"With the publication of Central Avenue Sounds…it will be hard to stereotype Central Avenue, and still harder to forget it…The book brings to life a completely vanished and unrecognizable Los Angeles, a city of chicken coops, gambling, explosive creativity and overt racism, painted in the words of African-Americans, mostly still living, who by no means agree on everything. Central Avenue emerges as a whirlwind of excitement and exploitation, neither a snake pit nor a utopia." - LA Weekly

"Reveals a flourishing South-Central scene that was as much a haven for nearby Hollywood celebrities as it was for local residents. An enlightening collection of interviews conducted by UCLA oral historian Steven Isoardi, the book has personal anecdotes from LA's internationally renowned artists (i.e. Big Jay McNeely) and the musicians who integrated the Hollywood studios (i.e. drummer Lee Young, multi-instrumentalist Buddy Collette). It places you inside smoky clubs - the Downbeat, the Club Alabam - giving LA's forgotten jazz scene its well deserved due." - K. LEANDER WILLIAMS, Vibe

"One of the best jazz books ever compiled…What a wonderful and memorable book this is. To read Liston's memories of touring with Billie Holiday; Farmer's recollections of the Billy Berg Club's audience reaction on the first night Charlie Parker and Dizzie Gillespie played there, is quite an experience." - PHIL ELWOOD, San Francisco Examiner

CLORA BRYANT, BUDDY COLLETTE, WILLIAM GREEN, JACK KELSON, HORACE TAPSCOTT, GERALD WILSON, MARL YOUNG are members of the Central Avenue Sounds Editorial Committee. STEVEN ISOARDI is researcher/interviewer for the "Central Avenue Sounds" project of the UCLA Oral History Program.

back to previous page