Best Coast Jazz

Jazz has been through many stylistic evolutions in winding its tortuous upward course through history. It has been noted by some observers that the names for the various local and regional deviations have outnumbered the styles themselves. There have been New Orleans jazz and Dixieland jazz (and if anyone can distinguish between these two we should appreciate his calling us collect), Chicago jazz, Kansas City Jazz, swing, bop, boogie-woogie, and, of course, in recent years, cool jazz and West Coast jazz. 

Maybe you agree that too much pigeonholing does no good for the music and that jazz is better enjoyed subjectively without regard to classifications of this nature. That’s why Best Coast Jazz is such fitting title for this set of performances. The term is intended to have absolutely no significance beyond the fact that the sides were recorded within a stone’s throw of the Pacific Ocean, and that they contain some of the best improvised solos recorded in that general area in recent years. 

The personnel on this date represented an amalgamation, for the first time, of a pair of important EmArcy attractions, both of whom have made individual reputations through various LPs on which they have appeared either as leaders or as sidemen on this label during the past year. They are Herb Geller and that two-headed combo-leading team of Clifford Brown and Max Roach.

These two king sized performances —the jumping riff blues tune "Coronado" and "You Go To My Head"— were recorded in Los Angeles on August 10, 1954. Since more than a quarter of an hour is devoted to each tune, it will come as no surprise to you that every member of this wonderful group is given ample opportunity to express his ad lib feelings with no holds barred and no restrictions of any kind. We feel that the results certainly justify the appropriate description of these sides as "Best Coast Jazz". *(Liner notes)*

On this out-of-print EmArcy LP features an all-star group with trumpeter Brown, the altos of Herb Geller and Joe Maini, Walter Benton on tenor, pianist Kenny Drew, bassist Curtis Counce and drummer Max Roach. They perform two lengthy numbers, a medium-tempo blues "Coronado" and the ballad "You Go to My Head". "Coronado" is climaxed by an exciting tradeoff by the four horns that gets down to two beats apiece! "You Go to My Head" has fine solos all around but Brownie's closing statement cuts everyone. *Scott Yanow*

Side 1

1 - Coronado

(Coles)

Side 2

2 - You Go To My Head

(Cocks, Gillespie)

Clifford Brown (trumpet); Walter Benton (tenor sax); Joe Maini, Jr., Herb Geller (alto saxes); Kenny Drew (piano); Curtis Counce (bass); Max Roach (drums).

Recorded at Capitol Studios, Hollywood, California, August 10, 1954.