~On Dover Lane~

(“Hollywood Jazz — 1945-1972" by Richard Wyatt Jr.)

By Carley Michelle Hildebrand

Charles Mingus, Nat “King” Cole, Frank Sinatra, and Ornette Coleman lived here. Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, and Dave Brubeck recorded here. Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, and Charlie Parker jammed here. But most importantly, a crucial chapter in jazz history played out here.  

While cities like New Orleans and New York City are where jazz music was born and bred, Los Angeles was the beating heart of the West Coast Jazz scene. From the late 1920s to the 1950s not only was L.A.’s jazz scene influential to the art of jazz itself, it brought pride and power to L.A.’s Black community.

Cunty lady pantheon: jazz edition!

Lena Horne

Ella Fitzgerald

Sarah vaughan

Dinah Washington

Hazel Scott

Blossom Dearie

Nina Simone

Eartha Kitt

Billie Holiday

Julie London

Peggy Lee

Josephine Baker

Akiko Yano

Marlena Shaw

by Charles Sheeler

Viola Smith, the trailblazing drummer, the 'fastest girl drummer in the world,' who recently died aged 107

Widely considered the first professional female drummer, Smith studied under Radio City Music Hall drummer Billy Gladstone. and was known not only for her speed and precision on a12-drum kit which featured high-mounted tom-toms.

Smith also studied timpani at New York’s prestigious Juilliard School, played in the “Hour of Charm - All Girl Orchestra" and the Kit Kat Band jazz quartet featured in the original 1960s production of Cabaret. Smith worked with Ella Fitzgerald, Chick Webb, Bob Hope, and performed with the NBC Symphony Orchestra and on The Ed Sullivan Show.