The Central Avenue Jazz Festival was created to pay homage to a community created by African-Americans. Through the legendary jazz music while filled many clubs and venues on Central avenue, the event has become a community favorite.
As African-Americans escaped the brutality of Jim Crow which festered in Southern states, they migrated to downtown Los Angeles. As the same hostilities they were escaping followed them, they were relocated south of Washington Blvd. and east of Main Street in what has come to be known as the “Eastside.” Over the years the community experienced a renaissance and many institutions created by African-Americans became a sense of pride. Eventually housing restrictions which had locked out many who desired to explore the vast communities of Los Angeles were torn down and the face of Central Avenue changed. Today, while African-American roots remain the community is occupied from the many Latino countries which now call it home.
