Central Avenue thrived as a Black entertainment metropolis of Los Angeles during the 1920s through the mid-1950s. While it is often assumed that women who performed on Central Avenue were mainly vocalists, some of the most celebrated female instrumentalists in the history of jazz performed on this scene. When Central Avenue slowly closed its doors in the 1950s, many of these women instrumentalists continued to perform in Los Angeles and beyond. But more importantly, their legacy as "The First Ladies of the Horn" opened the doors for the next generation of women instrumentalists on the Los Angeles scene. Beyond Central Avenue documents the musical narratives of some of the leading contemporary female instrumentalists of Los Angeles and their impact on the music industry.
Two young, inexperienced students, dissatisfied with the demands of their teachers and the mentoring of their parents, try to cross illegally into the country - but because they are headed for friendly Poland, nothing happens to them.
Born on a sharecropping plantation in Northern Florida, Ray Charles went blind at seven. Inspired by a fiercely independent mom who insisted he make his own way, He found his calling and his gift behind a piano keyboard.
Publishing assistant Brett Eisenberg wants to be a big-time editor. However, she lacks self-confidence, a problem that isn't helped by her new, overbearing boss.
An egotistical saxophone player and a young singer meet on V-J Day and embark upon a strained and rocky romance, even as their careers begin a long uphill climb.
A comprehensive history of European Jazz, exploring the origins of the US-influenced Jazz clubs after the Second World War, the first steps independent of American jazz and the various changes of direction that have repeatedly occurred in European jazz in the search for that "own voice" that European jazz musicians have helped to form.
New York, 2010. Jeff Harris, a music journalist, sets out to uncover the truth about Francisco Tenório Júnior, a young Brazilian samba-jazz pianist who disappeared in Buenos Aires on March 18, 1976.
Henry is a grouchy, irritable and overall unhappy birthday clown. As he complains about everything, he realizes 8-year-old birthday girl Coral has a frown just as long as his.
JJ Justice is a man in transition. A once successful right-wing radio broadcaster, who's lost his edge, his wife and any hope of airing in a real market.
See Michael Jackson, one of the most recognizable and popular entertainers of all time, like never before in the feature-length tribute Michael Jackson: The Life of an Icon.
The 'Hidden Faith of Our Founding Fathers' is perhaps the first and only documentary to go where no film has ever gone before: into the hidden faith of America's founding fathers.
A young Russian woman, smuggled into America by human traffickers, and a notorious Egyptian transporter hired to drive her from the Mexican border to New York City, form an unlikely bond that transforms them and threatens to derail the traffickers' plans.
To win the celebrity and self-made wealth he craves, an aimless, twenty-something Manhattan playboy devises a film based on his party-boy, club-going lifestyle, and hires a self-destructive aspiring playwright to ghost the feature script.
Antonia is a single mother who works as a hotel maid in Berlin. A normal hot summer day takes a dramatic turn when she crosses paths with a particular guest of the hotel, famous blind portrait painter Julius Pass.
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Have you watched Beyond Central Avenue: Contemporary Female Jazz Instrumentalists of Los Angeles yet? What did you think about it?
