in the heart of our 28th District—and in the soon-to-be Historic South LA Black Cultural District,” State Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-38) said.
“I’m looking forward to this year’s incredible line-up, including the Young Musicians Foundation, who are carrying this tradition forward by inspiring the next generation of talent,” she added.
“This festival not only uplifts our profound history of jazz but is a testament to South LA’s enduring resilience, creativity, and strength in the face of cultural erasure right now in this country.” Walters, who launched the festival, was the first African-American woman elected to the Los Angeles City Council and chaired the arts, health, and humanities committee.
A former educator in the adult division of LAUSD, she served on the LAUSD Board of Education before her election to District Nine. Walters was well-known as one who could make things happen.
“She was always assertive, all the time,” said former councilwoman Jan Perry in another interview. Perry worked as Walter’s chief of staff before she was elected to serve the district, preceding Price, who mentioned he was glad to take up the event when he was elected councilman.
“I thought, what a great opportunity to not only enjoy jazz but also celebrate the community,” he said. “It’s a family-friendly event.” For a full lineup of performances, visit www.centralavejazzfest.com.
