Lighthouse All-Stars Collection VIII

Howard Rumsey

Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars

Volume 7

★ Lighthouse At Laguna ★

Laguna Beach is a lovely, relaxed town on the Pacific two hours drive south of Los Angeles. On Monday night, June 20th, 1955, it became the center of modern jazz on the West Coast as Howard Rumsey brought his Lighthouse All Stars, Barney Kessel, and The Hampton Hawes Trio to the Irvine Bowl, an outdoor amphitheater, for an impressive concert before an impressed audience.

Rumsey and The All-Stars during 1955 found time to increase their influence by numerous concerts away from home base, The Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach, California. They played for schools and colleges throughout Southern California and Arizona, and succeeded in winning friends and influencing people wherever they went. Laguna was no exception; for the 1200 who turned out the concert was a highlight of the jazz year.

Jazz concert performances often lack the polish of those in the recording studio, but more often this is offset by a freer, more spontaneous, creative, and swinging feeling, generated in part by the interaction of audience and performers. So while there are defects in these forty-five of the best minutes of the night's music, defects which both the musicians and the recording engineer would have liked to remedy, there are moments of excitement here that cannot be duplicated.

Five of the eight performances in this set are by The All-Stars. During the five years Rumsey has held forth at The Lighthouse his groups have always included the very best musicians, and the present group is no exception. Each man is a prominent recording artist in his own right, and each finishes high in the annual polls conducted by the leading jazz magazines. The concert presentation put each man in the solo spotlight and there are many fine solos by Bud Shank, Bob Cooper, Frank Rosolino and Claude Williamson. Of course, equally important is the fact they work well together to create a swinging, balanced ensemble sound. (...)

Barney Kessel, one of the greatest of jazz guitarists, was accompanied by The All-Stars for his portion of the program. His sensitive arrangement and performance of Thelonious Monk's modern classic 'Round About Midnight was one of the best received of the evening. In Barney’s hands it became a lovely concerto for guitar and orchestra. (...)

As the weekly Laguna Beach Post reported June 23rd, the Thursday following: "...it was clear that this concert was manned by some of the most knowledgeable and talented musicians in the land and it was a pleasure to be there". *Lester Koenig, December 6, 1955 (from the liner notes)*

A distinguished crowd of West Coast modernists who ordinarily make headquarters at the Los Angeles jazz nitery, The Lighthouse, trekked South to Laguna Beach one night last June for a concert that must have been a real gasser for local fans. As recorded, most time is given to the Lighthouse All-Stars, which at that time consisted of Rumsey, Bud Shank, Bob Cooper, Frank Rosolino, Claude Williamson and Stan Levey. Barney Kessel, the guitarist, took the spotlight for a richly appealing set of his own. The third major attraction was a group by the Hampton Hawes Trio (backing the pianist were Shelly Manne on drums and Red Mitchell on bass). This is West Coast at its exciting best, and should be a great hit with jazz customers. *Billboard (February 25, 1956)*

A concert recorded at Laguna Beach Calif., last June. Tracks 1, 3, 5, 6 and 8 are played by Rumsey's All-Stars with Bud Shank, Bob Cooper, Frank Rosolino, Claude Williamson, and Stan Levey. Midnight is a Barney Kessel solo backed by the All-Stars, while Lady Jean is a Rosolino excursion on his own tune with All-Stars backing. Walkin' and The Champ are performed by the Hampton Hawes trio with Red Mitchell and Shelly Manne. The playing is proficient throughout with chief kicks from the trio tracks, Kessel's well conceived variations on the Monk melody, Williamson's work on all tracks he appears, and Shank's flute on Witch Doctor. The cover can best be described as the most nonabstract of the year. *Nat Hentoff (Down Beat, April 4, 1956)*

1 - Witch Doctor N° 2

(Bob Cooper)

2 - 'Round Midnight

(Monk, Williams, Hanighen)

3 - Mood For Lighthouse

(Bob Cooper)

4 - Walkin'

(Richard Carpenter)

5 - Blind Man's Bluff

(Claude Williamson)

6 - Lady Jean

(Frank Rosolino)

7 - The Champ

(Dizzy Gillespie)

8 - Casa De Luz

(Shorty Rogers)

#1, #2, #3, #5, #6, #8:

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

Barney Kessel (guitar [#2]), Claude Williamson (piano),

Howard Rumsey (bass), Stan Levey (drums).

#4, #7:

Hampton Hawes (piano), Red Mitchell (bass), Shelly Manne (drums).

Recorded live at Irvine Bowl, Laguna Beach, California, June 20, 1955