| Entertainment |
- Home to jazz and late night dancing on "The Block". Situated on "The Block" in the heart of Central Avenue, the Club Alabam served as a central site for the "West Coast Renaissance of Jazz" in Los Angeles. Previously called the Apex Club, the club opened in the Fall of 1928 and was owned by the drummer Curtis Mosby. "Mosby's Blueblowers" provided the house big band that performed for top entertainers like Duke Ellington. Mosby's brother Evan, another Central Avenue fixture, became known as the "unofficial mayor" of Central Avenue (Otis 43). While the Club Alabam faced Central Ave. competition from other "blues incubators" like the Last Word, the Down Beat, Shepp's Playhouse, Watt's Joe Morris's Plantation and the Barrelhouse, locals considered the Club Alabam the classiest establishment on Central Avenue, complete with valet parking and a house chorus-line (Cox 257, Anderson 33-4, 38, Reed 423). The Club Alabam served mainly the black upper-middle class, but it became a popular spot among the black working class as well. Alex Lovejoy owned the "Breakfast Club," the club's second floor room, which served fried chicken, hot biscuits, and drinks from an open bar (Reed 29). Using his contacts in New York, Chicago, and Hollywood, Mosby promoted and imported musicians for Apex Club shows from all parts of the country. The Apex Club featured singer/dancer showgirls such as the Creole Cuties who performed at both the Apex Club and the Lincoln Theatre, a popular venue during the 1920s where blacks enjoyed movies, late night minstrels, live dancing, comedy, and musical shows. The Lincoln Theater provided the only large venue for entertainment in the black community until the Apex Club opened its doors in 1928. The Club Alabam catered to the stars of the jazz music world. Celebrities like the two former black heavyweight boxing champions, Jack Johnson and Joe Louis, frequented the Club Alabam and became known as Central Ave. regulars. Joe Louis even used the Club Alabam to train in when he was in Los Angeles. One Central Avenue legend recalls W.C. Fields becoming so inebriated while enjoying a show at the Club Alabam that he unintentionally "integrated" the Dunbar Hotel by falling asleep there (Reed 26, 31). Charlie Parker and Miles Davis once sat in with Johnny Otis's house band at the Club Alabam (Otis 43). Johnny Otis later became the bandleader of the house band at the Club Alabam. Otis, a musician, songwriter, and bandleader, formed a 16 piece group that served as the house band at the Club Alabam during the mid-1940s. Otis' experiences brought him in contact with some of the most important figures in African American life and culture, including Charlie Parker, Lester Young, Art Tatum, and Count Basie. And although the Club Alabam offered nationally renown talent, Otis' performances also provided a constant diversion for both locals and visitors to Central Avenue in the 1940s. While the end of the war drained money and people away from Central Avenue the Club Alabam continued as a gathering place for blacks. Organizations such as the Recondites Social Club held events at the club and enjoyed singers such as Edythe Carr to the wee hours of the morning.
Jack's Basket Room was more than just a place to order chicken. Located at 3219 Central Ave., Jack's served as a gathering place for top-notch entertainers throughout the 1930's. Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight boxing champion, owned both Jack's Basket and The Showboat on Central Ave. Johnson opened up "the Basket" as an after-hours club, where guests could hear musicians jamming for free from 2am until daybreak. Prohibition disallowed the sale of liquor until 1933, but customers were known to have brought their own liquor and enjoyed the entertainment throughout the early morning hours (Cox 271, Reed 31, 53). Tom Reed describes the after-hours scene at Jack's and other clubs like Alex Lovejoy's, Johnny Cornish's Double V, and Stuff Crouch's Backstage as "smoke-filled rooms, the gathering place of the Black bourgeoisie, nite clubs…filled with women , illegal booze, service personnel and illegal gambling" (Reed 44). Jack's Basket Room once presented Jimmy Liggins & His Drops of Joy with a night of dining and dancing, and featuring the famous "Bird in a Basket Floor Show." Local newspapers and publications advertised weekly Monday night jam sessions (Reed 33). The building in which Jack's Basket Room stood still exists, although the structure is now used as a garment sweatshop, not a nightclub. Still, the faded paint from the original sign for Jack's Basket Rooms can still be seen on the brick exterior of the building. Hear music historian R.J.Smith explain the name of Jack's Basket Room Hear music historian R.J.Smith describe Charlie Parker and other greats jamming at Jack's.
The Elks Hall, located at 3416 Central Avenue, was another of the popular nitespots along Central Avenue. Featuring big band sounds, the hall hosted social dances sponsored by various organizations including Women of the Hour Social Club.
-Providing entertainment and large public meeting space for the Vernon/Central community since 1927. The Lincoln Theatre at Central Ave. and 23rd Street, opened in 1926 and became the largest venue for black entertainment in the West. As one of the first theatres in the country and Southern California for African American audiences, the Lincoln featured motion pictures, live stage shows, talent shows and vaudeville, earning critical acclaim as the "West Coast Apollo." Bardu Ali’s band served as master of ceremonies for the Lincoln Theatre. Noted performers at the Lincoln Theatre included Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, and Lionel Hampton. Curtis Mosby’s orchestra, the Dixieland BluesBlowers, performed at the opening of the theatre. Bill Russell’s revue also provided entertainment at the premiere (Cox 19, Reed 423, Otis 13-15, Sentinel). Sunday stage attractions at the Lincoln Theatre cost thirty cents for adults, ten cents for children (Cox 31). By 1940 the Lincoln Theatre competed for business with other local venues including the Bill Robinson Theatre at 4319 Central Ave., the Florence Mills Theatre at 3511 Central Ave., the Hub Theatre at 1007 Central Ave., the Rosebud Theatre at 1940 Central Ave., and the Savoy Theatre at 5326 Central Avenue (Central Avenue District Directory -- CADD). For almost a year after it opened, the Lincoln Theatre was the only entertainment available to blacks in a racially segregated environment. The Lincoln's popularity was even felt by Central Ave. nightclub owners who reported a slumping year in 1927 (Cox 31).
-Where musicians organized and campaigned for improved working conditions. Organized labor unions helped black musicians on Central Avenue protect their rights both as workers and artists. Radicals who embraced progressivism worked to include African Americans into the union movement during the 1910s and 1920s (Anderson 62). John Gray founded the Musicians’ Association in Los Angeles, which later became the National Association of Negro Musicians, the first such West Coast organization for black musicians. Responding to widespread employment discrimination, eight African American members formed the Musicians’ Union local #767 under the charter of the American Federation of Musicians in1920. The Musicians’ Union also served as part of the Musicians Protective Association (Cox 19, 24). Racism often determined where African American musicians lived, studied, and created their music. The black community responded to the exclusion of the white music world by turning into itself, nurturing its own artistic richness with the talents of its own music teachers and performing artists. Each Labor Day the Musicians’ Union organized a parade down Central Avenue under the slogan: "Musicians: Swinging with America and Labor." During the 1930s, the bands of Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Jimmy Lunceford performed while riding on trucks or while Marching downtown for Labor Day festivities (Cox 4, 23-4). In 1953 the black Musicians Union # 767 merged with their white colleagues in musician’s union #47. Musicians and their friends gathered in support of the integration of the two segregated musicians unions. Noted entertainer Josephine Baker, also visited the desegregation celebrations, voicing her support of the merger of the two unions. Maury Paul (secretary of Local #47), executives Marl Young and Estelle Edson from Local #767, and Lester Bailey of the LA-NAACP were present at the merger's signing (Reed 332).
On April 27, 1925, Wrigley Field opened at the corner of Avalon Street and 42nd Place in South Central Los Angeles. The new ballpark replaced Washington Park, the center for professional baseball in Los Angeles since 1903. Owned by William Wrigley, Los Angeles' new baseball stadium featured the same design as the chewing gum magnate's ballpark in Chicago. The Los Angeles facility was the first to hold the name Wrigley Field; Chicago's famous Wrigley Field was not designated as such until 1926. William Wrigley owned two baseball teams in the area, the Los Angeles Angels and the Hollywood Stars. Wrigley Field was the home of the Angels from 1925 until 1957. The Stars also played at Wrigley, from 1926 until 1935; the team returned for the 1938 baseball season. The last game was played at Wrigley Field on October 1, 1961; the stadium was demolished in1966. A public park and recreation center, a community mental health center, and a senior citizens' center are now located where Wrigley Field once stood. Listen to Mr. King, a retired postal worker and entrepreneur, talk about old Wrigley Field, Los Angeles. |