On The Tinsel Front

Tag: Jazz

  • Ivie Anderson

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    Christopher Bomba
    in ,

    Ivie Anderson Jazz Singer Turned Restauranteur TOES: That, Ollie, is none other than Ivie Anderson. OLLIE: And who’s that…? TOES: She’s a singer, one of the best. Toured with Duke Ellington… The owner of “Ivie’s Chicken Shack” (who disapproves of Toes and company’s nickname for Ollie) was a jazz great. This profile from AllAboutJazz sums…

  • Central Avenue

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    by

    Christopher Bomba
    in ,

    I couldn’t tell a story about Los Angeles in the 1940s without some mention of Central Avenue, the road that, running due south from downtown, was the cultural epicenter of the city’s black community and a musical mecca where jazz greats like Duke Ellington, Billy Holliday, Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald performed. Sadly, this…