Liberty Records • Lighthouse Series (II)

Bill Perkins And Richie Kamuca

Tenors Head-On

Lighthouse Series • Volume 2

To anyone familiar with the jazz scene, the names BILL PERKINS and RICHIE KAMUCA mean fresh tenor excitement at its grooviest and innovating best. This album more than successfully combines these two major talents in a free-swinging, right-from-the-head session. And I am sure that you will find the spontaneous, contrapuntal interplay of the horn players, as well as the material utilized, most interesting.

Please keep in mind that no written arrangements were used... which as you know, makes for wonderful, easy-to-listen-to jazz brimming with spirit, emotion and spontaneity. 

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This album was not merely happenstance. It was a long time in the making. It actually started back in '54 when Richie and Perk were blowing for Woody. They spent a lot of time practicing together, exchanging ideas and discussing tenor men... mostly "Pres". That groundwork really became apparent that first Sunday evening I heard them blending their crazy sounds at the Lighthouse. Right then it was decided to blend them with a rhythm section, and this album is the culmination of that idea.

It was a genuine thrill to be in on this one, and considering the fact the entire opus was recorded in one session and a half hour overtime is in itself conclusive that it was a wonderfully cohesive experience for all concerned... Drop the diamond, relax, and join the group.

*Howard Rumsey (liner notes)*

A killer date from two of the hippest tenors of the west coast scene in the 50s — Bill Perkins and Richie Kamuca — both musicians who worked in the cool school, but could also come across with plenty of soul! The album's got both tenors working head on — hitting counterpoint modes at times, but also opening up more freely at others — showing the balance between composition, arrangement, and improvisation that made the scene so great at the time — yet executed with a bit more depth of feeling, as we'd expect from Perkins and Kaumca. Rhythm is from the trio of Pete Jolly on piano, Red Mitchell on bass, and Stan Levey on drums — and titles include "Spain", "Pick A Dilly", "Oh! Look At Me Now", "Don't Be That Way", and "Blues For Two".

*Dusty Groove, Inc.*

Side 1

1 - Cotton Tail

(Harry Brewer)

2 - I Want A Little Girl

(W. S. Stevenson)

3 - Blues For Two

(K. Mitchell)

4 - Indian Summer

(B. Gregory)

Side 2

5 - Don't Be That Way

(Goodman, Sampson, Parrish)

6 - Oh! Look At Me Now

(J. Bushkin, J. DeVries)

7 - Spain

(Jones, Kahn)

8 - Pick A Dilly

(Al Cohn)

Bill Perkins, Richie Kamuca (tenor saxes); Pete Jolly (piano);

Red Mitchell (bass); Stan Levey (drums).

Recorded in Los Angeles, California, July, 1956