Central Avenue Sounds: Jazz in Los Angeles (1921-1956) [Box set]

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Throughout the history of jazz, mythical places like New Orleans's Storyville, Chicago's South Side, Kansas City's Tenderloin district, and New York's Harlem and 52nd Street were celebrated as the legendary hotspots. Thankfully, this impressive four-CD, 91-track collection featuring Nat "King" Cole, Louis Armstrong, and Benny Carter to name a few, puts Los Angeles's famous African-American enclave, Central Avenue, on the historical map and offers the listener a zoot-suited, jitterbugged jaunt through Club Alabam, The Downbeat, and other jumpin' joints where Hollywood stars rubbed shoulders with hep cats under a pulsating Pacific sky. The set covers an important period in the development of African-American music, from the conclusion of World War I to the birth of rock & roll: from the early New Orleans bouncy brass-band sounds of "Get Out of Here" by Kid Ory's Creole Jazz Band and the Spanish-tinged, habanera syncopation on "Mamanita," courtesy of the pioneering pianist/composer Jelly Roll Morton to Lionel Hampton's boogie-woogie anthem "Flying Home" and the killer keyboard calisthenics on Art Tatum's "Tiger Rag." The Charlie Parker Septet's "Ornithology" blew into town on the wings of bebop innovation and hypnotized local up-and-comers like bassist Charles Mingus--under the moniker of Baron Mingus & His Octet on a rare side called "Bedspread"--and tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon's raw-boned tone on "Chromatic Aberration," which previewed John Coltrane's sheets of sound. Miles Davis's cool indigo-impressionism radiance on "Up in Dodo's Room," performed by the Howard McGhee Sextet, contrasts with the harmonic heights reached by the Gerald Wilson Orchestra's reading of "Groovin' High." There is a remarkable fluidity of transition from blues to R&B, as heard in the western wails on "Blues on Central Avenue" by Joe Turner with the Freddie Slack Trio, Nellie Lutcher's hip-bopping, tasty, and teasing "Fine Brown Frame" and the Texas-bred, guitar twang of T-Bone Walker's "Call It Stormy Monday," all of which highlight the sepia-toned, soulful syncretism that formed the bedrock of modern music and the marvelous black neighborhood that provided the foundation for it. --Eugene Holley Jr.

Tracks:

Ory's Creole Trombone - Ory's Sunshine Orchestra
Creole Song - Ory's Creole Jazz Band
Get Out Of Here - Ory's Creole Jazz Band
Blues For Jimmy - Ory's Creole Jazz Band
Someday Sweetheart - Jelly Roll Morton's Jazz Band
The Pearls - Jelly Roll Morton
Kansas City Stomps - Jelly Roll Morton & His Red Hot Peppers
Mamanita - Jelly Roll Morton
Harlem - Paul Howard's Quality Serenaders
California Swing - Paul Howard's Quality Serenaders
If I Could Be With You One Hour Tonight - Louis Armstrong & His Sebastian New Cotton Club Orchestra
Shine - Louis Armstrong & His Sebastian New Cotton Club Orchestra
When It's Sleepy Time Down South - Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra
Dixie Rhythm - The Four Blackbirds
Body And Soul - Art Tatum & His Swingsters
Tiger Rag - Art Tatum
Central Avenue Breakdown - Lionel hampton & His Orchestra
T-Bone Blues - T-Bone Walker/Les Hite & His Orchestra
Jump For Joy - Duke Ellington
Blues On Central Avenue - Joe Turner
Benny's Bugle - Lee & Lester Young's Orchestra
Flying Home - Lionel hampton & His Orchestra
Mean Old World - T-Bone Walker
Jumpin' In The Groove - Cee Pee Johnson Orchestra

Tracks:

Straighten Up And Fly Right - Nat King Cole Trio
The Man I Love - Nat King Cole Trio
Body And Soul - Nat King Cole Trio
I Wonder - Cecil Grant
The Honeydripper Pts. 1 & 2 - Joe Liggins & His Orchestra
Swingin' The Boogie - Hadda Brooks Trio
That's My Desire - Hadda Brooks Trio
Harlem Nocturne - Johnny Otis Orchestra
Driftin' Blues - Johnny Moore's Three Blazers
Tutti Frutti - Slim Gaillard & His Boogiereeners
Laguna - Slim Gaillard Quartet
Soothe Me - Ernie Andrews
Don't Let The Sun Catch You Cryin' - Ernie Andrews
These Foolish Things - Lester Young
R.M. Blues - Roy Milton & His Solid Senders
Groovin' High - Gerald Wilson Orchestra
Bugle Call Rag - Wilbert Baranco Orchestra
Ornithology - Charlie Parker Septet
A Night In Tunisia - Charlie Parker Septet
Jump Call - Benny Carter Orchestra
Bedspread - Baron Mingus & His Octet
Pipe Dream - Lady Will Carr
Smooth Sailing - Lucky Thompson Quartet

Tracks:

Dial-Ated Pupils - Howard McGhee Sextet
Up In Dodo's Room - Howard McGhee Sextet
Cruisin' With Cab - Gerald Wilson Orchestra
Dissonance In Blues - Gerald Wilson Orchestra
Mischievous Lady - Dexter Gordon Quintet
The Chase - Dexter Gordon/Wardell Gray
Chromatic Aberration - Dexter Gordon Quartet
Bikini - Dexter Gordon Quintet
I Thought About You - Nellie Lutcher
Fine Brown Frame - Nellie Lutcher
Call It Stormy Monday - T-Bone Walker
Red Top - Lionel Hampton Orchestra
Ain't Nobody's Business - Jimmy Witherspoon
Big Fine Girl - Jimmy Witherspoon
Blues In Teddy's Flat - Teddy Edwards Quartet
Tear Drop Blues - Jimmy Liggins & His Drops Of Joy
Hop, Skip And Jump - Roy Milton & His Solid Senders
So Tired - Roy Milton & His Solid Senders
It's April - Buddy Collette Quartet
Collette - Buddy Collette Quartet
Blues After Hours - Pee Wee Crayton
Mingus Fingers - Charles Mingus
These Foolish Things - Charles Mingus

Tracks:

Sippin' With Cisco - Roy Porter's 17 Behoppers
Gassin' The Wig - Roy Porter's 17 Behoppers
Little Wig - Roy Porter's 17 Behoppers
Double Crossing Blues - Johnny Otis Quintette
Pink Champagne - Joe Liggins & His Honeydrippers
Move - Wardell Gray
Please Send Me Someone To Love - Percy Mayfield
Black Nite - Charles Brown
Money Blues - Camille Howard & Her Boyfriends
Deacon's Hop - Big Jay McNeely
Sweet And Lovely - Wardell Gray
Farmer's Market - Wardell Gray
Lover Man - Wardell Gray
East Of The Sun - Joe Swanson Orchestra
Thrust - Joe Swanson Orchestra
3-D - Big Jay McNeely
Nervous Man Nervous - Big Jay McNeely
Too Marvelous For Words - Art Tatum
Lover Man - Art Tatum
The Champ - Frank Morgan
De Silva Wig - Gerald Wiggins Trio

Amazon.com

Throughout the history of jazz, mythical places like New Orleans's Storyville, Chicago's South Side, Kansas City's Tenderloin district, and New York's Harlem and 52nd Street were celebrated as the legendary hotspots. Thankfully, this impressive four-CD, 91-track collection featuring Nat "King" Cole, Louis Armstrong, and Benny Carter to name a few, puts Los Angeles's famous African-American enclave, Central Avenue, on the historical map and offers the listener a zoot-suited, jitterbugged jaunt through Club Alabam, The Downbeat, and other jumpin' joints where Hollywood stars rubbed shoulders with hep cats under a pulsating Pacific sky. The set covers an important period in the development of African-American music, from the conclusion of World War I to the birth of rock & roll: from the early New Orleans bouncy brass-band sounds of "Get Out of Here" by Kid Ory's Creole Jazz Band and the Spanish-tinged, habanera syncopation on "Mamanita," courtesy of the pioneering pianist/composer Jelly Roll Morton to Lionel Hampton's boogie-woogie anthem "Flying Home" and the killer keyboard calisthenics on Art Tatum's "Tiger Rag." The Charlie Parker Septet's "Ornithology" blew into town on the wings of bebop innovation and hypnotized local up-and-comers like bassist Charles Mingus--under the moniker of Baron Mingus & His Octet on a rare side called "Bedspread"--and tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon's raw-boned tone on "Chromatic Aberration," which previewed John Coltrane's sheets of sound. Miles Davis's cool indigo-impressionism radiance on "Up in Dodo's Room," performed by the Howard McGhee Sextet, contrasts with the harmonic heights reached by the Gerald Wilson Orchestra's reading of "Groovin' High." There is a remarkable fluidity of transition from blues to R&B, as heard in the western wails on "Blues on Central Avenue" by Joe Turner with the Freddie Slack Trio, Nellie Lutcher's hip-bopping, tasty, and teasing "Fine Brown Frame" and the Texas-bred, guitar twang of T-Bone Walker's "Call It Stormy Monday," all of which highlight the sepia-toned, soulful syncretism that formed the bedrock of modern music and the marvelous black neighborhood that provided the foundation for it. --Eugene Holley Jr.

Customer Reviews:

Outstanding, historical jazz collection!.......2000-09-07

Central Avenue Sounds is more than a compendium of Los Angeles-based jazz from the 1920s-1960s. It's an historical documentation of an age and cultural environment that is sadly long gone and nearly forgotten. Although it stands on its own as an outstanding collection, buy this set with the book of the same title--"Central Avenue Sounds" edited by Clora Bryant (available here at Amazon)--for a multimedia journey back to a unique time and place. Highest recommendations!

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