Various
Savoy, 2003, CD
Instrument: Instrumental
Issue: 9.4
Jazz Ruler Type: Ballads, Blues
Performance: 4+
Sound: 4-
Score: 
O’s Notes: This 2-disc collection captures the birth of R&B on the West Coast. Central Avenue was the main drag for African Americans in the 1940s and 1950s and it served as the home of some of the finest musicians and performances. Here you could find Dexter Gordon, Nat King Cole, Charles Mingus, Harold Land and many more national players like Joe Turner and Charlie Parker. They played what was then called ‘race music’, a combination of blues and jazz, the forebear of today’s R&B. The music is excellent and the history enriching. It is well documented in the liner notes. This is a very nice set and proof that good jazz also emanated from LA.
