MOVIE REVIEW : JAZZ VOCALIST ANDREWS FOCUS OF DOCUMENTARY

“Blues for Central Avenue” (at the Music Hall in Beverly Hills through Tuesday) could easily be another generic documentary of the under-appreciated-musician school. But co-producer/director Lois Shelton’s decision to focus on local jazz vocalist Ernie Andrews as a figurehead for the generation of artists who came of age here 40 years ago gives this film portrait an extra dimension and force.

Andrews’ deeply lined face, animated conversational style and a speaking voice that recalls actor Vincent Price makes the Philadelphia-born singer an absorbing subject. The opening segments follow convention by mixing nightclub performances, interviews and footage displaying the backstage camaraderie sustaining Andrews and his bandstand peers, but “Blues for Central Avenue” really picks up with his arrival here in 1945.

A combination of wartime job opportunities and racist real estate practices made Central Avenue the cultural and social center of a burgeoning local black community in the ‘40s and the training ground for giants like Charles Mingus, Dexter Gordon and a host of others. Andrews’ recollections, supplemented by interviews with dancer Esvan Mosby and musician Buddy Collette, provide an abundance of anecdotes about visiting dignitaries from Duke Ellington to Charlie Parker and the sizable portion of the Hollywood community that was regularly trekking to Central Avenue nightspots.

Shelton doesn’t shy away from the issues of racism and real estate practices that helped shape Central Avenue’s identity (an aspect of Los Angeles history that has remained invisible except to those who lived it). She also attains a nice conversational flow in the individual interviews with Andrews that give you a good measure of the man.

But serving two masters presents problems. The continuity gets fuzzy when Shelton attempts to pick up the trail of Andrews’ individual story. The 35 years between the death of the golden era of Central Avenue in the early ‘50s and the present are largely ignored, save for Andrews’ contention that he was blackballed by record companies.

There’s a nagging after-the-fact frustration that Andrews’ story isn’t entirely told and that the real issues raised by the Central Avenue experience are only tantalizingly touched upon. But Andrews’ story gets added depth by placing it in the social context of the Central Avenue scene. The personal dimension he brings to the larger story--particularly on a tour of old hot spots like the Club Alabam that are almost all vacant inner-city lots now--lifts it above the prosaic level.

“Blues for Central Avenue” is a flawed but fascinating documentary that will interest both music fans and anyone curious about a neglected portion of city history. The film screens today and Sunday at 12:30 p.m. and Monday and Tuesday at 5 p.m.

‘BLUES FOR CENTRAL AVENUE’

An independent presentation of a Lois Shelton film. Producers Shelton, Ron Shelton. Director Shelton. Editor Shelton. Music Ernie Andrews, others. With Andrews, Harry “Sweets” Edison, Buddy Collette, Esvan Mosby.

Running time: 50 minutes.

Times-rated: Mature.