Lighthouse All-Stars Collection IV

Howard Rumsey

Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars

Volume 2

★Sunday Jazz A La Lighthouse • Vol. 2★

This was the first 10-inch LP released by Contemporary, and one of the most popular of the many Lighthouse All-Stars albums from the 1950s. It has been continually requested by fans, but never been reissued on compact disc until now. Recorded as the West Coast movement was kicking into high gear, it captures the enthusiasm of the young players at the center of the Southern California jazz scene, the good-natured encouragement and enjoyment of the Lighthouse audience, and the interaction between musicians and listeners. The original selections feature Howard Rumsey, Shorty Rogers, Russ Freeman, Jimmy Giuffre, Bob Cooper, Milt Bernhart, and Shelly Manne. Three previously unissued performances by a different edition of the All-Stars include Chet Baker sitting in with Rolf Ericson, Bud Shank, Claude Williamson, Max Roach, Cooper, and Rumsey. Musicians and patrons are laughing and grooving, the cash register is ringing, and the atmosphere is full of good feeling. This is West Coast jazz in full bloom. *concord.com*

The first six tracks are the original title album that was recorded live for the Contemporary label at the Lighthouse on May 15, 1953. The front line is comprised of Shorty Rogers on trumpet, Milt Bernhart on trombone, and Bob Cooper and Jimmy Giuffre on tenor sax. The rhythm section features Russ Freeman on piano, Howard Rumsey on bass and Shelly Manne on drums.

Basically this is more of a jam session than a planned recording, and the energy is definitely pouring from this album. I'll admit that the sound quality is not stellar, but it's also not terrible. I still awarded five stars because this is truly the birth of the West Coast jazz sound. However, there is a healthy dose of East Coast influence in the music because the West Coast style was just evolving.

If you are familiar with Shorty Rogers work in the 1950s these tracks are stamped with his signature sound, which seems to dominate any ensemble in which he is playing.

The final three tracks are from a live session at the Lighthouse that was recorded for Contemporary on September 13, 1953. These tracks were intended for albums titled Chet Baker And The Lighthouse All-Stars - Witch Doctor and Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars - Mexican Passport, but did not make the release. They feature a front line of Chet Baker and Rolf Ericson on trumpet and Bud Shank on alto sax. The rhythm section features Lorraine Geller (tracks 7 and 9) and Claude Williamson (track 8) on piano, Rumsey on bass and Max Roach on drums. These tracks have a more definite West Coast jazz feel although they were only recorded four months after the first six tracks. *Mike Tarrani (amazon.com)*

1 - Luau

(Shorty Rogers)

2 - Comin' Thru The Rye Bread

(Shorty Rogers)

3 - Taking A Chance On Love

(Duke, Fetter, LaTouche)

4 - The Big Top

(Jimmy Giuffre)

5 - The Duke You Say!

(Jimmy Giuffre)

6 - Sunset Eyes

(Edwards, Wayne)

7 - Glidin' Along

(Jimmy Giuffre)

8 - Beau Boy

(Shorty Rogers)

9 - Four Others

(Jimmy Giuffre)

#1 to #6:

Shorty Rogers [as Name Whithheld] (trumpet); Jimmy Giuffre, Bob Cooper (tenor saxes);

Milt Bernhart (trombone); Russ Freeman (piano);

Howard Rumsey (bass); Shelly Manne (drums).

#7, #8, #9 (previously unreleased):

Chet Baker, Rolf Ericson (trumpets); Bob Cooper (tenor sax); Bud Shank (alto sax);

Lorraine Geller [#7, #9], Claude Williamson [#8] (piano);

Howard Rumsey (bass); Max Roach (drums).

Recorded live at the Lighthouse, Hermosa Beach, California,

May 15 (#1 to #6) and September 13 (#7 to #9), 1953

Lighthouse All-Stars Collection III

Howard Rumsey

Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars

Volume 1 

★Sunday Jazz A La Lighthouse • Vol. 1★

This album is the first of a series of releases that are aimed to satisfy the many requests we have had for some SUNDAY JAZZ a la LIGHTHOUSE.

It was almost four years ago that John Levine decided to present Jazz in concert form — that is, for listening only — in the Southern California seashore club, The Lighthouse. Hermosa Beach is the ideal locale for such a year-around presentation, because although it is remote enough to be "goiung somewhere", it is situated in a fast-growing South Bay area so that more people live closer to it every year.

Sunday Jazz was a feature from the very inception of our concert policy and the popularity of the afternoon and evening concerts led into what is now our most popular feature of the week — a continuous concert from 2 p.m. to 2 a. m. every Sunday throughout the year.

The recorded efforts of our Lighthouse All-Stars as they pace themselves through this extraordinary concert with the many sounds of the room — the tinkling of glasses, the extemporaneous laughter, even the occasional ring of a cash register — go to make up this interesting forty-five minutes of Sunday Jazz designed to let our friends, all over the world, bring the music and, in fact, the Lighthouse itself, into own home.

HAPPY LISTENING! *Howard Rumsey (from the liner notes)*

One of the earliest sets issued under the name of the Lighthouse All-Stars — that hip assemblage of west coast players headed by bassist Howard Rumsey — hardly a household name on his own, but well-remembered for all the great work done at this famous club! The lineup is a who's who of key players on the west coast at the time — Shorty Rogers and Maynard Ferguson on trumpet, Jimmy Giuffre and Bob Cooper on tenor, Hampton Hawes on piano, Milt Bernhart on trombone, and Shelly Manne on drums — and some tracks are a bit longer than usual, offering up freer solo space than you're likely to get on other west coast dates — a key contribution of the All-Stars recording mode. *Dusty Groove, Inc.*

1 - Four Others

(Jimmy Giuffre)

2 - All The Things You Are

(Hammerstein, Kern)

3 - Creme de Menthe

(Jimmy Giuffre)

4 - Viva Zapata!

(Shorty Rogers)

5 - Bernie's Tune

(Leiber, Stoller, Miller)

6 - Solitaire

(Bill Russo)

7 - Morgan Davis

(Shorty Rogers)

8 - La Soncailli

(Jimmy Giuffre)

Maynard Ferguson, Shorty Rogers (trumpets);

Milt Bernhart (trombone); Bob Cooper, Jimmy Giuffre (tenor saxes);

Frank Patchen [#1, #3 to #6], Hampton Hawes [#2, #7, #8] (piano); Howard Rumsey (bass);

Shelly Manne (drums); Carlos Vidal (conga drums [#4]).

Recorded live at The Lighthouse, Hermosa Beach, California, February 21, 1953

Lighthouse All-Stars Collection II

 The very first Lighthouse All-Stars recordings

Howard Rumsey (1917–2015) occupies a central place in the history of West Coast jazz—not primarily as a virtuoso bassist, but as a visionary organizer, bandleader, and catalyst for a community of musicians who helped define the modern jazz sound of Southern California in the 1950s. Before becoming synonymous with the Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach, Rumsey had worked with major bands led by Stan Kenton, Charlie Barnet, and Barney Bigard, experiences that grounded him firmly in the professional jazz world of the 1930s and 40s. Yet it was his work as an impresario and resident bandleader that would secure his lasting legacy.

In May 1949, Rumsey persuaded the owner of the Lighthouse Cafe in Hermosa Beach, California, to allow Sunday afternoon jam sessions. What began as informal gatherings soon evolved into one of the most important regular jazz venues in the United States. Musicians from the Los Angeles scene—along with visiting players—would perform extended sets that could stretch from late afternoon into the night, attracting beachgoers, dedicated jazz fans, and fellow musicians alike. These sessions became a focal point for what would soon be labeled “West Coast Jazz.”

Out of these weekly performances emerged a more defined ensemble known as the Lighthouse All-Stars. The earliest late-1940s formation included local players such as Teddy Edwards, Sonny Criss, Hampton Hawes, Frank Patchen, Bobby White, and Keith Williams, with Rumsey on bass. It is important to note, however, that no known commercial or publicly documented recordings exist of this original late-1940s lineup. Their significance lies in their live presence and in the groundwork they laid, rather than in any surviving discography.

Only in the early 1950s, once the group's personnel evolved to include figures such as Shorty Rogers, Jimmy Giuffre, and Shelly Manne, did the Lighthouse All-Stars begin recording commercially. Independent labels—including Skylark and the Lighthouse Record Company, and later Contemporary Records—issued recordings that carried the Lighthouse sound far beyond Hermosa Beach. These records helped codify an aesthetic often associated with West Coast jazz: arranged yet flexible, cool in tone but rhythmically vital, and marked by a strong sense of ensemble interplay.

Rumsey’s true achievement was the creation of a sustained musical environment. By maintaining a regular platform for experimentation and performance, he fostered a scene in which arrangers, improvisers, and composers could refine a distinctly West Coast approach to modern jazz. Even without recorded evidence of its earliest incarnation, the name Lighthouse All-Stars came to represent one of the foundational institutions of postwar American jazz, and Howard Rumsey remains its indispensable architect.

The story truly begins to crystallize once the band entered the studio. As we begin the Lighthouse All-Stars Collection, we turn to the earliest recordings of the Lighthouse All-Stars.

The Early Skylark and Tampa EPs: The Lighthouse All Stars, Maynard Ferguson, Charlie Shavers set brings together some of the earliest commercial recordings associated with Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars, issued originally on the Skylark and Tampa labels in the early 1950s. Although Howard Rumsey is not credited as leader on the session documents, this material represents the first recordings of the Lighthouse All-Stars with Rumsey firmly at the musical core of the ensemble, at a moment when the group was just beginning to define its sound.

Cut at Capitol Records on March 26, 1952, the personnel on the key tracks includes Shorty Rogers (trumpet), Jimmy Giuffre (tenor sax), Milt Bernhart (trombone), Frank Patchen (piano), Shelly Manne (drums) and Howard Rumsey on bass, with guests such as Vivien Garry on vocals. These sessions—released as a Skylark EP originally titled Jam Session 2 and later repackaged on Tampa LPs—offer a fascinating early glimpse of the Lighthouse ensemble just as it was coalescing into one of the defining groups of the West Coast jazz scene.

Shorty Rogers And The Lighthouse All Stars

Though often overshadowed by the better-known Contemporary Records albums that followed, this program is historically significant: it captures the Lighthouse All-Stars at the threshold of their commercial recording career, rooted in the post–jam-session culture Rumsey had nurtured at the Hermosa Beach club, and points toward the broader recognition the band would soon achieve.

These early recordings of the Lighthouse All-Stars are featured on the following CD:

Shorty Rogers And The Lighthouse All-Stars

Maynard Ferguson Octet

Charlie Shavers Octet

Early Skylark And Tampa EPs

The three recordings that make up this program were originally released on the Skylark and/or Tampa Records labels in the early to mid-1950s. We have included three EPs that are not necessarily related to each other in this program to complete the release of Skylark and early Tampa jazz recordings on VSOP RECORDS. Bob Scherman, a child prodigy who became a record producer and composer, created the Skylark and Tampa Records labels during the early 1950s. Skylark was the label that Bob Scherman used to release recordings between 1951 and 1955, when the label was collapsed into Tampa Records. Practically every Skylark jazz recording had been re-issued as a Tampa release by 1955. (There are several singles that we will add to upcoming releases, and albums by Bill Donati that include jazz material that will be digitally released in the future.)

Bob Scherman participated in and supervised all activities of Skylark and Tampa, but he had help. Much of the studio work was shared by Dick Taylor, who had worked with Bob Scherman on some of his earlier efforts connected with his publishing work. Bob had set up his publishing company, Webster Music, to provide demo services for songwriters, as well as to promote his own compositions. He brought in Dick Taylor to manage many of the demo recording sessions, and later to act as contractor for some of the Skylark sessions, and some of the early Tampa sessions, as well.

 

The first set of recordings on this album consists of recordings that were made on March 26, 1952 at Capitol Records. They are or at least appear to be the first recordings credited to the Lighthouse All Stars. Side 1 consists of "M.B.B." or "More Big Boy", and Side 2 consists of a medley which includes "You Know I'm In Love With You", "Whispering" and "I Get A Kick Out of You" performed by Vivien Garry. The first release of this material on Skylark Records (apart from single 78s) was an EP entitled "Jam Session 2" Skylark 12.   This same material was later re-released as Tampa LP 12 "Shorty Rogers and the Lighthouse All Stars", with a cover designed by Maurice Childs, (that is the cover used for this album.)

The second set of recordings on this album consists of a program that appeared on an EP originally entitled "Jam Session 1" released as Skylark SK11. Side 1 featured Paul Nero's "Cool Canary Blues" and Side 2 was devoted to a jam on "Sweet Georgia Brown". Both selections are fairly long, coming in at around 13 minutes and 40 seconds each and feature extended solos by each player. "Sweet Georgia Brown" was also released on Skylark EP100 as by a Lighthouse All Stars group with the same personnel. The actual recording date is not certain although it would appear contemporaneous with the "Jam Session 2" material, judging by the personnel and the Hot Canary-Cool Canary connection. The labels on the various releases of this material suggest that the original leader was violinist Paul Nero, whose actual name was Kurt Polniarof (not to be confused with saxophonist Klaus Doldinger who goes by the same name). Paul Nero was a very in-demand violinist for pop and jazz sessions, whose extensive work invites comparisons with the careers of Harry Bluestone and Felix Slatkin. He presented himself very much as a fiddler rather than a violinist and his playing is often compared to that of Eddie South or Stuff Smith. He composed a number of works based upon his original composition, "The Canary", including "The Hot Canary" by Stan Kenton featuring Maynard Ferguson on Capitol, Paul Weston on Capitol Records, Florian Zabach on Decca, Ella Fitzgerald with Sy Oliver on Decca and "The Cool Canary Blues" offered here. Portions of these live recordings were used to create the live portions of "M.B.B" and the Vivien Garry medley. The Maynard Ferguson "Jam Session 1" material is lengthy and was actually recorded live, in contrast to the "Jam Session 2" sides. While it is likely that originally the group was led by Paul Nero, most releases on Skylark credit it to Maynard Ferguson. He had recently recorded Paul Nero's "Hot Canary" with Stan Kenton for Capitol, and was very much identified with that recording. There are nice solos by Maynard Ferguson, Bob Cooper, Abe Most, Tony Rizzi and Paul Smith.

After the two "Jam Sessions 1" selections, we have included the original versions of "Big Boy" which were released as "Big Boy Part 1" and "Big Boy Part 2" on Skylark 538, both sides presented here as one track. As is evident, "M.B.B." is simply a combination of both parts 1 and 2 with additional live material added in to give the impression that the material was recorded live in a club. These are the essential components of every version of "M.B.B." and "Big Boy" released on Skylark and Tampa. It is interesting to note that there are many fans of this recording, especially among those who were alive and on the West Coast when this recording was first released. Today, there is still some question as to whether "Big Boy" and "M.B.B." were intended to be received as a tribute to the rhythm and blues honking saxophone style of playing that was enjoying popularity at the time or whether they were intended as parody. Opinions are divided, and each is welcome to form their own.

The final EP included on this release was originally released as Skylark 103 Charlie Shavers:"Jazz". The common link between all of these musicians is the post-war Tommy Dorsey band, in particular the period between September, 1946 and June, 1947 when all were sidemen in that aggregation and, at times, in the Clambake Seven. The material performed is also a bit earlier in style from the two other Skylark sessions featured on this album. All four selections are of average length for a 78 of that period, with no extended solos. Two of the selections are adaptations of popular classical works, one is a tin pan alley standard ("Three Little Words"), and one an original work devoted to musicians union head, James Petrillo. The selection devoted to James Petrillo, head of the musicians' union, also suggests that this was recorded during the late 1940's when his iron-fisted control of recorded music gave rise to the 1942 and 1948 recording bans. This material features clarinetist Abe Most, and he may have had something to do with both the Jam Session 1 material and these Charlie Shavers recordings being released on Skylark and Tampa, since his solos are showcased, at least on the Charlie Shavers' sides. Tony Rizzi is also on this recording, making him the only musician to perform on all three recordings presented here. *from the liner notes*

1 - M.B.B

(Giuffre, Rogers)

2 - Jam Session Medley

a) You Know I'm In Love With You

(Brandt)

b) Whispering

(Schoemberger)

c) I Get A Kick Out Of You

(Porter)

3 - Cool Canary Blues

(Paul Nero)

4 - Sweet Georgia Brown

(Berney,Pinkard)

5 - Big Boy, Part 1 & Part 2

(Giuffre, Rogers)

6 - Three Little Words

(Kalmar, Ruby)

7 - Pet-rill-o

(Shavers)

8 - Choppin' Up Chopin

(Chopin, Shavers)

9 - La Traviata

(Verdi, Shavers)

#1, #2, #5:

Shorty Rogers (trumpet), Jimmy Giuffre (tenor sax), Milt Bernhart (trombone),

Frank Patchen (piano), Tony Rizzi (guitar [#2b]), Howard Rumsey (bass),

Shelly Manne (drums), Vivien Garry (vocals [#2]).

Recorded at Capitol Records, March 26, 1952

(Producer Bob Scherman created a "live" jazz club sound with his Skylark releases by adding applause and "cocktail lounge chatter" at the mixing stage.)

#3, #4:

Maynard Ferguson (trumpet), Bob Cooper (tenor sax), Abe Most (clarinet), Paul Nero (violin),

Paul Smith (piano), Tony Rizzi (guitar), Stan Fletcher (bass), Irv Cottler (drums).

Recorded possibly at The Lighthouse, Hermosa Beach, California, 1952

#6 to #9:

Charlie Shavers (trumpet), Abe Most (clarinet), Sid Cooper (alto sax), Boomie Richman (tenor sax), John Potoker (piano), Tony Rizzi (guitar), Sandy "Sid" Bloch (bass), and Alvin Stoller (drums).

Recorded in New York City, possibly late 1945

Note: The print quality of the booklet accompanying this CD is very poor. 

For a more comfortable reading of the same text, go to: https://magnebit.xeran.com/store/page242.html

Five-Star Collection... Howard Rumsey (Lighthouse All-Stars Collection I)

Howard Rumsey

Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars

Volume 3

In this long-playing set Contemporary presents the three basic groups of All-Stars which made The Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach the center of West Coast Jazz and a Mecca for jazz enthusiasts the world over. The notes which follow were written for Contemporary's ten-inch long playing release (C-2506) containing the recording sessions of July 22, 1952 and October 20, 1953. The third session of August 2, 1955 has not been released previously.

The key men of the first major group, Shorty Rogers, Jimmy Giuffre and Shelly Manne, after two years at The Lighthouse, left in 1953 to form Shorty Roger's Giants. (In the fall of 1955 Shelly Manne left the Giants to form his own group). The key men of the second and third All-Stars, Bob Cooper, Bud Shank, and Claude Williamson, continued for three years (1953 through 1955) and were responsible for such highly successful experiments as the flute and oboe duets (Contemporary C-3520).(...)

It was at the Lighthouse Cafe in Hermosa Beach that modern jazz first became really popular on the West Coast. Yet when Howard Rumsey started his jazz concerts there in 1948, the smart money said he wouldn't last a week. Hermosa Beach is more than 20 miles away from Hollywood. Who would travel that far to listen to modern jazzmen who were unknown to the general public?

Rumsey's plans seemed all the more hopeless since modern jazz was having a hard time in much more accessible places than Hermosa Beach. In order to develop, jazz needs devoted, understanding listeners. The all-important contact between modern jazz and a wide, enthusiastic audience had yet to be established. There had been many previous attempts to launch the movement, and they had all been partial or complete failures. A few years before the Lighthouse sessions, Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker had played their new music in a Hollywood night club. They had been heard by a handful of musicians, and practically nobody else. In succeeding years, modern jazz on the West Coast became increasingly cultist and sectarian, talented musicians were experimenting in the isolation of their little cliques, and it seemed the entire movement would vanish with the inevitable crumbling of these ivory towers.

It was at this point that Howard Rumsey began his concerts at the Lighthouse. The most remarkable thing about Howard was his conviction that modern jazz could also be popular jazz, and that this could be accomplished without concessions or compromises. His policy was to ignore the meaningless divisions between the various modern jazz groups, to bring together the finest available instrumentalists and writers, and to transform the Lighthouse into a workshop where their music could be heard by large audiences. Howard's tenacity and his immense gifts as an organizer overcame both the incredulity of the musicians and the apathy of the public. Starting slowly, he kept working at his idea until he succeeded in having great modern jazzmen on his bandstand, and enthusiastic crowds in the Lighthouse to listen to them.

The Lighthouse is in a constant state of musical activity and experimentation. There are always new works in progress, new arrangements being tried out, new ideas for solos. Every musician on the bandstand is vitally concerned with communicating his music to eager audiences. The bored jazzman who condescends to play down to his listeners, or the unhappy jazzman who complains about being misunderstood, are both fortunately absent. The excitement at the Lighthouse is so contagious that some of the members of the All-Stars who had never written music before began to study composition and have developed into first-rate composer-arrangers.

*Nesuhi Ertegun (from the liner notes)*

A particularly impressive demonstration of the modern jazz School of Southern California (Hermosa Beach division). It's a five-starrer because this time the generally inventive writing aids rather than constricts the blowing. As usual, the level of musicianship is consistently elevated.

Side one (July, 1952) has Rogers, Bernhart, Giuffre, Cooper, Patchen, Manne, Rumsey (and Carlos Vidal on Zapata). The even better second side (October, 1953) includes Cooper, Shank, Rumsey, Max Roach, altoist Herb Geller, pianist Claude Williamson, trumpeter Rolf Ericson, and Jack Costanzo on two. Ericson has never sounded better on records, Manne and Roach are wonderful, Vidal and Costanzo help greatly on the south-of-Los Angeles scenes.

The diversity of the sides is also stimulating — from the tribute to the Mexican revolutionary through Giuffre's tender Somewhere and the mildly ironic rhythm and blueser Big Girl. Two superior frameworks are Cooper's Jazz Inventionand Giuffre's arrangement of Love Letters. I wish those two particularly hadn't been restricted to the conventional time limits. Engineers Val Valentin and John Palladino should get a bonus after this. I'd like to know what mike setup and what kind of mikes were used. *Nat Hentoff (Down Beat, February 10, 1954 [5 stars])*

1 - Swing Shift

(Shorty Rogers)

2 - Out Of Somewhere

(Jimmy Giuffre)

3 - Mexican Passport

(Bob Cooper, Bud Shank)

4 - Big Girl

(Jimmy Giuffre)

5 - Viva Zapata! No. 1

(Shorty Rogers)

6 - Mambo Los Feliz

 (Shorty Rogers)

7 - The Song Is You

(Jerome Kern)

8 - Jazz Invention

(Bob Cooper)

9 - Snap The Whip

(Bob Cooper)

10 - Love Letters

(Young, Heyman)

11 - Witch Doctor No. 1

(Bob Cooper)

#1, #2, #4, #5:

Shorty Rogers (trumpet); Milt Bernhart (trombone);

Bob Cooper, Jimmy Giuffre (tenor saxes);

Frank Patchen (piano); Howard Rumsey (bass);

Shelly Manne (drums); Carlos Vidal (conga drums [#5]).

Recorded at Radio Recorders' Annex, Los Angeles, California, July 22, 1952

#6, #8, #10, #11:

Rolf Ericson (trumpet), Milt Bernhart (trombone [#6]),

Herb Geller (alto sax), Bud Shank (alto sax, baritone sax),

Bob Cooper (tenor sax), Claude Williamson (piano),

Howard Rumsey (bass), Max Roach (drums), Jack Costanzo (bongos [#1, #4]).

Recorded at Capitol Melrose Studios, Studio A, Los Angeles, California, October 20, 1953

#3, #7, #9:

Frank Rosolino (trombone); Bud Shank (flute, alto sax), Bob Cooper (oboe, tenor sax),

Claude Williamson (piano), Howard Rumsey (bass), Stan Levey (drums).

Recorded at Capitol Melrose Studios, Studio A, Los Angeles, California, August 2, 1955

⁂

Why the subtitle "Lighthouse All-Stars Collection"? 

Between 1952 and 1957, Howard Rumsey’s Lighthouse All-Stars produced the core of their most significant recorded output: a series of studio and live performances that not only documented the ongoing activity at the Lighthouse Cafe in Hermosa Beach, but also fixed on record one of the most active modern jazz scenes of the decade.

During those years the ensemble functioned less as a fixed band than as a platform organized by Howard Rumsey: a stable nucleus with constant rotation of personnel, a permanent residency, and a repertoire in continuous development. Musicians such as Shorty Rogers, Jimmy Giuffre, and Shelly Manne passed through its ranks, establishing the Lighthouse as one of the central points of modern jazz activity in California.

Most of the principal recordings of this period — largely made for Contemporary Records — coincide with the years in which critical discourse began solidifying labels such as "West Coast Jazz". Heard today, however, these sessions reveal a language fully embedded in the broader current of modern jazz, in constant dialogue with what was simultaneously taking place in New York.

For that reason, and given that between 1952 and 1957 several of the group’s central "opuses" were recorded — including the volume presented here — Outlet Jazz deliberately takes a slight detour.

Without abandoning the collection of five-star Down Beat recordings, a parallel thread is inaugurated here: Lighthouse All-Stars Collection.

The order of presentation will not strictly follow the original release chronology. This first installment corresponds to Vol. 3, selected circumstantially because of its place within the five-star series. In forthcoming entries, the earlier volumes — Vol. 1, Vol. 2 — as well as the subsequent ones will be addressed, with the aim of reconstructing the group’s discographic sequence in full.

This detour is not a rupture, but an expansion of perspective — a way of observing the Lighthouse phenomenon in its historical continuity rather than exclusively through the filter of a critical rating.

⁂

Five-Star Collection... Lem Winchester

Lem Winchester

Another Opus

The title of the tune which give this recird its name, Another Opus, is a deep bow in the direction of an LP released on the recording equivalent of what radio stations are in the habit of calling "another network". There are several reasons for this. One of them is that three contributors to the earlier LP appear here — Hank Jones, Eddie Jones, and Frank Wess. Kenny Clarke played drums then, Gus Johnson plays them now. The featured soloist on the other record was the great vibraphonist Milt Jackson, this time it is Lem Winchester. That Lem, who you probably do not need to be told also plays vibes, would wish to pay his respects to Jackson in this manner, is readily understandable. Once Chris Albertson, who wrote the liner notes to an earlier Winchester album asked Lem who his favorite musicians were. "I have three of them", Lem answered. "Bags, Milt and Milt Jackson".

Now, let us consider that for a moment. One of the most overworked terms in the lexicon of everyone connected with jazz-musicians, critics, and fans — is "influence". In an atmosphere where the put-down is considered the ultimate in hipness, is the very easy to dismiss a man with "Oh, yeah, he plays like..." But "influence and "imitation" are two different things, and which of two words really applies to a musician is the determining factor in how important that musician will be. Half of any artist is who he chooses as his model before he is ready to step forth with an original statement. If man is forever content to play like his model, then he will always be a second-rate musician. But if, on the other hand, he uses his model only as a model, a signpost from which to progress, then there is no limit to how far he can go once use of that model has helped him to find his own voice.

So, with that idea as a reference, we find that the title Another Opus has further, more important, significance. It is another Lem Winchester opus, Opus 2, to be exact, for with this record Lem steps out of the Milt Jackson shadow (and admittedly, it is an enormous shadow) to speak with his own voice. That he has chosen to make his first statement within the same framework as an earlier recording by Jackson has two meanings. First, it is a tribute, and a deserved one. Secondly, and more important, it is a challenge. Not to compete with Milt, who is perhaps beyond competition, but to duplicate the original experiment under what scientists call original control conditions, and see what conclusions can be reached.

It has been, you will find, a highly successful experiment, and you can check the results step by step. *Joe Goldberg (from the liner notes)*

Winchester's playing on this album makes his untimely death seem all the more tragic. The rating is not one of those posthumous gifts — this LP is the best the vibist produced in his short career. I don't know if Prestige has any more tapes of sessions like this one, but I hope there is more of Winchester's latter-day playing to be issued. His work on this album indicates that he finally had his Milt Jackson-derived style shaped to his own measurements.

In Winchester's playing, there were qualities of jazz excellence: originality, power, and passion. He employed devices most other vibraharpists rarely, if evel, used: parallel fourths and fifths, played in swooping phrases; octaves and rolls, but not in the way Red Norvo uses octaves and rolls — Winchester used them earthily, more as a blues pianist would than in the xylophone-technique-applied-to-vibes manner of Norvo. Winchester's use of octaves, fourths, and fifths puts me in mind Wes Montgomery's guitar playing — both have used similar devices to get their blues-rooted messages across. Besides the devices, there is another strong parallel that can be drawn between Winchester and Montgomery: Lem stood in relation to Milt Jackson as Montgomery stands in relation to Charlie Christian. Each is an extension of his instrumental predecessor. It's regrettable that Montgomery and Winchester never recorded together.

The other opus implied by the album title is Opus de Jazz, recorded by Jackson a few years ago on Savoy. The tenor of the two albums is the same — unpretentious blues-based playing. Both albums have a good standard ballad (in this case, Like Someone; in Jackson's album the ballad was a breathtaking You Leave Me Breathless). The personnel overlaps between the two Opuses also: Wess and the two Joneses play on both. But the greatest similarity between the two LPs is that both contain some of the best results produced at blowing sessions. 

The outstanding track is the extremely mournful Blues Prayer. It is one of those slow blues that a lot of musicians attempt but few carry off. Winchester and colleagues not only carry it off but have given us one of the bluest performances recorded in the last few years. Winchester's blues playing is on a high level—as high as Jackson's heralded blues feats. Wess' flute seems to weep in an intensely emotional solo following Winchester's. There is no double timing on the track, giving the performance a continuity it might not have had had there been ex tensive doubling up. 

The other blues track is the title tune. It is faster than Prayer, but the essentially blue characteristic of the slower-paced track is retained, although the feeling is lighter. Winchester, Wess, and Hank Jones all seem to dance through their solos — Winchester tumbles and cascades, Wess whirls like an evil spirit, and Hank bobs and weaves. There is a novel interlude on this track when the vibist plays rhythm vibes—if there is such an animal—for 24 bars of Eddie Jones' solo: four-mallet chording on each beat, as rhythm guitar is played. Eddie and Johnson provide firm support for all the soloists throughout the album but especially on this track. The album is an utterly satisfying emotional experience. By all means, get it. *Don DeMichael (Down Beat, June 8, 1961 [5 stars])*

1 - Another Opus

(Lem Winchester)

2 - Blues Prayer

(Lem Winchester)

3 - The Meetin'

(Oliver Nelson)

4 - Like Someone In Love

(Burke, Van Heusen)

5 - Both Barrels

(Lem Winchester)

6 - Lid Flippin'

 (Johnny Smith)

#1 to #5:

Lem Winchester (vibes), Frank Wess (flute),

Hank Jones (piano), Eddie Jones, (bass), Gus Johnson (drums)

#6:

Lem Winchester (vibes), Johnny "Hammond" Smith (Hammond organ),

Eddie McFadden (guitar), Wendell Marshall (bass), Bill Erskine (drums).

Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 

June 4 (#1 to #5) and October 14 (#6), 1960

Five-Star Collection... Shelly Manne

Shelly Manne

Shelly Manne And His Men Play Peter Gunn

Peter Gunn is an adult mystery with a different kind of hero: a private eye who is literate, suave, well-groomed, and —digs jazz. The weekly show hit the NBC-TV network September 22, 1958, and zoomed to a success which is, in part, the result of its jazz score, composed and arranged by Henry Mancini, known as Hank to the leading jazz stars in the Los Angeles area who have played for his soundtracks. Since November 1958, Shelly Manne and Victor Feldman have been regular members of the band which records the show's score. When Shelly became enthused about the idea of recording an album of Mancini originals from Peter Gunn, he invited Feldman to appear with him as a guest star. (...)

In Shelly Manne, Mancini has an ideal interpreter for the Peter Gunn music. In recent years Manne's talent has matured and developed so that today he is recognized as the most melodic and inventive of drummers, as well as one of the great swinging drummers of jazz history. For the past three years he has won first place in all three major jazz popularity polls — Playboy, Down Beat and Metronome. 

When Shelly and Mancini discussed the recording of this album, Mancini urged him to feel free to use the compositions as points of departure for creating personal jazz performances.

The album was done at one all night session which began at 6 Monday evening, January 19th, with Peter Gunn, and finished at 7:30 the next morning with Fallout. Improvisation with six men is not easy. It takes musicians who are experienced and skilled, as well as great jazz blowers. (...)

For jazz musicians to be free to express themselves, and to make personal statements, they need the kind of relaxed atmosphere not commonly found in recording studios. The average record date takes but three hours. But, like a barbecue fire which always seems to be glowing at its best after you've removed the steaks, jazz record dates usually begin to develop a "feeling" just as the three-hour time limit is up. At Contemporary we've tried to break this time barrier by scheduling sessions of at least six or nine hours. In the case of Peter Gunn we took four three-hour sessions and as a result an exceptionally close rapport was achieved; each musician felt free to contribute his ideas and suggestions came so thick and fast Shelly was often in the position of a moderator at a heated Town Hall session. That The Men were able to approach each of Mancini’s pieces with a fresh, spontaneous and valid conception is a tribute to their outstanding talents, as well as to the vitality of Mancini's provocative new jazz themes. *Lester Koenig (from the liner notes)*

It looks like The Drummer has done it again. From a sales standpoint this modern jazz treatment of Hank Mancini’s music from Peter Gunn television crime series is sure to equal, even possibly surpass, the great success of the Manne-Previn My Fair Lady enterprise of 1956.

Viewed as a jazz set, moreover, this tentet of tunes and variations is notable for two main reasons: the inspired drive and purposefulness of the group (with guest Feldman added to capture some of the identifying sound of the TV underscore); and the superlative solo work, principally by Geller and Candoli.

Alto and open trumpet achieve a most attractive blend on Floater, but it is not until Geller gets moving in his powerful solo that the real excitement begins. The altoist is consistently stimulating throughout the album, reaching an apex of musical achievement with his long, emotional solo on Dreamville toward the record's close.

Candoli, also, whether muted (as on Sorta Blue) or open (on Slow And Easy and others) plays with an authority and sureness of conception rarely heard before in his playing.

Feldman is always effective on either vibes or marimba. The latter instrument is used primarily for effect, which brings one to an essential characteristic of much of the album. There is more than a hint of the exotic to some of the tunes, due to Manne's feeling that Mancini's music demanded special treatment. Fallout for example, is more of a mood piece than a vehicle for blowing. But in the particular instance the idea proves a good one, providing breathing space (via piano and bass dominance) in between the more extroverted tracks.

The title tune is aptly almost rock and roll in basic conception, just as the television theme opens on a heavily accented guitar figure. (Gunn, backed with the slow and funky blues, Slow And Easy, has been released by the company in a bid for the single market. For single play, however, the blues was abbreviated).

Of Manne, Freeman, and Budwig there is little that can be said beyond their ideal function as a rhythm team and their individuality as solo contributors. Manne impressed with especial brilliance in his playing on Breezy, a smeary, dirty line with a rippling, yet somehow angular, solo by Freeman. Budwig has developed into one of the more distinctive bassists in jazz from the standpoint of fundamental tonal quality, which conveys the essence of real jazz sound.

This album could well become one of the top jazz LPs of 1959.

*John A. Tynan (Down Beat, March 5, 1959 [5 stars])*

1 - Peter Gunn

2 - The Floater

3 - Sorta Blue

4 - The Brothers

5 - Soft Sounds

6 - Fallout

7 - Slow And Easy

8 - Brief And Breezy

9 - Dreamsville

10 - A Profound Gass

(All compositions by Henry Mancini)

Conte Candoli (trumpet), Herb Geller (alto sax), Victor Feldman (vibes, marimba),

Russ Freeman (piano), Monty Budwig (bass), Shelly Manne (drums).

Recorded at Contemporary Records Studio, Los Angeles, California, January 19 and 20, 1959

Five-Star Collection... Art Pepper

Art Pepper

Art Pepper + Eleven

A Treasury Of Modern Jazz Classics

In a period when the qualifications for having one's own jazz album remains nebulous, it's been all the more astonishing that Art Pepper has been in charge of so few. Pepper has grown remarkably in imagination and emotional depth in the past few years as was hotly clear in Art Pepper Meets The Rhythm Section (Contemporary 3532, Stereo 7018). In this new, uniquely integrated set, Pepper receives a differently challenging framework from Marty Paich than he — or most other soloists — has yet received on records. And Art responds with consistent brilliance.

What Paich has done has been to provide more than just accompaniment for Art. He has integrated the resilient band backgrounds with Art's playing in a way that stimulates Pepper but doesn't obstruct the improvisatory flow of his ideas. Paich was able to accomplish this fusion because he knows Pepper's style well through several years of association, including dates on which Marty was pianist for Art. (...)

The programmatic concept of the album is also challenging to both Pepper and Paich. These are twelve established modern jazz standards — music directly out of the jazz experience, written by jazzmen. They're part of that growing body of thoroughly indigenous jazz material to which player-writers like Jelly Roll Morton, Kid Ory, Duke Ellington, and in more recent years, Horace Silver, Thelonious Monk, John Lewis and others have contributed.

Pepper and Paich collaborated on selecting these twelve songs. "We treated them with a great deal of respect", Paich emphasizes. "The tune itself is there all the time. Unlike, for example, doing jazz versions of Broadway shows, with these jazz standards you don't have to alter and extend the chords and make other changes for jazz purposes". (...)

In essence, Art Pepper + Eleven demonstrates, first of all, how mature a soloist Art Pepper has become. It also reemphasizes how much of their own material jazzmen have to work with, and helps considerably in making known Marty Paich's qualifications as a particularly knowledgeable and sensitive jazz arranger. *Nat Hentoff (from the liner notes)*

This is a highly satisfactory album for which Marty Paich, who conducts and did the arranging, deserves a full measure of credit.

The tunes read like a jazz hit parade of the '40s and '50s, and Paich has treated them with the reverence and seriousness they deserve while still retaining wit and a freshness of view. Pepper, in the context of this group, turns out one of his best performances on record. As an altoist, he immediately assumes his place again in the front rank with the added virtue of successfully escaping the tyranny of Charlie Parker’s spirit and still keeping that full-blown swing. He is surprisingly sensitive and moving on clarinet (Anthropology of all things!), and if he ever gets seriously down to work on that instrument as his major, there's room to believe he might be the one to bring it up to the point of development of the other solo horns.

On tenor he is a solidly swinging, tough-minded soloist, but it is on alto, still, that he shines. The whole album is in excellent taste, the solos by Freeman here and there are a gas, too, and Lewis provides a fine, swinging foundation. 

*Ralph J. Gleason (Down Beat, February 18, 1960 [5 stars])*

1 - Move

(Denzil Best)

2 - Groovin' High

(Dizzy Gillespie)

3 - Opus de Funk

(Horace Silver)

4 - 'Round Midnight

(Monk, Williams)

5 - Four Brothers

(Jimmy Giuffre)

6 - Shaw Nuff

(Gillespie, Parker)

7 - Bernie's Tune

(Leiber, Stoller, Miller)

8 - Walkin' Shoes

(Gerry Mulligan)

9 - Anthropology

(Gillespie, Parker)

10 - Airegin

(Sonny Rollins)

11 - Walkin' (original take)

(Richard Carpenter)

12 - Walkin' (alternate take 1)

(Richard Carpenter)

13 - Walkin' (alternate take 2)

 (Richard Carpenter)

14 - Donna Lee (original take)

(Charlie Parker)

15 - Donna Lee (alternate take)

(Charlie Parker)

Art Pepper (alto sax, tenor sax [#1, #5, #11], clarinet [#9, #12, #13]) with:

Pete Candoli [#3, #4, #8, #10], Jack Sheldon, Al Porcino [#1, #2, #5 to #7, #9, #11 to #15] (trumpets);

Herb Geller [#3, #4, #8, #10], Bud Shank [#2, #6, #9, #14, #15], Charlie Kennedy [#1, #5, #7, #11 to #13] (alto saxes);

Dick Nash (trombone); Bob Enevoldsen (tenor sax, valve trombone); Vincent DeRosa (French horn);

Bill Perkins [#2, #3, #4, #6, #8 to #10, #14, #15], Richie Kamuca [#1, #5, #7, #11 to #13] (tenor saxes);

Med Flory (baritone sax); Russ Freeman (piano); Joe Mondragon (bass); Mel Lewis (drums).

Recorded at Contemporary's Studio, Los Angeles, California, March 14 (#3, #4, #8, #10),

March 28 (#2, #6, #9, #14, #15) and May 12 (#1, #5, #7, #11, #12, #13), 1959.

Five-Star Collection... Bill Holman

Bill Holman

Big Band In A Jazz Orbit

Bill Holman's compositions and arrangements are both experimental and basic at the same time; they never for one moment cease swinging, and yet their rhythmic complexities are brilliant. His harmonic sense is quite daring at times, and still his changes are comfortable and logical to play on. All his pieces have form and definite orderliness; they have strength and an underlying feeling of "There's something left in reserve, this isn't the climax yet". His voices are for the most part linear and his sections play a good deal in unison; however, the interweaving of the lines is so assured and musically sophisticated as to create a bigger harmonic sound than the thickest of chordal arranging. He builds his arrangements carefully and soundly and rarely succumbs to the screaming flag-waver ending so popular with many big bands. He has limited himself to the orthodox jazz instrumentation; trumpets, trombones, saxes and rhythm, but his knowledge of their possibilities is enormous. Being a highly talented instrumentalist himself, his arrangements are relatively easy to play. Everything lies well in the horns, a fact for which Bill is looked upon with gratitude by the playing musicians. He is very fond of the use of canonic imitation in his writing, and uses it to great advantage throughout this album. From a composer-arranger's point of view, he has already arrived at an enviable position: namely that his style is totally distinctive, recognizable, and personal; it is possible to say "That's Bill Holman" after listening to 8 bars of his music, and that is a very major accomplishment for a creative musician.

Bill Holman most assuredly is a first-rate saxophonist, but this true instrument is the orchestra, and he plays it with musicianship, honesty and brilliance. *André Previn (from the liner notes)*

While this, the second Holman big band set to be released in a year, lacks the compositional stature lent the first LP by his monumental work, The Big Street, it stands as an excellent album of modern big band jazz writing.

Thanks to the powerful rhythm section and the well-drilled ensemble, there is no dearth of rhythmic excitement. But the essence of musical interest lies in the imaginative quality of Holman's writing. One particularly interesting aspect of this set is the obvious Ellington-Strayhorn influence in certain portions of the ensemble work. This is evident — to this reviewer, anyway — in the saxes on No Heat and the massed brass effects on Kissin' Bug. It must be stressed, however, that these voicings are used not in imitation, but rather for effect where the overall character of the arrangement demanded them.

The composer ranges from utilizing an almost small band effect (on The Man I Love) to sheer powerhouse ensemble sound (as on Aura, for example) . Yet, for all the complexity of the arrangements, there is ample room for solo blowing and the various horn men use it well. Fontana solos only twice in the entire album, on The Man I Love and After You've Gone. Sheldon plays all the jazz trumpet, from fast glittering open horn lines to moody, muted statements blown right into the mike in the Davis manner. Holman has most of the tenor solos, although Kamuca is heard in relaxed statements on The Man I Love and Aura.

Space does not permit extended discussion of the playing of all soloists, unfortunately, but there is very little disappointment in the individual performances.

It is becoming increasingly evident to these ears that Holman and Gil Evans now emerge as the only two arranger-composers to come to prominence in recent years who have reached a point of maturity wherein their work is so completely individual that it becomes immediately recognizable. Each speaks with his own voice and, as the music on this album attests, Holman’s is eloquent indeed. Highly recommended. Also available on stereodisc.

*John A. Tynan (Down Beat, March 19, 1959 [5 stars])*

1 - Kissin' Bug

(Billy Strayhorn, Rex Stewart, Joya Sherrill)

2 - The Man I Love

(George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin)

3 - Goodbye

(Gordon Jenkins)

4 - You Go To My Head

(Jay Fred Coots, Haven Gillespie)

5 - After You've Gone

(Henry Creamer, Turner Layton)

6 - Far Down Below

(Bill Holman)

7 - No Heat

(Bill Holman)

8 - Theme & Variations #2

(Bill Holman)

9 - Aura

(Bill Holman)

Conte Candoli, Ed Leddy, Al Porcino,

Jack Sheldon [replaced by Stu Williamson on #3, #4, #9] (trumpets);

Carl Fontana, Frank Rosolino, Ray Sims (trombones); Herb Geller, Charlie Mariano (alto saxes);

Bill Holman (tenor sax); Richie Kamuca, Charlie Kennedy (tenor saxes);

Recorded at Radio Recorders, Hollywood, California,

February 11(#1, #2, #6), 12 (#5, #7, #8) and 13 (#3, #4, #9) 1958.

Five-Star Collection... Stan Getz / Bob Brookmeyer

Stan Getz And Bob Brookmeyer

Recorded Fall 1961

Despite what you read in liner notes, an appalling percentage of jazz albums lose their allure over the years. I think particularly of that period in the mid-1950s when the monthly streams (main and others) of jazz releases first began to overflow. Many of the sets issued during those years have become as inactive on most turntables as Paul Whiteman sides without Bix. Yet a few albums of the time have proved durable, and among them were the Verve colloquies between Stan Getz and Bob Brookmeyer. The reason they lasted is that both these jazzmen had already established substantial personal styles that did not feed on fads (cool or funky) and besides, they completed each other so naturally that whole performances resulted, not fragmentary strings of solos.

The first meeting between Getz and Brookmeyer since that period took place in September 1961, while Getz was back in this country to refuel himself through stimulation from American jazzmen. (And also make some money). Since 1958, Getz has been an expatriate in Copenhagen, and while his recordings in Europe have been consistently interesting, they often lacked the level of mutual interaction between Getz and the local sideman that ignites the best of home-brewed recordings. (If this be chauvinism, ask American jazzmen about their experiences with most European rhythm sections).

The lapse of years and distance have not flawed the musical communion between Getz and Brookmeyer, as is evident from the first track on. They interweave lines and fuse rhythmically as if they'd been playing together steadily for a long time. Both, moreover, have a rare capacity for fresh, uncluttered, melodic imagination that is a refreshing relief from dates on which the players beguile themselves — but not always the listener — by the speed with which they can conjugate chord changes. The opener itself was written by Brookmeyer a month or so before the session, and as the title indicates, represents his quixotic conception of what a contemporary, jazz-limned minuet can sound like.

(...)

The rhythm section is one that Getz chose for his club dates on his return to America. John Neves has long been known to musicians who visited Boston in recent years and for a time was an important part of the Herb Pomeroy band there. Steve Kuhn, who also first established a reputation in that area, is an uncommonly imaginative pianist with formidable technique. In the past year, Kuhn has become even more effective as he's learned how to edit his abundance of ideas. Roy Haynes may well be the most taken-for-granted major drummer in jazz. He also been so reliable and resourceful for so long that he doesn't get nearly the degree of attention he merits.

The quintet blends well together, all the more so since each of the five has enough confidence in his own musical way to relax enough to listen to the others. From this kind of shared attitude records are produced that can be replayed long after the polls have changed and rechanged.

*Nat Hentoff (from the liner notes)*

This marks two events, the first recording by Getz since his return to the United States; a reunion with Brookmeyer, his partner of the mid-'50s.

The simultaneous happenings are cause for celebration. Getz and Brookmeyer are mature players, and everything they do on this record is in perfect balance insofar as ingredients required for one style of complete jazz performance are concerned.

The group, exclusive of Brookmeyer, is the one Getz has toured with since spring, 1961. Kuhn is a young pianist who has shown a liking for Bill Evans. He manifests this in several places here but also exhibits things of his own. He fits well in a subtle but driving (when it has to) rhythm section, completed by the strong Neves and the impeccable Haynes.

The three Brookmeyer originals are delightful: Minuet has as infectious a line as I’ve heard in a while, Who Could Care? is a lovely ballad. Thump is an equally engaging composition.

The other material is complementary. Berkeley Square is a beautiful ballad that has not been recorded into the ground, and Buck Clayton's Love Jumped Out is an old Basie feature that has only been done once since the 1930s (Paul Quinichette with a Basie alumni group in the '50s). It also has been some time since we've heard Nice Work. When it's played like this, however, you can enjoy it even if you had just heard several other versions.

There are many good things to be said about the individual merits of Getz and Brookmeyer, but the most important factor in the success of this set is the ease with which these men communicate their thoughts and feelings to the audience. It seems to flow out and by the same token, right in.

*Ira Gitler (Down Beat, February 15, 1962 [5 stars])*

1 - Minuet Circa '61

(Bob Brookmeyer)

2 - Who Could Care

(Bob Brookmeyer)

3 - Nice Work If You Can Get It

(George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin)

4 - Thump, Thump, Thump

(Bob Brookmeyer)

5 - A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square

(Manning Sherwin, Eric Maschwitz)

6 - Love Jumped Out

(Buck Clayton)

Stan Getz (tenor sax), Bob Brookmeyer (valve trombone),

Steve Kuhn (piano), John Neves (bass), Roy Haynes (drums).

Recorded at Nola Recording Studio, New York City, September 12 and 13, 1961

Five-Star Collection... Miles Davis

Miles Davis

Blue Moods

There was a boy... somehow strange and enchanted, perhaps... but a natural, not a nature boy. This one grew and learned, among other things, not to whistle at the lovely lady of a cigar-smoking citizen of Mississippi. Which made it possible for him to grow enough to read news service reports about what happens to that kind of boy. It made possible, too, some disenchanted wanderings, with horns often not his own; wanderings along a series of personal precipices where nostrils may ache from the sheer agony of breathing.

If there is dignity and artistry in such a boy, he will record such a life with gaunt gestures, or as an anointed conscience, or as the inveterate cynic, or, or... there are some few, even, who merely reflect, neither urging nor decrying. Miles, it seems to me, is one of these latter. His the almost fragile, though never effeminate, tracing of a story line which is somewhat above and beyond him, of almost-blown-aside, pensive fragments which are always persuasively coherent.

His are moods, blue ones if we can allow for a programatic spectrum. Not the kind of blue that happens on Mondays those lastNIGHTWASanight, now-it's-five-days-till-Friday kind of blues. More like Sunday blue; nothing to do in the morning, no family dinner, only a movie in the afternoon and a gig at night kind of blues. That's what Miles says to me anyway, says it in particular and at length in the course of this LP, says it, too, in as moving a way as it can be said.

(...)

All those moods, present and to be accounted for in the music on this LP. For example, you don't hear it here, but on one take Miles wandered so far afield that he was completely lost. But he made no mention of it, not even a request for another take, although, fortunately, another was made, almost as if he really didn't care, was above caring, whether anyone had discovered the error.

And the tunes: "Nature Boy", and where was I; "Alone Together", oh there I am; "There's No You", there never was; and "Easy Living", maybe, but I haven't seen it. All cut of the same cloth. Again, moods. Again, blue.

From this, and the sensitivity of each musician to the others, comes a clarity of expression which makes annotation superfluous, perhaps, even presumptuous. But there are these things which occurred to me, which may make this seemingly strange sales-talk more persuasive. (Sales-talk it is, too, for I am moved enough by this poignant side of jazz to boost its circulation.)

(...)

Through it all, none of the musicians show Miles' finality of mood, but they do perfectly match him as if they shared the same secret, each one adding, as is natural, his own interpretation, and, in the case of Teddy and Mingus, his own answer to that secret. In that very special way it is Miles’ album in the same way that a wedding always belongs to the bride no matter what entertainment is presented at the reception.

These are reflections about a life in which we are all shareholders.

*Bill Coss (from the liner notes)*

Note: The spelling "programatic" appears in the original liner notes and is most likely a typographical error for "programmatic". It is reproduced here as part of the original text.

The album is called Blue Moods and the title is exact. Miles is backed with taste and intelligence by Charlie Mingus, Teddy Charles, Britt Woodman, and drummer Elvin Jones. Everyone falls sensitively into the reflective twilight scene, and everyone plays excellently. Miles has the major share of solo space and demonstrates again how lyrically he excels in this kind of context. Mingus is characteristically strong and penetratingly imaginative in both solo and section. Britt has only one solo (There's No You). It's a good one, and he should have had more. All the spare, well-knit arrangements (except for Mingus' equally capable one of Alone Together) are by Teddy Charles. *Nat Hentoff (Down Beat, December 14, 1955 [5 stars])*

1 - Nature Boy

(Eden Ahbez)

2 - Alone Together

(Dietz, Schwartz)

3 - There’s No You

(Adair, Hopper)

4 - Easy Living

(Rainger, Robin)

Miles Davis (trumpet), Britt Woodman (trombone),

Charles Mingus (bass), Teddy Charles (vibes), Elvin Jones (drums).

Recorded at Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey, July 9, 1955