Now in development · Los Angeles
The

Ave

Performance Stories from
Central Avenue

Seven episodes. One street. A living lineage of jazz and story that runs from bebop to hip-hop — from Nat King Cole to Kendrick Lamar — through one family who worked the Ave and watched it breathe.

Explore the Episodes Collaborate
Episodes
01 Nature Boy
02 The Corridor
03 Miles & the Street
04 The Latin Quarter
05 J Dilla's Echo
06 Compton to Coltrane
07 The Girl at the Record Store
The Project

Songs, Stories,
and a Street That Made Them

Ep. 01 · Opening
Nature Boy
Built around "Nature Boy" — eden ahbez, 1947

Where it begins. A boy from the Ave who lived under the Hollywood sign and changed what jazz could say. The street introduces itself.

In Development
Ep. 02
The Corridor
Central Avenue at its peak — 1940s–50s

The Ave as a world. Clubs, after-hours rooms, Nat King Cole cutting his teeth, the sound of a city that hadn't yet decided what it would become.

Ep. 03
Miles & the Street
The modern edge arrives

What happens when bebop meets silence. Miles Davis and the grammar of what not to play — and how that language echoes in every quiet trumpet note since.

Ep. 04
The Latin Quarter
Afro-Cuban jazz and the Spanish echo in LA

The conversation between Central Avenue and East LA — how Latin rhythms and jazz brass found each other, and never quite let go.

Ep. 05
J Dilla's Echo
Hip-hop inherits the groove

The beat doesn't break — it mutates. How J Dilla's fractured rhythms descended directly from the swing of the Ave, and why the two worlds were never as separate as they seemed.

Ep. 06
Compton to Coltrane
Kendrick and the long return

How the most jazz-literate rapper in a generation traced his sound directly back to Central Avenue — and why LA's current jazz renaissance isn't a revival. It's a continuation.

Ep. 07 · Finale
The Girl at the Record Store
Bésame Mucho — and the story behind the story

A young woman works at a record shop on Central Avenue. She meets Lena Horne. Nat King Cole. And one day, a man named Mike Yepiz. A true story. The finale the whole arc was building to.

Season Finale
What It Is

A living project

The Ave is a performance series, a song cycle, and a play in development — built to move from stage to screen. Seven episodes. Each one a story, a song, and a moment in LA history.

The Lineage
Central Ave → Nat King Cole
→ Miles Davis → Coltrane
→ J Dilla → Kendrick
→ The Ave
Collaborate

This story needs partners

Venues, producers, directors, and musicians interested in The Ave — reach out. The project is open to creative collaboration at every stage.

David Yepiz performing at piano with trumpet
Live performance · Los Angeles
The Artist

David
Yepiz

Los Angeles-based jazz trumpeter, vocalist, pianist, and composer. In the tradition of Chet Baker — intimate, unhurried, and built for rooms that listen closely.

His work spans original vocal compositions, dramatic Latin-inflected trumpet pieces, and cinematic piano scores. Film scoring credits include the original score for What's Good (2025). The Ave is his most personal project yet.

I
Trumpet & Voice
Original compositions in the Chet Baker tradition — trumpet, voice, and piano through computer
II
Latin Trumpet
Dramatic originals with Spanish and Afro-Cuban inflections — the live show energy
III
Piano Compositions
Cinematic piano originals — the composer's voice at its most atmospheric
Film Score

Composing for
the Screen

David brings the instincts that shape his jazz compositions to film — a sensitivity to silence, a feel for when music should lead and when it should disappear entirely.

Available for short films, independent features, and creative collaborations with emerging directors. Early conversations welcome — the best scores begin long before picture lock.

Submit through the contact below. Hear existing score work on SoundCloud.

What's Good?

Original Score · 2025 · Dir. Devin Easley

A day in the life of a young aspiring rapper navigating the streets of Los Angeles — comedy, sadness, and the weight of dreams. Score blends jazz and cinematic composition.

Hear the Score Film Website
Watch & Listen

Live,
in the Room

Four performances. The opening note of The Ave, and three different versions of the same artist.

The Ave · Episode 1
Nature Boy — opening performance
Original · Cinematic
Film-esque original composition
Live · Laguna Beach
Impromptu performance
Piano & Voice · Live
Original at venue — grand piano
🎧
Spotify
Stream originals
 ☁️
SoundCloud
What's Good score
 📸
Instagram
@davidyepiz
 ♪
TikTok
@yepizmusic
Book · Collaborate

Let's Make
Something

Jazz venues, gallery evenings, private events, film scoring, and The Ave creative partnerships. Los Angeles and beyond.

Jazz Venue Private Event Gallery Opening Film Score The Ave Collaboration
The Ave is still being written.
Some of it with the right partners.
booking@davidyepiz.com