After rigorous musical training throughout his early youth, Buddy Collette became a mainstay of Central Avenue in the early 1940’s. Buddy later recalled: ‘We were coming out of high school into this big world. It was a fabulous period for [me], with a brand-new car, playing in the best bands, playing for the stars…I was on top of the world.’ (from Buddy’s autobiography, Jazz Generations).
Perpetuating the tradition: at the corner of 43rd St. and Central Avenue, the very heart of that legendary West Coast jazz scene, JazzAmerica opened the Central Avenue Jazz Festival on September 21, 2024 (right)
Since its inception in 1994, JazzAmerica has performed in a variety of settings:
- South Bay New Orleans Jazz Club – Redondo Beach, CA)
- Valley Jazz Club – Canoga Park, CA
- Channel Cities Jazz Club
- Catalina Bar & Grill – Hollywood
- Skirball Cultural Center – Bel Air
- Gladstone’s for Fish restaurant – Malibu, CA (for the Smithsonian’s ‘Jazz Appreciation Month’)
- Fusion Grill – Thousand Oaks
- Union Station – Los Angeles.
- Sweet & Hot Jazz Festival – Los Angeles
- Westin Hotel – LAX
- Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center – Leimert Park
- California Jazz and Blues Museum – Leimert Park
- Watts Towers Cultural Center – Los Angeles\
- Intercontinental Hotel – Los Angeles (for the Los Angeles Jazz Foundation)
- West Coast Jazz Festival – Four Seasons hotel and South Coast Plaza Marriott hotel
- Hollywood and Highland – Hollywood
Testimonials
jazzamerica.org
PO Box 661777, Los Angeles, CA 90066, US