Jazz For The Screen ★ André Previn

André Previn

Performing Music From

The Subterraneans

The Subterraneans was originally a novel by American writer Jack Kerouac (1922-1969) which, besides being in many ways autobiographical, attempted to portray an element of the new generation called the "beat" movement. Many of the characters in the novel had real life counterparts, much to the chagrin of the affected parties. In fact, Kerouac's publisher convinced him to change the novel's setting from New York (where the real autobiographical facts had taken place) to San Francisco, in order to avoid future legal actions. The Subterraneans is considered to be the first book about the "beat generation", but it was not the only one, and there was a kind of race between Kerouac and his friend John Clellon Holmes to see whose novel would be published first. (Holmes had written his own book about the beat movement, titled Go, in which Kerouac plays a fundamental part and is credited as the inventor of the term "beat".) It must be said, however, that the term "beat generation" was copyrighted by movie producer Albert Zugsmith even before Kerouac tried to do it, and was used in the infamous motion picture "The Beat Generation", in which, ironically, jazz also takes part, as Louis Armstrong and his All Stars play a few numbers surrounded by numerous pop musicians of the period.

Kerouac's response to such an insult was the production of a movie based on his own book, in which the writer himself assumed an acting role. Although the film was made by a top studio and counted many major names in the cast, the result was hardly comparable to the original book. This was largely due to the extreme level of censorship which dominated Hollywood at the time. Many important things in the book had to be changed in order to make it "acceptable". For instance, an interracial relationship had to be omitted and the female African American character was changed to a French white woman played by Leslie Caron. Censorship lasted during most of the beatnik movement's existence, and when it finally disappeared, the beats had been replaced by the hippies. The original beats, and particularly writer and poet Allen Ginsberg, have always denounced the movie because of its obvious concessions to Hollywood's conservative moral standards. However, it was good for Jack Kerouac, who received 15.000 dollars for the rights to his book. He used the money to buy a house in Long Island, the first one he ever owned.

The plot narrated the experiences of a depressed writer (George Peppard), who "goes down" to explore the "subterranean world" of San Francisco's North Beach district in the late fifties, with the hope of finding some kind of soulmate, and falls in love with a French girl (Leslie Caron) who is part of the beatnik movement. Other than the eventual use of beat terms derived from Kerouac's book, little is left from the original novel. Some characters are slightly disguised representations of real people (Frank Carmody is based on William Burroughs, Adam Moorad on Allen Ginsberg, Ariel Lavalerra on Gore Vidal). The dramatic change of the main female character from African American (in the book) to French white (in the movie) has always been the main source of debate. However, not even Kerouac's original literary representation of black culture satisfied African Americans, who felt that it portrayed them in a very superficial manner, without delving into their real culture and social position of that time.

Jazz is central to the novel and, thus, to the movie. The beat movement usually moved around jazz clubs, and its literary grammar owes a lot to jazz's improvisatory language, which is presented as "spontaneous prose". All this grammar is, obviously, absent from the movie, but it survives in the splendid musical soundtrack, which was prepared solely by jazz musicians. Some of them, like Gerry Mulligan, Art Pepper and Carmen McRae, also play colorful characters in the movie.

In conclusion, even if we can say The Subterraneans film is today nothing more than a historical curiosity, with little artistic value, the same cannot be said about its music. What we have here is the complete original soundtrack from the film, carefully composed by pianist André Previn, and performed by some of the most important musicians of its time. In addition to the aforementioned Mulligan, Previn, Pepper and McRae, also Bill Perkins, Jack Sheldon, Art Farmer, Russ Freeman, Bob Enevoldsen, Red Mitchell, Buddy Clark, Shelly Manne and Dave Bailey are heard on this amazing score. *Jordan Stewart*

Side 1

1 - Why Are We Afraid?

 (André Previn, Dory Langdon)

2 - Guido's Blackhawk

(André Previn)

3 - Two By Two

(André Previn)

4 - Bread And Wine

(André Previn)

5 - Coffee Time

(Harry Warren, Arthur Freed)

6 - A Rose And The End

(André Previn)

Side 2

7 - Should I

(Nacio Herb Brown, Arthur Freed)

8 - Look Ma, No Clothes

(André Previn)

9 - Things Are Looking Down

(André Previn)

10 - Analyst

(André Previn)

11 - Like Blue

(André Previn)

12 - Raising Caen

(André Previn)

#1, #3, #6, #8, #10

André Previn (piano, arranger, conductor),Gerry Mulligan (baritone sax),

Jack Sheldon (trumpet), Bob Enevoldsen (valve trombone #1), Art Pepper (alto sax),

Bill Perkins (tenor sax), Red Mitchell (bass), Shelly Manne (drums).

[Unidentified string section, clarinet and oboe]

#4, #9

Art Farmer (trumpet), Bob Enevoldsen (valve trombone), Art Pepper (alto sax),

Gerry Mulligan (baritone sax), Russ Freeman (piano), Buddy Clark (bass), Dave Bailey (drums). 

#2, #5, #7, #11

André Previn (piano), Red Mitchell (bass), Shelly Manne (drums), Carmen McRae (vocals #5).

#12

Jack Sheldon (trumpet), Art Pepper (alto sax),

Russ Freeman (piano), Red Mitchell (bass), Shelly Manne (drums).

Recorded at MGM Studios, Culver City, California,

September 2, 1959 (#2), January 11, 1960 (#5, #7, #8, #9, #11), 

January12, 1960 (#1, #3, #4, #6,#10), and February 3, 1960 (#12)

Jazz For The Screen ★ Leith Stevens (III)

Leith Stevens

"Jazz in the Movies" Collection

The Interns

Hell To Eternity

Late in the 1950s and early in the 1960s, jazz ceased to be merely background music in movie theaters and became the dramatic pulse of urban, wartime, and psychologically charged narratives.

For this new chapter of Jazz For The Screen, we once again turn to the music of the distinguished film and television composer Leith Stevens, a child prodigy who was already performing professionally at the age of 11, accompanying vocalists in the Kansas City area, and who made his debut as an orchestra leader at 16.

For this third installment, we delve into a compilation that brings together on a single disc two original soundtracks from the early 1960s: The Interns (1962) and Hell To Eternity (1960).

The great appeal of this album lies not only in the compositions, but also in its extraordinary roster of performers. The sessions brought together some of Hollywood's finest studio musicians and West Coast jazz luminaries, including Pete Candoli, Milt Bernhart, Bob Enevoldsen, Ted Nash, Lou Levy, Barney Kessel, Joe Mondragon, and Shelly Manne, among others. The result is a work that moves between exuberant swing, sophisticated cool jazz, and passages of high dramatic tension, demonstrating how a first-rate roster of jazz musicians could elevate any motion picture production.

The Interns follows the professional and personal lives of a group of young medical interns at a busy urban hospital during their first year of training. Throughout the year, the interns must face complex ethical dilemmas, personal anguish, furtive romances, and the extreme pressures of the medical profession. The soundtrack perfectly reflects this emotional roller coaster, alternating festive moments and urban jazz with tense passages accompanying emergencies in the operating room.

Hell To Eternity tells the remarkable true story of Guy Gabaldon, a young American of Hispanic descent who was adopted, before World War II, by a family of Japanese immigrants in Los Angeles. When war breaks out in the Pacific, Gabaldon enlists in the Marines and is sent to the bloody Battle of Saipan. Drawing on his command of the Japanese language and his understanding of Japanese culture, he accomplishes a legendary feat: persuading more than a thousand Japanese soldiers and civilians to surrender, thereby preventing a massacre. Leith Stevens' score uses jazz and martial orchestration to underscore the tension of combat, the clash of cultures, and the protagonist's psychological drama.

The Interns

Music by Leith Stevens and Stu Phillips

(Originally issued on Colpix SCP-427)

1 - Plasma, Scotch And?

 (Leith Stevens)

2 - Toss Me A Scalpel

(Leith Stevens)

3 - I'm Inhibited

(Leith Stevens)

4 - Lovely Lora

(Leith Stevens)

5 - Doctor, Doctor!

(Stu Phillips)

6 - Sugar Bush Cha Cha

(Leith Stevens)

7 - Wild Party

(Stu Phillips)

8 - Yah, Yah, Yah

(Leith Stevens)

9 - Intern Fever

(Stu Phillips)

10 - Pitcher Of Martinis

(Leith Stevens)

11 - Intern Bash

(Stu Phillips)

12 - Happy New Year

(Leith Stevens)

Leith Stevens and his Orchestra including jazz soloists:

Conrad Gozzo, Pete Candoli (rumpets); Milt Bernhart (trombone);

Bob Enevoldsen (valve trombone);

Ted Nash (alto sax); Ronny Lang (flute, alto sax);

Gene Cipriano (tenor sax); Barney Kessel (guitar). 

Organ, piano, vibes, bass and drums (unidentified).

Recorded in Hollywood, California, 1962

Hell To Eternity

Music by Leith Stevens

(Originally issued on Warwick W 2030)

13 - Iron Petticoat

14 - Bright Boot

15 - Last Leave

16 - Hey, Honey, Go! Go! Go!

17 - Here, Chick Chick Chick

18 - Two Down And One To Go

19 - Three Quarts

20 - On the Double

21 - This Is The Place

22 - Famika

23 - Petes Theme

24 - Little Girl

(All compositions by Leith Stevens)

Orchestra conducted by Leith Stevens, including jazz soloists: 

Conrad Gozzo, Cappy Lewis, Pete Candoli (trumpets); Milt Bernhart (trombone);

Ted Nash (alto sax); Heinie Beau (clarinet, alto sax); Plas Johnson (tenor sax);

Lou Levy (piano); Joe Mondragon (bass); Shelly Manne (drums).

String ensemble (unidentified).

Recorded in Hollywood, California, 1960

Jazz For The Screen ★ Leith Stevens (II)

Leith Stevens

Private Hell 36

To continue our Jazz For The Screen series, here is another gem composed and conducted by Leith Stevens in 1954, following his pioneering work on The Wild One.

About the Music:

If there is one soundtrack that represents the refoundational landmark of jazz in film noir, it is Private Hell 36. This work is considered one of the first Hollywood orchestral scores written entirely in a modern jazz idiom, setting the standard for the 1950s crime and detective sound.

Originally released by Coral Records, the Private Hell 36 album is a masterly compendium of West Coast Jazz. Stevens dispensed with traditional romantic symphonism to create an oppressive, nocturnal, and urban atmosphere, utilizing small ensembles and a big band packed with stellar soloists from the Los Angeles scene.

The music stands out for its sharp brass motifs, melancholic cool-sax passages, and rhythmic figures that accentuate the paranoia and unbridled ambition of the characters. Tracks like "Private Hell 36", "Lilli", or "Joshua" showcase the perfect balance between sophisticated arrangements and the improvisational power of its soloists.

About the Film:

Directed by action cinema master Don Siegel and produced/co-written by pioneer Ida Lupino, Private Hell 36 is a tense film noir police drama. The plot follows two Los Angeles police detectives, Cal Bruner (Steve Cochran) and Jack Farnham (Howard Duff), who investigate a stolen money trail following a fatal shootout. During the pursuit of the suspect, they recover a substantial sum of uncounted cash.

Temptation strikes when Bruner, dazzled by Lizabeth (Ida Lupino)—a stunning nightclub singer with a voracious appetite for the high life—decides to keep a portion of the stolen money and drags along his partner Farnham, a family man tormented by guilt. From that moment on, mutual distrust, blackmail, and their own department's investigation turn cabin number 36 (the "Private Hell" of the title) into a claustrophobic setting where crime will exact its toll.

◈◈◈

Some things are expressed best by jazz music, but some music that is not jazz is played properly only by jazz musicians. Our definitions of "jazz" may differ. To some the term applies only to the primitive New Orleans product; to others, perhaps, it encompasses the "swing" and "bop" eras as well. More and more, in a world where the horizons of tolerance and knowledge push past old barriers, l’enfante terrible—bop—has, turned around and extended its hand to tradition, so to speak. The bop experimentalists in Minton’s Harlem Playhouse back in the early ’forties instinctively sought and arrived at many of the same devices with which the "serious" contemporary school was concerning itself. But the jazzman’s devices eventually demanded form to give them meaning and permanence, especially as larger ensembles became involved. The longhair harmonists and contrapuntalists came in for intense study, and Jazz’s own Duke Ellington was found to be not so old hat after all.

So-called "Progressive Jazz" developed from the incorporation of the new jazz or bop devices in definite architectural-musical structures, or in freer tone poems employing written and improvised jazz in logical, dramatic sequence and juxtaposition.

For some reason, the most intense creative activity in these directions has erupted on the West Coast. Perhaps it’s the clement climate, or the general youthful open-mindedness, or some sense of stability created by fruitful film employment, or perhaps it has been the proximity of such monumental influences as the schools of Schoenberg, Milhaud, and Toch. At any rate, technical skill as well as invention are flourishing as never before, and dozens of interesting provocative discs bear testimony to the talents of such jazz men as Shorty Rogers, John Graas, Milt Bernhardt, Jim Giuffre, and Bud Shank.

Now Leith Stevens—composer, conductor and perennial jazz pioneer—has successfully injected Progressive Jazz into an idiom never noted particularly for innovation. Suddenly, in a commercial, first-magnitude film, we have not the usual lush, soporific string backgrounds, but highly original jazz-based tone-painting that has singular meaning for the age in which the action transpires. PRIVATE HELL 36 is actually the second successful application of such material by the venturesome Stevens—the first having been his extremely appropriate scoring for THE WILD ONE in 1953, which, incidentally, employed several of the same musicians featured in these performances. *Bill Simon (from the liner notes)*

Off Note:

The music was originally released as a 10-inch Coral LP in 1954 (Coral CRL 56122). However, for a 1959 edition (Coral CRL 757283), the record label took the original 1954 mono recording of Private Hell 36, placed it in the center channel, and overdubbed it in stereo by adding vibraphone, bongo, and tambourine tracks (panned to the left and right).

This innovative approach was an ingenious way to preserve the original beauty of the music while technologically adapting it to the late-1950s stereo craze.

However, the 1959 Coral liner notes and official credits did not individually credit the session musicians who recorded those vibraphone and percussion overdubs.

Unlike the original 1954 track—where Shelly Manne handled the original drums and percussion—the names of the performers who added the skin drums, tambourine, and vibraphone to the 1959 stereo mix are omitted from both the album's personnel listings and the label's discographical archives.

This post presents both versions of the soundtrack for comparison: the original 1954 mono release (a vinyl rip of modest sound quality) alongside the 1959 stereo restoration featuring the added percussion and vibraphone overdubs.

Side 1

1 - Private Hell 36

2 - Havana Interlude

3 - Easy Mood

Side 2

4 - Daddy, Long Legs

5 - Joshua

6 - Lilli

7 - Dance Of The Lilliputian

8 - Private Blues

(All compositions by Leith Stevens)

Shorty Rogers, Pete Candoli, Charles Grifford, Carlton McBeath (trumpets);

John Graas (french horn); Paul Sarmento (tuba);

Milt Bernhart, Harry Betts (trombones); Bob Enevoldsen (valve trombone);

George Roberts (bass trombone); Sal Franzella (alto sax, clarinet);

Lennie Niehaus [as Leonard Niehaus] (alto sax); Bob Cooper, Jimmy Giuffre (tenor saxes);

Bob Gordon (bass clarinet, baritone sax); Bud Shank (bass sax);

Claude Williamson (piano); Joe Mondragon (bass); Shelly Manne (drums).

Recorded in Hollywood, California, September 3, 1954

The modern sounds that inspired Leith Stevens

Gene Norman Presents 

Gerry Mulligan and Shorty Rogers

Modern Sounds

After exploring Leith Stevens' gem Jazz Themes From The Wild One in our previous post—and the intrigue surrounding its potential mark on the Lighthouse All-Stars—it's time to take a step back toward the original source of that inspiration. Today's feature is an essential volume in West Coast discography that brings together, in an indispensable "two-in-one", two of the genre's sonic pillars: Shorty Rogers' celebrated Modern Sounds (which inspired Stevens upon Marlon Brando's own recommendation) and a foundational work by the Gerry Mulligan Ten-Tette from 1953. A double reissue whose historical significance is best captured through the lens of specialized criticism and its original liner notes.

In two sporty little band concerts, The Shorty Rogers Giants and The Gerry Mulligan Tentette each ante up a half dozen pieces of Middle-Period Modern to make up this 2-in-1 pack. Like any pair of aces back-to-back Mulligan and Rogers stand to gain from the coupling.

Part of the gain is the chance to introduce followers of either to the other's work; part is the opportunity for side-by-side comparison. Comparison proves that Shorty and Gerry are neither startlingly similar nor sharply opposed.

One of the things they have in common is a certain lightheartedness in their music. Humor in music can be shallow, but neither of these aces could be counted as an out-and-out joker in that sense because their hearts, while light, are warm and whole. That's the long suit for Rogers and heart is a quality of Mulligan's, too. (...)

As to the dates themselves, each seems to have offered its leader a chance to put into play a pet project, and the results, in both cases, altered the look of jazz a little. Both composers chose to employ the oft-neglected middle-sized group: Rogers took eight, Mulligan took ten. But there is a difference in approach that goes beyond the gap of two: prior to these dates Mulligan had been connected with some of the earliest incidences of chamber voicing; Rogers, on the other hand, was identified with more orthodox band music. Here, the roles are reversed: Rogers has the chamber, Mulligan the dance-derivative sound; the octet is a big combo, the Tentette a little band. (...)

Shorty's date, when it was first released, hit like a bombshell. Now that the Forward Look in jazz has become respectable the music is no longer controversial, but simply pleasing and solid. The Tentette was a bit blanketed by the hullabaloo over the then new and startling Mulligan quartet, but the record was always quite popular with musicians, who considered it a sleeper, and reportedly it is a favorite of Mulligan's. Since then, its real worth has steadily become more widely known. The Rogers date is easily locatable in relation to what went before and what followed; it was a step in the journey. The Mulligan date is less datable; it stands alone; there is nothing quite like it. (...)

Although it's common to come upon lists, made out by thoughtful people, of the "Ten Books" or the "Ten Records" they would take to a desert island, perhaps it is false to assume that anyone is ever really confronted with the problem. But if so, this record—highly portable, compact—would seem to have been expressly constructed for a little fudging on the quota, a neat chance to slip in the equivalent of a bonus eleventh.

For the stay-at-home, the bonus—beyond just good listening—is the chance to compare Rogers' and Mulligan's compositions with versions by other bands and by their own smaller groups—like PoPo, the tune that Rogers still uses for a set ending, and many of Mulligan's best-loved songs, like Walking Shoes. (...)

And any jazz-follower can rest assured these sides will remain meaningful, rewarding, and fashionable for some time to come. This big record is full of surprise caches, opening up like a deluxe Boy Scout Knife to reveal more happy gadgets with every handling. Actually, "scout knife" is too skimpy a symbol; Mulligan and Rogers cast together make a handsome two-edged sword that cuts clean either way you swing it. *Will MacFarland (from the liner notes)*

On the heels of Miles Davis' style-defining release Birth of the Cool, Shorty Rogers and Gerry Mulligan chimed in with their own important cool jazz records, placing the music in its future West Coast home in the process. Modern Sounds brings together some of these seminal recordings, including a 1951 set by Rogers and His Giants and a 1953 date by Mulligan and His Tennette. Rogers' outfit includes then future West Coast stars like alto saxophonist Art Pepper, tenor saxophonist Jimmy Giuffre, pianist Hampton Hawes, and drummer Shelley Manne, among others. Each soloist gets plenty of room to stretch out on a set including four Rogers originals; Pepper particularly shines on a fine rendition "Over the Rainbow," while Giuffre deserves special mention for his sparkling original "Four Mothers." Save for Vernon Duke's "Taking a Chance on Love," the second half of this collection includes all Mulligan originals. Similar to Rogers' fine work, these cuts bounce along on airy and subtly complex arrangements. Joining Mulligan are standout soloists like trumpeters Chet Baker and Pete Candoli, alto saxophonist Bud Shank, and drummer Chico Hamilton. Highlights include "Westwood Walk," "A Ballad," and "Rocker" (this last cut having originally been cut as part of the Birth of the Cool sessions). A very enjoyable set taking in the beginnings of West Coast jazz. *Stephen Cook (www.allmusic.com)*

1 - Four Mothers

(Jimmy Giuffre)

2 - Didi

(Shorty Rogers)

3 - Sam And The Lady

(Shorty Rogers)

4 - Popo

(Shorty Rogers)

5 - Over The Rainbow

(Arlen, Harburg)

6 - Apropos

(Shorty Rogers)

7 - Westwood Walk

(Gerry Mulligan)

8 - Simbah

(Gerry Mulligan)

9 - Walking Shoes

(Gerry Mulligan)

10 - Rocker

(Gerry Mulligan)

11 - A Ballad

(Gerry Mulligan)

12 - Taking A Chance On Love

(Duke, Latouche, Fetter)

13 - Flash

(Gerry Mulligan)

14 - Ontet

(Gerry Mulligan)

#1 to #6

Shorty Rogers and His Giants:

Shorty Rogers (trumpet), John Graas (french horn), Gene Englund (tuba),

Art Pepper (alto sax), Jimmy Giuffre (tenor sax),

Hampton Hawes (piano), Don Bagley (bass), Shelly Manne (drums).

Recorded in Los Angeles, California, October 8, 1951

#7 to #14

Gerry Mulligan and His Ten-Tette:

#7, #9, #10, #11

Chet Baker, Pete Candoli (trumpets); Bob Enevoldsen (valve trombone);

John Graas (french horn); Ray Siegel (tuba); Bud Shank (alto sax);

Don Davidson (baritone sax); Gerry Mulligan (baritones sax);

Joe Mondragon (bass); Chico Hamilton (drums).

Recorded in Los Angeles, California, January 29, 1953

#8, #12, #13, #14

Chet Baker, Pete Candoli (trumpets); Bob Enevoldsen (valve trombone);

John Graas (french horn); Ray Siegel (tuba); Bud Shank (alto sax);

Don Davidson (baritone sax); Gerry Mulligan (baritones sax, piano [#12, #13, #14]);

Joe Mondragon (bass); Larry Bunker (drums).

Recorded in Los Angeles, California, January 31, 1953

Lighthouse All-Stars Collection XXX ★ Closing The Circle

Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars

Jazz Invention

40th Anniversary Reunion Concert

With this post, we reach the 30th post dedicated to legendary recordings made at the Lighthouse Cafe and those released by Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars, with the bassist himself, bringing to a close a series that has meticulously traced the memory of both this iconic club and the group that defined West Coast jazz. And there is no better sense of closure for this cycle than this recording.

Celebrating four decades since the birth of the sound that put Hermosa Beach on the map was no ordinary occasion: it called for bringing the architects of that legend back to the stage. To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the very first notes played at the legendary club, the Lighthouse All-Stars reunited for a concert filled with emotional significance and deep meaning.

Although time had left its mark and the lineup was not quite that of the golden years—marked by the notable absence of Howard Rumsey on bass, as well as the irreplaceable loss of key figures like trombonist Frank Rosolino and drummer Shelly Manne—the spirit of the band remained intact. The reunion featured a formidable lineup: Bob Cooper on tenor saxophone, Bud Shank on alto, Conte Candoli on trumpet, Bob Enevoldsen on valve trombone, Claude Williamson on piano, Monty Budwig on bass, and John Guerin on drums.

With this chapter, we bring a grand finale to the series. However, in the world of jazz—where the record industry can always surprise us with the discovery of an unreleased recording by the Lighthouse All-Stars from their golden era in the 1950s—we prefer to call it a "Finale (For Now)", leaving the door open to whatever the archives might reveal in the future...

Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars, formed in 1949, were probably the earliest sign that a new jazz centre was emerging, their mix of ex-Herman and ex-Kenton, as well as other California-based musicians forming the kernel of what would soon be all the rage as West Coast Jazz.

This happy reunion marked the 40th anniversary of that coalescence and, in so doing, sets at least one new standard for future reference; not only is this virtually the same line-up that recorded the group's first 12-inch IP (Rumsey's bass, Stan Levey's drums and the late Frank Rosolino's trombone are subbed), but the cover photograph is a 40-year-on mirror image of the original, posed on the same part of Hermosa's beach.

That aside, 40 years have made their music more robust, more obviously passionate, as witness the cooking climax to "Softly As In A Morning Sunrise", where the Shank/Cooper chase sequence excitingly telescopes into polyphony; or Mr Enevoldsen's swaggering reading of "That Old Feeling"; or the rocking "Broadway", which reveals the style's antecedents more clearly, perhaps, than even "Jazz Invention" or "Bernie's Tune", which most sharply focus on their salad days. All in all, there is a spirit in this music which transcends the merely recollective, probably because, rather than attempt to recall an increasingly distant past, these men are reinterpreting it through styles that have developed and grown. Bob Cooper could not have played a convincing "Gee, Baby" in the old days; he makes a moving job of it now, as does Bud Shank with his deeply-felt "Lover Man". It all adds up to a rewarding album. *Chris Sheridan (from Jazz Journal)*

1 - Jazz Invention

(Bob Cooper)

2 - Bernie's Tune

(Miller, Leiber, Stoller)

3 - Lover Man

(Davis, Ramirez, Sherman)

4 - Woody'n You

(Dizzy Gillespie)

5 - Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise

(Hammerstein, Romberg)

6 - That Old Feeling

(Brown, Fain)

7 - Broadway

(Woode, McRae, Bird)

8 - Gee, Baby, Ain't I Good To You

(Razaf, Redman)

9 - Topsy

(Battle, Durham)

10 - Billie’s Bounce

(Charlie Parker)

Bob Cooper (tenor sax, music director), Bud Shank (alto sax),

Conte Candoli (trumpet), Bob Enevoldsen (valve trombone),

Claude Wiliamson (piano), Monty Budwig (bass), John Guerin (drums).

Recorded live at Hermosa Civic Theatre, Hermosa Beach, California, February 12,1989

Lighthouse All-Stars Collection VI

Howard Rumsey

Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars

Volume 5

★ In The Solo Spotlight ★

As Dick Williams vividly recounts in the original liner notes for the album, titled A FOGGY NIGHT AT THE HERMOSA BEACH LIGHTHOUSE, reaching The Lighthouse was not always an easy task. On those nights when the coastal fog became as thick as spider webs in a haunted house, hundreds of people — from university students to uniformed sailors — ventured from every corner of Los Angeles to crowd at its doors. 

What they sought was the sound of Howard Rumsey’s ensemble, a group of Stan Kenton alumni who had transformed a nearly empty venue into the true citadel of jazz in Southern California.

The atmosphere of the place was unique: a long, low, and dimly lit room, decorated with impressionistic paintings and photos of legends like June Christy, where jazz was experienced in an informal atmosphere but with impeccable technical quality.

The title of this volume, In the Solo Spotlight, captures that exact essence. Beyond the literal image of a spotlight illuminating a performer in the shadows, the title holds a deep musical and symbolic meaning. It represents the moment when the collective machinery of the All-Stars takes a step back so that each musician can project their own voice. In the language of jazz, the "solo" is the moment of truth, and here it becomes a showcase for the improvisation and individual genius of figures like Rumsey on double bass, Bob Cooper on tenor sax, or Bud Shank on alto. Being "under the reflector" is synonymous with prestige and audacity, allowing the listener to appreciate the unique personality of each member in isolation.

Ultimately, this album is a testament to creative freedom that allows us to feel the sea breeze of Hermosa Beach and see the glimmers of light on the instruments, reminding us that the best way to understand a group is by allowing each of its members to shine, for a moment, under their own spotlight.

Volume 5 of the Lighthouse All-Stars, C 2515, In The Solo Spotlight, would be the last release of the Lighthouse All-Stars on the 10'' LP format for Contemporary Records.  In was recorded in August of 1954 for release later that fall and Les Koenig would release three more albums in the 10'' LP format before adopting the 12'' LP format for releases on his label in 1955. The five Lighthouse regulars who appeared on Volume 4 would be joined by Stu Williamson (Claude’s brother), Bob Enevoldsen and Bob Gordon.

The nine selections on the CD reissue (nearly all the Lighthouse All-Stars' Contemporary recordings are now available in the OJC series) each extensively feature one or two top West Coast jazz players. Bassist Howard Rumsey's group was expanded to an octet, and showcased are trombonist Frank Rosolino ("Funny Frank"), tenor saxophonist Richie Kamuca, trumpeter Conte Candoli, drummer Stan Levey, Bob Cooper on tenor, trumpeter Stu Williamson, valve trombonist Bob Enevoldsen, pianist Claude Williamson, bassist Rumsey (on "Concerto for Doghouse"), and altoist Bud Shank. With the exception of the Rumsey feature (composed by Stan Kenton), all of the music was new, with the arrangements provided by pianist Dick Shreve, Bill Holman, Cooper, and Williamson. An excellent set. *allmusic.com*

Classic '50s California jazz from a legendary band named after a legendary venue. Lighthouse's jazz all-stars carve out swinging solo features, accompanied by tight ensemble support and arrangements that sparkle with creativity.

At one time or another I've owned all the CDs of Howard Rumsey and the lighthouse all stars. They're all spirited recordings of (generally) live sets at the famed Lighthouse cafe in Hermosa Beach, California.

I fell in love with California jazz after being introduced to Rumsey and the all stars. The groups varied in size (usually a quintet or sextet with extras) but produced a very characteristic sound that adhered to bebop but with some the edges smoothed. It sounds... now wait for it... Californian.

Since most were recorded during live sets, often during the famous Sunday afternoon jams, sound quality can vary from pretty good to "you're a member of the audience with a few beers in you already".

This particular CD is quite clear and the remastered sound is excellent. Parts of it were studio recorded, which adds to the clarity but the energy is still there.

This is as good a place as any to start if you're looking for a representative taste of small group jazz in LA during the 50s. Highly recommended. *John K. Gayley (amazon.com)*

1. Funny Frank

(Dick Shreve)

2. That's Rich

(Dick Shreve)

3. If You Are There

(Shreve, Sutton)

4. Stan

(Bill Holman, Stan Levey)

5. Coop

(Bob Cooper)

6. S & B

(Bill Holman)

7. Claude

(Claude Williamson)

8. Concerto For Doghouse [a.k.a Howard]

(Stan Kenton)

9. Bud (The Whippet)

(Claude Williamson)

#1 to #3:

Conte Candoli (trumpet), Frank Rosolino (trombone), Lennie Niehaus (alto sax),

Richie Kamuca (tenor sax), Pepper Adams (baritone sax),

Dick Shreve (piano), Howard Rumsey (bass), Stan Levey (drums).

Recorded at Contemporary's Studio, Los Angeles, California, March 12, 1957

#4 to #9:

Stu Williamson (trumpet), Bob Enevoldsen (valve trombone),

Bud Shank (alto sax), Bob Cooper (tenor sax), Bob Gordon (baritone sax),

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

Recorded in Los Angeles, California, August 17, 1954

Five-Star Collection... Jimmy Giuffre

Jimmy Giuffre

Jimmy Giuffre

JIMMY GIUFFRE is a quiet and intense young man with a singular creative touch. He has written and played for Woody Herman, Boyd Raeburn, Buddy Rich, Jerry Gray, Stan Kenton, and many more of the nation's leading bandsmen, and now — for the first time — he's on his own, in this album of seven Giuffre gems.

Jimmy has been playing clarinet and tenor sax since he was a lad in Texas, and he approaches composition most naturally as a performer. His work is generally melodic and “linear” in character. "This style of writing", he says, "gives the players the feeling of individuality that’s so important to jazz. Besides, I think it gives the listener more variety. I also use less rhythm section than is usual because I believe that this, too, provides more clarity and less monotony".

Like Jimmy, the performers he has joined together in this album of "chamber jazz" all belong to the vigorous and imaginative West Coast group of topflight modernists that has created such a stir in music circles. The tunes they play here, with the exception of the familiar I Only Have Eyes for You, are all Giuffre originals, one in particular — Four Brothers — having achieved a good deal of success in big-band arrangement.

Among the others are new and carefully fashioned numbers whose free flow and variety of instrumental combinations give them a wonderful improvised sound — though all of >Sultana<, for example, and half of Nutty Pine, are written out. Wrought of Iron is an exciting eight-bar theme and variations, an unusual form featuring ad lib solos by every member of the group.

An odd back-beat rhythm introduces the swinging tempo of Do It! and its fine improvisations on tenor sax, clarinet, trumpet, and piano. All For You is in a brooding ballad style, with trumpet playing gently about the tenor sax melody line. The one "standard" — Eyes — displays Giuffre's instrumental inventiveness at its best in an ad lib baritone sax cadenza, with masterful drum accompaniment, that highlights the six minute production number.

In all, this Jimmy Giuffre album debut shows fine versatility, and is a stimulating contribution to first-rate modern jazz literature. There's fascinating listening enjoyment here for quite a while to come. *(from the liner notes)*

Jimmy's first LP to himself is an absorbing success on which Jimmy scores both as performer (tenor, clarinet, and baritone) and as writer (all six originals are his). As a writer, Jimmy strikes this listener as the most freshly inventive and maturely daring (but unpretentious) of all the writers on the coast. For one thing, several of his works have the melodic strength (Nutty Pine and All for You, for example) to become part of the repertoire of any swinging modern jazz group.

And almost all of his original lines on this and on other albums are really original and fresh. They are not (as so often happens with Shorty Rogers, Bill Holman, and many other writers of "originals") just quick routines that can be enlivened only by the ad lib solos within them but can't stand up for themselves.

Even the more involved Giuffre numbers (like the completely written-out Sultana) are constantly challenging to the ear even if they don't entirely come alive yet. Fine work on the first four by Bud Shank, Jack Sheldon (trumpet), Shorty Rogers (fluegel horn), Bob Enevoldsen (valve trombone, bass), Ralph Pena (bass) and Shelly Manne. The last three have the excellent aid of Sheldon, Manne, Russ Freeman, and Curtis Counce. Cover credit should have been given the fine engineering of John Palladino and to whoever wrote the helpful notes. But the man who rates the full bows and the encores is Giuffre, a major modern jazz talent.

*Nat Hentoff (Down Beat, December 15, 1954 [5 stars])*

1 - Four Brothers

(Jimmy Giuffre)

2 - Sultana

(Jimmy Giuffre)

3 - Nutty Pine

(Jimmy Giuffre)

4 - Wrought Of Iron

(Jimmy Giuffre)

5 - Do It!

(Jimmy Giuffre)

6 - All For You

(Jimmy Giuffre)

7 - I Only Have Eyes For You

(Harry Warren, Al Dubin)

#1 to #4:

Jimmy Giuffre (clarinet, tenor sax, baritone sax), Bud Shank (alto sax),

Jack Sheldon (trumpet), Shorty Rogers (flugelhorn), 

Bob Enevoldsen (valve trombone, bass), Ralph Pena (bass), Shelly Manne (drums).

Recorded at Capitol Studios, Holywood, California, April 15, 1954

#5 to #7:

Jimmy Giuffre (clarinet, tenor sax, baritone sax), Jack Sheldon (trumpet), 

Russ Freeman (piano), Curtis Counce (bass),  Shelly Manne (dums).

Recorded at Capitol Studios, Holywood, February 19, 1954

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... Shelly Manne

Shelly Manne

Shelly Manne And His Men • Vol. 2

Continuing the West Coast workshop idea begun in Shelly Manne's first album, six leading jazz composers were asked to write the music for this set. Since the first album featured reeds, we felt it might be interesting to explore the possibilities of the brass sound. Each composer was given complete freedom within the limits of the instrumentation.

Each was asked, also, to state briefly something about his composition. *(from the liner notes)*

Shelly Manne's second Contemporary album, out of print since the 10-inch LP era, is one of the definitive statements of West Coast jazz aesthetics. It highlights adventurous musical structures and an unusual septet featuring four brass and rhythm, glows with sonorities no less bold for their intimacy, and is suffused with outstanding musicianship and subtle swing. The compact drive this music often achieved is particularly evident in the contributions of Bob Cooper and Marty Paich, while the beauty of Bill Holman's "Lullaby" captures a similar capacity for tenderness. Pieces by Jimmy Giuffre, Jack Montrose, and Shorty Rogers reveal the more complex notions cultivated in Los Angeles during the Fifties. Each track contains notable contributions from the talented cast, with Manne demonstrating how he helped to redefine the possibilities for jazz drummers in this period. *concord.com*

One of the most important LPs of the year. Bob Cooper, Jimmy Giuffre, Bill Holman, Jack Montrose, Marty Paich, and Shorty Rogers have each contributed an original exploring the possibilities of brass sounds in the context of extended form in jazz. Recorded in Hollywood in December, 1953, and March, 1954, the musicians included Ollie Mitchell, Don Fagerquist, Shorty Rogers, Bob Enevoldsen, Paul Sarmento, Russ Freeman, Marty Paich, Joe Mondragon, and Shelly Manne. Each composer, moreover, has written a brief but clear exposition of his work in the notes. The important thing at the moment is not to fix firm value judgments on the worth of each work nor to argue aimlessly about whether this is "jazz" or not. Here are some of the directions in which jazz will inevitably evolve and these are unusually absorbing beginnings. Everyone concerned with this LP, including engineer John Palladino and supervisor Lester Koenig, deserves full praise. The notes, by the way, are the most articulately valuable of the year — because they were written by the musicians directly involved in the session. *Nat Hentoff (Down Beat, July 14, 1954 [5 stars])*

Side 1

1 - Dimension In Thirds

(Marty Paich)

2 - Shapes, Motion, Colors

(Shorty Rogers)

3 - Alternation

(Jimmy Giuffre)

Side 2

4 - Divertimento For Bass And Rhythm

(Bob Cooper)

5 - Lullaby

(Bill Holman)

6 - Etude De Concert

(Jack Montrose)

#1, #2, #3:

Ollie Mitchell (first trumpet), Shorty Rogers (second trumpet),

Bob Enevoldsen (valve trombone), Paul Sarmento (tuba),

Russ Freeman (piano), Joe Mondragon (bass), Shelly Manne (drums).

Recorded in Hollywood, California, December 18, 1953

#4, #5, #6:

Don Fagerquist (first trumpet), Shorty Rogers (second trumpet, flugelhorn),

Bob Enevoldsen (valve trombone), Paul Sarmento (tuba),

Marty Paich (piano), Joe Mondragon (bass), Shelly Manne (drums).

Recorded in Hollywood, California, March 17, 1954

Five-Star Collection... Gerry Mulligan

Gerry Mulligan

Gerry Mulligan And His Ten-Tette

Gerry Mulligan is one of the inventors of the contemporary jazz form, and his early promise experimenting with small forward-looking groups achieves fruition with this extensive exhibit of his art. Gerry is that rare phenomenon — a truly originative talent. Everything he does is unique and he has the unalterable courage to do as he "hears" fit. With it all, there is no restraining self-consciousness. Quite the contrary, Gerry is irresistibly "full of malarkey!" There’s an impishness about both him and his music that lends great charm.

He's a young composer who somehow combines the restless intensity of a serious and sensitive composer with the levity of a leprechaun. And it's all here in the music.

Gerry's early background in the music field is surprisingly orthodox. He even arranged for Tommy Tucker and Elliot Lawrence, but he quickly espoused the modern sounds and "gigged" around New York with the small coterie of musicians that spearheaded the search for new and interesting things to say in jazz. He helped to organize, write for, and play on one of the milestones of modern jazz, the Miles Davis "Move" record date for Capitol.

But here, perhaps for the first time, he has been given carte blanche — freedom to express himself without limitation. (...)

The moods and feelings captured here range all the way from something resembling a German Salvation Army Band playing on a Heidelberg street corner — with a beat — to the reckless abandon of a Deep South Revivalist meeting. But all the way, it's ingenious, challenging, and warm. This is what jazz is coming to. In fact, it's here! *Gene Norman (from the liner notes)*

Gerry's dectet (two trumpets, bone, French horn, alto, two baritones, tuba, bass, drums) eschews atonality, polytonality, polyphony, and pretension, goes in for strictly jazz sounds that begin where Miles Davis' famous Capitol sessions (also partly organized by Mulligan) left off.

The rich diversity of orchestrated tonal hues is what gives this set its fifth star. The solos, though secondary, are almost completely, and justifiably, monopolized by Mulligan and Chet Baker. Gerry switches to piano on three tunes, including the attractive Ontet. Latter is based on the last chorus of Godchild, which he scored for the Davis date.

Of the other originals Walking Shoes has the warmest flavor, a legit blues quality with a semisatirical end; Westwood has Gerry’s most eloquent baritone solo and Flash the most variety, with some great Bud Shank alto, and delightful ensemble accents in the last chorus. Simbah is a simple riff thing with a strangely Gershwin-esque quality in the first release.

If you're already bored by the Mulligan foursome, this set is the perfect restorative.

*Down Beat (Chicago, October 7, 1953 [5 stars])*

Side 1

1 - Rocker

(Gerry Mulligan)

2 - Walking Shoes

(Gerry Mulligan)

3 - Simbah

(Gerry Mulligan)

4 - Ontet

(Gerry Mulligan)

Side 2

5 - Westwood Walk

(Gerry Mulligan)

6 - A Ballad

(Gerry Mulligan)

7 - Taking A Chance On Love

(Vernon Duke, John La Touche, Ted Fetter)

8 - Flash

(Gerry Mulligan)

Gerry Mulligan (baritone sax, piano [#4, #7, #8]); Chet Baker, Pete Candoli (trumpets);

Bob Enevoldsen (valve trombone); John Graas (french horn);

Ray Siegel (tuba); Bud Shank (alto sax); Don Davidson (baritone sax); 

Joe Mondragon (bass); Chico Hamilton [#1, #2, #5, #6], Larry Bunker [#3, #4, #7, #8] (drums).

Recorded at Capitol Recording Studios, Hollywood, California,

January 29 (#1, #2, #5, #6) and January 31 (#3, #4, #7, #8), 1953

Five-Star Collection... Power-Packed Trombones

The Trombones Inc.

Jazz has been the scene of a battle of sorts for some time now. Though semantics have generally been the weapons, musicians in the east have traveled their own route and have cast a disparaging eye on the goings on of their colleagues on the Pacific. The latter similarly have come to be identified with a movement sometimes known as "the west coast school of jazz", which they in turn consider superior to the work of musicians in the east. All to the travail of you the listener. This melange has somewhat been abated by various west coast and east coast albums, but no recorded panacea existed to settle the argument once and for all.

The idea of doing an album in which both schools of jazz were heard goes back to a part-time valve trombonist named Jim Conkling who, it might be added, had the idea once before. This reformed cornet player has been in the habit lately of doubling as president of large record companies, first Columbia Records and now Warner Bros., and having instigated the first homage to the seventh position — "Jai & Kai Plus Six" on Columbia — he thought it might be fun to have twenty trombonists do battle, coast-to-coast. The fact that only ten trombonists from each coast would blow at one time helped the mind cope with this proposition, and accordingly, plans were drafted to make this mad, mad project come true. Come true it did, but gloriously. *George Avakian (liner notes)*

If our arithmetic is correct, 27 trombonists participated in the making of this disc— divided into two groups, one on the west coast, the other on the east, and subdivided further by substitutions. The product is (a) a veritable Who’s Who of modern jazz trombone players, (b) a remarkable exercise in virtuosity for arrangers Johnson, Paich and Barker, (c) a revelation of the richness of trombone, and (d), some sort of apex in the career of the trombone itself.

There are 15th century paintings that show the instrument largely as it is today. But is wasn't until the early 19th century that composers, including Berlioz, began to explore its possibilities. And it remained for the jazz musicians of 20th century America to find out what trombones could really do. If you doubt that, listen to any average symphony trombonist struggling through the solo in Ravel's Bolero, even today.

This record is a great tribute to the skill and authority jazz musicians developed on the instrument. It is perhaps impossible to sort out the individual performances on this disc to cite them for merit, but solos and ensemble work are due for high praise. It is safe to say that no instrument but trombone has the variety of colors to permit a recording like this. So enormous are the possibilities of trombone, and so well have Paich, Barker and Johnson exploited them, that you rarely miss the other sections, rarely realize that you're hearing trombones, only trombones, and nothing but trombones (except for that tuba Paich snuck in for three tracks).

The Harvard Dictionary of Music says that "since the movement from position to position requires a certain amount of time, a true legato is not possible on the trombone". Its editor had better hear this disc before the next edition is prepared. *Down Beat, July 9, 1959 [5 stars]*

1 - Neckbones

(J. J. Johnson)

2 - Dues Blues

(J. J. Johnson)

3 - Long Before I Knew You

(Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn)

4 - Soft Winds

(Benny Goodman)

5 - Tee Jay

(J. J. Johnson)

6 - Lassus Trombone

(Henry Fillmore)

7 - It's All Right With Me

(Cole Porter)

8 - Polka Dots And Moonbeams

(Johnny Burke, Jimmy Van Heusen)

9 - Old Devil Moon

(Burton Lane, E.Y. Harburg)

10 - Impossible

(Steve Allen)

11 - Heat Wave

(Irving Berlin)

#1:

Frank Rehak, Jimmy Cleveland, Eddie Bert, Benny Powell,

Bob Brookmeyer, Melba Liston, Henry Coker, Benny Green (trombones);

Dick Hickson, Bart Varsalona (bass trombones);

Hank Jones (piano); Wendell Marshall (bass); Osie Johnson (drums).

Recorded in New York City, December 26, 1958

#2, #4:

Frank Rehak, Jimmy Cleveland, Eddie Bert, Benny Powell,

Bob Brookmeyer, Melba Liston, Bob Alexander, Benny Green (trombones);

Dick Hickson, Bart Varsalona (bass trombones);

Hank Jones (piano); Milt Hinton (bass); Osie Johnson (drums).

Recorded in New York City, December 29, 1958

#3, #5:

Eddie Bert, Jimmy Cleveland, Henry Coker,

Melba Liston, Benny Powell, Frank Rehak (trombones);

Bob Brookmeyer (valve trombone); Dick Hixson, Bart Varsalona (bass trombones);

Hank Jones (piano); Milt Hinton (bass); Osie Johnson (drums).

Recorded in New York City, December 31, 1958

#6, #9, #10:

Joe Howard, Herbie Harper, Frank Rosolino, Dick Nash, Ed Kusby,

Tommy Pederson, Murray McEachern, Marshall Cram (trombones);

George Roberts, Kenny Shroyer (bass trombones); Marty Paich (piano); 

Barney Kessel (guitar); Red Mitchell (bass); Mel Lewis (drums); Mike Pacheco (bongos).

Recorded in Los Angeles, California, December 5, 1958

#7, #8, #11:

Bob Enevoldsen, Milt Bernhardt, Bob Fitzpatrick, Joe Howard,

Lewis McCreary, Frank Rosolino, Dave Wells (trombones);

George Roberts (bass trombone), Stu Williamson (valve trombone);

John Kitzmiller (tuba); Marty Paich (piano); Red Mitchell (bass); Mel Lewis (drums).

Recorded in Los Angeles, California, December 3, 1958

Arranged by J. J. Johnson (#1 to #5), Warren Barker (#6, #9, #10) and Marty Paich (#7, #8, #11)

Jazz goes to... The Dave Pell Octet

Shortly after it was formed in 1953, the Dave Pell Octet won best new combo of the year in polls conducted by Americas Daily News and Mirror newspapers. Six of its eight members were included in Down Beat magazines 1953 poll of the top musicians in the country. Pell and his group flipped fans everywhere they appeared, specializing in Proms and School Dances, and becoming the first name jazz group ever to play for dancing at one of the top Sunset Strip clubs, The Crescendo, and also the Hollywood Palladium.Its jazz was described variously as tasty, sophisticated, subtle, warm, bright, clean, friendly, inventive, happy, and a complete show and concert rolled into one. One successful Octet approach was to have the crowd gather around the bandstand to watch it play a fast jive number featuring the bands excellent soloists.An essential contributing factor in the Octets success was that Pell hired the West Coasts finest arrangers to write the beguilingly melodic and always attractive, danceable band charts; people of the calibre of Marty Paich, Bill Holman, Shorty Rogers, Jack Montrose, Med Flory, John T. Williams. And it was this canny combination of quality and accessibility that really made the Octets name and gave the music its enduring flavour. In Dave's own words: Heres hoping you enjoy our combined dance-and-jazz Campus Hop! *Jordi Pujol*

Dave Pell was a saxophonist who worked in Les Brown's band on the American West Coast from 1947 to 1955. In 1953 he formed his octet, which included some musicians who had played for Les Brown, such as Don Fagerquist and Ray Sims. Dave Pell won considerable popularity by playing in colleges and for high school proms, concentrating on jazz which was suitable for dancing. The music was of high quality, thanks especially to the talented arrangers that Pell employed, including Bill Holman, Marty Paich, Shorty Rogers and Jack Montrose.

The Octet made two LPs called Jazz Goes Dancing, the first in 1956 sub-titled Prom to Prom and the second in 1957 subtitled Campus Hop. They consist of tight, disciplined arrangements which make the most of the eight musicians. Each track contains a good deal of ensemble writing, leaving limited room for jazz solos. What solos there are seldom last for more than 16 bars. Only four of the dozen tracks on the first LP last for longer than three minutes.

One danger of such short, clean arrangements is that they can seem soulless, but that tendency is kept at bay with interesting treatments of the tunes. For instance, "Let's Face the Music and Dance" is taken at an unusually slow tempo, and "Forty-second Street" is updated from its old-fashioned mood to sound like a cool modern arrangement.

Dave Pell himself had a clipped style on the tenor sax, without much vibrato - somewhat similar to the style of altoist Lee Konitz. The trumpeters on both LPs are excellent, with Jack Sheldon particularly notable on "We're in the Money" and "Would You Like to Take a Walk". Med Flory's solos on baritone sax are well worth hearing.

These albums is certainly well-suited to dancing but also to listening, as it is full of musical subtleties. *Tony Augarde (musicweb-international.com)*

Dave Pell Octet

Jazz Goes Dancing

Prom To Prom

The Dave Pell Octet, which made its first recordings in 1953, came out of the Les Brown big band and was the epitome of a swinging, cool-toned, West Coast-style jazz group. Pell's ensemble at the time consisted of the leader on tenor, trumpeter Don Fagerquist (an underrated great), trombonist Ray Sims, baritonist Marty Berman, pianist Arnold Ross, guitarist Tony Rizzi, bassist Bob Bates and drummer Irv Kluger. In order to increase his audience, Pell went out of his way to play for dancing audiences without altering his music much. This long-out-of-print LP is an excellent example of Dave Pell's music of the era, with a dozen songs (two originals and ten vintage standards) whose titles have something to do with college-age people or dancing. Examples include "Young and Healthy", "The Continental", "When I Take My Sugar to Tea" and "Walkin' My Baby Back Home". Worth exploring. *Scott Yanow*

In the space of practically no time at all, the Dave Pell Octet has come to hold an extremely high reputation in the jazz world and, most recently, in the collegiate and high school orbit of dancing. Its jazz has been described variously as tasty, sophisticated, subtle, warm, bright, clean, friendly, inventive and happy. Be that as it may, there is a feeling of rapport here that is missing in so many other groups, and Pell's Octet always keeps everything swinging, whether lightly or from the heels. The cohesion engendered by the Octet is a natural thing indeed, in that three of its members — tenor saxophonist Dave Pell, trumpeter Don Fagerquist and trombonist Ray Sims — for years were stellar members of the fine Les Brown band. The other little Pells — baritone saxophonist Marty Berman, guitarist Tony Rizzi, bassist Bob Bates, pianist Arnold Ross and drummer Irving Kluger — each has his particular claim to fame, especially Rizzi, who is now on Dinah Shore's TV show; Ross, who was at one time Lena Horne's 

accompanist; and Bates, who was a member of the original Dave Brubeck quartet.

As for Dave Pell himself, he has all the qualities necessary for success in the music business. He's both handsome and personable; he has a complete knowledge of his instrument and knows exactly the manner in which he wants his Octet to play and to perform; he's by way of being a nifty guy with a wonderful sense of humor. On top of all this, he also maintains in Hollywood a thriving photography and publicity business. Our Mr. Pell is one for the record!

*Radio Corporation of America (liner notes)*

1 - Look Who's Dancing

(Arthur Schwartz, Dorothy Fields)

2 - East Of The Sun

(Brooks Bowman)

3 - You

(Walter Donaldson, Harold Adamson)

4 - Young And Healthy

(Warren, Dubin)

5 - The Continental

(Herb Magidson, Con Conrad)

6 - Dance For Daddy

(Dave Pell)

7 - When I Take My Sugar To Tea

(Fain, Kahal, Pierre)

8 - If I Had You

(Shapiro, Campbell, Connelly)

9 - Cheek To Cheek

(Irving Berlin)

10 - Let's Face The Music And Dance

(Irving Berlin)

11 - Prom To Prom

(Dave Pell)

12 - Walkin' My Baby Back Home

(Turk, Ahlert)

Don Fagerquist (trumpet), Ray Sims (trombone), 

Dave Pell (tenor sax), Marty Berman (baritone sax),

Arnold Ross (piano), Tony Rizzi (guitar), Bob Bates (bass), Irving Kluger (drums).

Recorded at Radio Recorders, Hollywood, California, May 28 (#1, #4, #10, #12), 

May 31(#2, #5, #7, #8) and June 4 (#3, #6, #9, #11), 1956

✳✳✳

Dave Pell Octet

Jazz Goes Dancing

Campus Hop

Subtitled "Jazz Goes Dancing" (which was the name of an earlier album), this LP (which was last reissued by the Spanish Fresh Sound label) features the Dave Pell Octet playing a dozen songs written by Harry Warren. The danceable music swings and features fine short solos from the members of the octet, which at the time were trumpeter Jack Sheldon, valve trombonist Bob Enevoldsen, Pell on tenor, baritonist Med Flory, pianist Paul Moer, guitarist Tom Tedesco, bassist Buddy Clark and drummer Mel Lewis. The West Coast all-stars perform arrangements by Marty Paich, Bill Holman, Shorty Rogers, Flory and John Williams to such songs as "You're My Everything", "Forty-Second Street", "Lulu's Back In Town" and "I'll String Along With You".

*Scott Yanow*

Listening to the Dave Pell Octet is like hearing music played all over again for the first time. The joyful abandon of the arrangements and the carefree style of the musicians make this a delightful album.

I have heard my music played by the Memphis Five in the beginning of the jazz era and, continuing through the years, by all the great bands up to the present day. Truthfully, I thought that I had heard about everything and that the end had been reached, but Dave Pell proves there is no end. 

I could go on and on singing the praises of these wonderful musicians and orchestrators, but if you just lend an ear you'll see why I heartily recommend this album to the young and the young in heart. *Harry Warren (liner notes)*

1 - Java Junction

(Harry Warren)

2 - You're My Everything

(Warren, Young, Dixon)

3 - Forty-Second Street

(Harry Warren, Al Dubin) 

4 - By The River Saint Marie

(Harry Warren, Edgar Leslie) 

5 - I Know Why And So Do You

(Harry Warren, Mack Gordon)

6 - We're In The Money

(Harry Warren, Al Dubin)

7 - Cheerful Little Earful

(Warren, Gershwin, Rose)

8 - Would You Like To Take A Walk

(Warren, Rose, Dixon)

9 - Lulu's Back In Town

(Harry Warren, Al Dubin)

10 - I'll String Along With You

(Harry Warren, Al Dubin)

11 - Remember Me

(Harry Warren, Al Dubin)

12 - Summer Night

(Harry Warren, Al Dubin)

Jack Sheldon (trumpet), Bob Enevoldsen (valve trombone), 

Dave Pell (tenor sax), Med Flory (baritone sax),

Paul Moer (piano), Tommy Tedesco (guitar), Buddy Clark (bass), Mel Lewis (drums). .

Recorded at Radio Recorders, Hollywood, California, November 12 (#4, #5, #6, #7),

November 14 (#2, #3, #11, #12) and November 27 (#1, #8, #9, #10), 1957