Lighthouse All-Stars Collection XXI ★ with Stan Getz (II)

Stan Getz

With

The Lighthouse All-Stars • 1953

Having presented in our previous post Stan Getz's extraordinary stint at the Lighthouse on September 14, 1952, chronology now moves us eight months forward. We find ourselves on May 31, 1953, to examine a fundamental document that records, once again, the participation of the tenor sax giant and jazz musician par excellence as a guest alongside the Lighthouse Allstars. This new series of exciting live performances at the Lighthouse Café on Pier Avenue, Hermosa Beach, California, was captured by recording engineer Bob Andrews using a single microphone and a tape recorder.

Getz was born on February 27, 1927, in Philadelphia. His real name was Stanley Gayetzki, but his parents changed it due to discrimination. Discovered by Woody Herman's producer, by the late 1940s and into the 1950s he had already made a name for himself, being acclaimed during those years as "The Sound." He can be considered an exceptional musician who remained at the forefront throughout his entire life, continuing his musical activity until shortly before passing away from liver cancer in California on June 6, 1991.

On the other hand, the Lighthouse Allstars—the band backing Getz on this occasion—were the house group at the club. Although Shorty Rogers and Jimmy Giuffre were the central figures of the ensemble at that time, for this session we have Teddy Charles on vibes, Russ Freeman on piano, leader Howard Rumsey on bass, and Shelly Manne on drums.

The vibrant beach atmosphere can be felt throughout this magnificent compilation of live West Coast Jazz. The festive crowd enjoyed these jam sessions, and their enthusiasm drove the band, inspiring an energy that transforms the dynamics wherever the recording is played. If some of the horns—Getz, Bob Cooper, and Jimmy Giuffre—seem slightly off-mic, it must be kept in mind that these are neither perfectly balanced nor professionally mixed recordings. However, it is by no means a sloppy audience tape; the overall sound is surprisingly consistent, and the music is exceptional, including brilliant passages by vibraphonist Teddy Charles.

Amidst this impeccable rhythm section, Getz sounds divine on every track, in any company, no matter what happens. Great moments abound in this superb compilation, where two extensions of Basie's repertoire stand out in particular: an interpolation of nearly 12 minutes of Harry "Sweets" Edison's "Jive at Five" and a magnetically modern rendition of Eddie Durham's "Topsy". Ultimately, the album stands as a valuable session that splendidly captures Getz's golden era in 1953.

Off Note:

It is imperative to warn the reader and collector about the gross editorial errors carried by the CD edition of this volume (coordinated under the Interplay/Norma label).

In the first place, the front cover incurs a flagrant chronological error by dating the session as 1954, when historical documentation and the liner notes themselves unanimously confirm that the recording took place on May 31, 1953.

Allow me the boldness of presenting this album cover as it should have been, if only as an illustration:

In the second place (and as a warning to those who can read the Japanese text), an analysis of the liner notes—signed by producer Yasunori Iwanami—reveals an alarming lack of editorial oversight. The text enthusiastically describes the performance of songs that are not present on the CD, surely due to recycling generic information from the complete All-Stars sessions, completely ignoring the actual content of the disc.

As if that were not enough, the tray card adds two other monumental errors:

a) "Jive At Five" is listed as "Jive Jumpin'" and credited to Claude Williamson. This is a doubly egregious blunder, given that "Jive at Five" is an absolute classic by Count Basie and Harry "Sweets" Edison from 1938. By mistitling it, they confuse the piece with a later composition or arrangement, stripping the track of its true historical roots.

b) "So Long Broadway" is presented under the title "Heading Hermosa" and credited to Stu Williamson, which is nothing short of a record label fantasy. They decided to alter the original title of the composition to provide some "local color" related to Hermosa Beach, burying the song's real name.

Let us then separate the wheat from the chaff: the music of Getz and the All-Stars in May '53 is sublime, but the packaging of this edition is a true disappointment that we take charge of amending here. The correct information is as follows:

1 - Only Have Eyes For You

(Al Dubin, Harry Warren)

2 - Jive At Five (as Jive Jumpin')

(Count Basie, Harry "Sweets" Edison)

3 - Moonlight In Vermont

(John Blackburn, Karl Suessdorf)

4 - Love Me Or Leave Me

(Gus Kahn, Walter Donaldson)

5 - So Long Broadway (as Heading Hermosa)

(Teddy Charles)

6 - Topsy

(Eddie Durham, Edgar Battle)

Stan Getz, Bob Cooper (tenor saxes); Jimmy Giuffre (baritone sax);

Teddy Charles (vibes); Russ Freeman (piano); Howard Rumsey (bass); Shelly Manne (drums).

Recorded live at The Lighthouse, Hermosa Beach, California, May 31, 1953

(to be continued...)