More Art Pepper at The Lighthouse Cafe

Art Pepper

Complete Straight Ahead Sessions

By the spring of 1953, the Lighthouse Cafe had already become one of the central laboratories of the emerging West Coast sound. Week after week, musicians, arrangers, and restless young soloists gathered there for the long Sunday sessions that blurred the line between the atmosphere of an informal jam session and genuine artistic experimentation. Somewhere among the crowded tables, cigarette smoke, and constant movement of the club, Bob Andrews once again set up his portable Pentron tape recorder, unknowingly capturing one of the very few documented encounters between Art Pepper and Sonny Clark.

Although later associated with different musical worlds, Pepper and Clark met here at a fascinating transitional moment in their careers. Pepper, already one of the most distinctive voices to emerge from the California scene, was still refining the lyrical and emotionally direct style that would later define his mature work. Clark, several years away from his celebrated Blue Note recordings, had not yet fully entered the New York hard-bop circuit that would make him one of the essential pianists of his generation. These performances capture both musicians before mythology had fully formed around them. The original 10-inch "Straight Ahead" releases preserve Pepper at a particularly luminous moment in his early development, shortly before the legal and personal difficulties of the mid-1950s temporarily removed him from the center of the jazz scene.

The historical importance of these tapes lies not only in their rarity — live open-reel recordings of this kind were still highly unusual in 1953 — but also in the spontaneous atmosphere they retain. Far removed from the controlled environment of the recording studio, the music reflects the genuine sound of the Lighthouse scene itself: relaxed, exploratory, and deeply rooted in the weekly musical life of Hermosa Beach.

By this time, Bob Andrews had already become a familiar presence within the Southern California jazz scene, moving quietly from club to club with his tape recorder and single microphone. What had begun simply as a personal fascination with the music would eventually evolve into one of the most valuable private archives of early West Coast jazz, later issued through Andrews' own Vantage label and subsequent reissues.

The repertoire heard throughout these sessions moves comfortably between standards and originals, but the true fascination of the material lies in the musical dialogue itself. Pepper's luminous alto sound contrasts naturally with Clark's darker, more rhythmically grounded approach, producing a musical tension that gives the performances much of their character. Heard today, these recordings function not merely as collector's items, but as rare surviving fragments from a period when the language of modern jazz on the West Coast was still being shaped night after night inside clubs like the Lighthouse.

As with many surviving documents from this period, the technical limitations of the original tapes remain secondary to the remarkable historical testimony they provide.

Admittedly, this Jazz Factory double disc leaves something to be desired in the sound reproduction and mastering departments. But it is of little consequence when one considers the historical value of the performances here that showcase Art Pepper early in his solo career, with Sonny Clark on piano. The sound quality — which isn't terrible by a long shot and is not noisy, just less than sparkling — becomes no deterrent at all when one hears the illustrious communication between Pepper and Clark — making Clark seem like the bandleader, incidentally.

The rhythm section of drummer Bobby White, and bassist and cellist Harry Babasin are not terribly remarkable, except that they swing very hard on the blues. But Pepper, who defers to Clark in many places, is at his lyrical best as a soloist here, and Clark's gorgeous and funky chordal structures provide him with a lush and street-savvy base from which to fly into the his hardest-sounding blues and bop runs from the early days. This may be for Pepper and Clark collectors only, but it should appeal to anyone interested in the only true joining of hard bop and West Coast traditions.

*Thom Jurek*

CD 1

1 - Brown Gold

(Art Pepper)

2 - These Foolish Things

(Jack Strachey, Eric Maschwitz)

3 - Tickle Toe

(Lester Young)

4 - Tenderly

(Jack Lawrence, Walter Gross)

5 - Strike Up the Band

(George and Ira Gershwin)

6 - Night And Day

(Cole Porter)

7 - Deep Purple

(Peter DeRose, Mitchell Parish) 

CD 2

1 - Bluebird

(Charlie Parker)

2 - Pennies From Heaven

(Johnny Burke, Arthur Johnston)

3 - 'S Wonderful

(George and Ira Gershwin)

4 - Holiday Flight

(Art Pepper)

Art Pepper (alto sax), Sonny Clark (piano),

Harry Babasin (bass, cello), Bobby White (drums).

Recorded live at The Lighthouse, Hermosa Beach, California, 

March 30 (#7 [CD1], #1, #4 [CD2]), April 1 (#2, #3 [CD2]) and May 31 (#1 to #6 [CD1]), 1953

 

Five-Star Collection... Chet Baker

Chet Baker

Chet Baker Quartet

This LP presents Chet Baker in a quartet format with the remarkable Russ Freeman on piano. This was the first group Chet fronted as a leader after Gerry Mulligan's imprisonment broke up the celebrated piano-less quartet, which had launched the trumpeter to fame. One of the greatest trumpeters and most popular cult-figures in jazz history, Baker was as famous for his rugged good looks and stormy personal life as he was for his gentle vocals and lyrical introspective trumpet playing. Gaining fame as a member of Gerry Mulligan's heralded piano-less quartet, Baker quickly became the undisputed trumpet king of the 1950s West Coast cool jazz sound. His beautiful tone, delicate and haunting melodic lines and masterful sense of space imbued his music with a warm, nostalgic quality, and earned him a fan base that extended well beyond the boundaries of the traditional jazz enthusiast. He once stated: "As I rely 100% on the ear, I react strongly to everything that goes on around me. The conditions that I've had while learning to play do not exist anymore. I feel like I belong to a species, threatened by destruction. Sad, in a way, but that's what they call progress, isn't it?" A brilliant improviser, Baker's silky lines seemed to glide through the air with effortless grace, spinning webs of dreamy sentimental moods and textures.

Chet Baker made his record debut in September of 1952 with the Gerry Mulligan Quartet for Pacific Jazz. His playing immediately received the critic's praise; cries of "another Bix", another "Bunny" were sounded. His recording of "My Funny Valentine" with the Mulligan Quartet is well on the way toward becoming a jazz classic.

Chet was born in Yale, Oklahoma, 23 years ago. His family moved to California when he was ten years old. At Glendale Junior High School he began his musical training. In school he played trumpet in the marching band and the dance orchestra. Drafted in 1946, he was shipped to Berlin, Germany, with the 298th Army Band. Discharged two years later, he began to study music theory and harmony at El Camino College in Los Angeles. A chance to join the Presidio Army Band in San Francisco caused Chet to re-enlist in 1950. Ten months in San Francisco gave Chet the opportunity of playing in various sessions which started him in jazz music. From his past concert band experience he brought a legitimate tone and conception, uninfluenced by the jazz stylists of the past.

When Charlie Parker was on the West Coast during the summer of 1952, he heard Chet and hired him for his dates on the Coast. Shortly afterwards he joined Gerry Mulligan at the Haig Club.

Pianist Russ Freeman's collaboration with Chet on this date has brought about a more aggressive, less subdued side of his playing style. Russ, 26 year old product of the West Coast, shows a strong original approach to jazz in his inventive compositions and precise, swinging piano solos. He has been heard with Art Pepper's group on records, and has played with Wardell Gray, and many West Coast jazz groups. He is currently with Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All Stars.

*Richard Bock (from the liner notes)*

Now it's for sure. Our suspicions that the 23-year-old trumpet man from Yale, Okla., was a major new star are confirmed by this LP, which is a gasser from start to finish. The lad has the style, the sound, the command of the horn; almost as important, he has the perfect setting. Russ piano, fleet and modern in both accompanying and solo roles throughout, is of immeasurable value to the overall results. Larry Bunker and Bobby White split the drum chores, Carson Smith and Bob Whitlock the bass job.

Three of the tunes are Freeman originals. One of them, Maid in Mexico, was five-starred here as a single 78 disc; another, Batter Up, provides some delightful voiced and unison two-part moments for trumpet and piano.

Outstanding performance of the set, though, is Imagination, played very close to the melody, but, amazingly, all around and below middle C. Beautifully simple and simply beautiful.

Until now the great modern horn stars could be counted on the digits of one hand. To the names of Dizzy, Miles, Joe Newman, Shorty Rogers, and Clark Terry must now be added an extra finger on the hand: Chet Baker has arrived. *Down Beat, Chicago, July 29, 1953 (5 stars)*

Side 1

1 - Isn't It Romantic

(Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)

2 - Maid In Mexico

(Russ Freeman)

3 - Imagination

(Johnny Burke, Jimmy Van Heusen)

4 - This Time The Dream's On Me

(Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen)

Side 2

5 - The Lamp Is Low

(Maurice Ravel, Bert Shefter, Peter de Rose, Mitchell Parish)

6 - Russ Job

(Russ Freeman)

7 - Easy To Love

(Cole Porter)

8 - Batter Up

(Russ Freeman)

✳ Personnel and recording dates: theories and controversies ✳

To this day, the sources upon which even the most rigorous discographies have relied to establish with certainty the recording dates of these earliest Chet Baker sessions for Pacific Jazz remain unknown.

According to Jørgen Grunnet Jepsen, in his reference work Jazz Records 1942–1965, and the publication CHET – The Discography of Chesney Henry Baker by Hans Henrik Lerfeldt and Thorbjørn Sjögren, the following information is given:

#1

Chet Baker (trumpet), Russ Freeman (piano),

Red Mitchell (bass), Bobby White (drums)

Recorded at Gold Star Studios, July 24, 1953

#2, #4, #5

Chet Baker (trumpet), Russ Freeman (piano),

Bob Whitlock (bass), Bobby White (drums)

Recorded at Gold Star Studios, Los Angeles, July 27, 1953

#3, #6, #7, #8

Chet Baker (trumpet), Russ Freeman (piano),

Carson Smith (bass), Larry Bunker (drums)

Recorded at Radio Recorders, July 30, 1953

Even so, the original liner notes clearly identify Bob Whitlock as the bassist on tracks #1, #2, #4, and #5.

Further research carried out in Europe for releases on the Disques Vogue, Swing, and Karusell labels appears to have confirmed that Bob Whitlock was present at the first recording session of the Chet Baker Quartet at Gold Star Studios on December 15, 1952, leading to the logical conclusion that Red Mitchell did not participate in that session.

Moreover, reviews published in Down Beat — both those referring to the 78 rpm releases (May 6, 1953) and to the 10-inch LP (July 29, 1953) — would seem to demonstrate that the recording dates given by Jepsen are impossible, even though they continued to be accepted within the jazz community.

In 2000, producer Michael Cuscuna reported that a contact with access to the archives of American Federation of Musicians Local 47 had confirmed that there were no records of Chet Baker recording sessions on July 24 and 27, 1953. The same source established that the first session took place on December 15, 1952, at Gold Star Studios, and that additional sessions were documented on April 17, 1953, and July 30, 1953. Accordingly, the dates should be revised as follows:

#1

Chet Baker (trumpet), Russ Freeman (piano),

Bob Whitlock (bass), Bobby White (drums)

Recorded at Gold Star Studios, Los Angeles, California, December 15, 1952

#2, #4, #5

Chet Baker (trumpet), Russ Freeman (piano),

Bob Whitlock (bass), Bobby White (drums)

Recorded at Gold Star Studios, Los Angeles, California, April 17, 1953

#3, #6, #7, #8

Chet Baker (trumpet), Russ Freeman (piano),

Carson Smith (bass), Larry Bunker (drums)

Recorded at Radio Recorders, Los Angeles, California, July 30, 1953

To complete the controversy, Dick Bock — the album's producer — never acknowledged the December 15, 1952 recording session at Gold Star Studios. The closest he came to admitting that he had recorded Chet Baker as a leader while the trumpeter was still a member of the Gerry Mulligan Quartet was in a letter published in the May 1953 issue of Metronome.

Beyond the — often debatable — precision of recording dates, what ultimately matters is the remarkable artistry of these earliest Chet Baker sessions, whose lyricism, clarity, and sense of space would already define one of the most distinctive voices in modern jazz.

✳✳✳✳

Art Pepper and Sonny Redd: Two talents reunited

Art Pepper • Sonny Redd

Two Altos

Art Pepper • Sonny Redd is an album by American alto saxophonists Art Pepper and Sonny Redd. The four standards which appear on the album were recorded in Los Angeles with West Coast-jazz musicians between 1952 and 1954, whilst the two originals were recorded at Van Gelder Studio, in 1957. Regent Records, a subsidiary of Savoy Records, released these recordings in 1959. 

Following in the tradition of great alto saxophonists, a great star of today and a new star of today match their talents in a combination album of what's new and good in modern jazz. Following a tradition on the horn that featured such luminaries as Johnny Hodges, Don Redman, and Benny Carter... the alto saxophone was completely revamped, revitalized, and revved up under the influence of the late Charlie Parker. "Bird's" genius transformed this smaller member of the virile saxophone family into a thing of perfect beauty. He hastened its pace, transformed its tone, and gave a sky-high new horizon for its possibilities that has been untouched yet!

Perhaps the finest star on this horn today is Art Pepper. A bird-inspired disciple who has developed his own powerful voice, Art's allegiances have been with the so-called "West Coast" school of jazz, but he's a mighty swinger! 

Two tracks are extended vehicles for the combo led by young alto star Sonny Redd. A Detroiter, recently in New York, he has stirred great interest with his emotional, fiery alto style.

*Alan Stein (from the liner notes)*

Two of our favorite 50s alto talents together on one LP — both players who handle their instrument better than most of their contemporaries, and always with a unique and personal sound! The album offers four tracks by Art Pepper — recorded with groups that include Hampton Hawes on piano, Larry Bunker on drums, Jack Montrose on tenor, and either Russ Freeman or Claude Williamson on piano — and two tracks by Sonny Redd, recorded with a quintet that includes Pepper Adams on baritone, Doug Watkins on bass, Wynton Kelly on piano, and Elvin Jones on drums — more of a Prestige lineup than a Regent one, and really remarkable for the set. The Redd tracks — "Watkins Products" and "Redds Head" — are the longer and more enticing numbers on the set — but we should also say that we love Pepper's work for Regent, and think it's some of his best – and find his tracks pretty darn nice, too. Titles by Pepper include "Deep Purple", "Everything Happens To Me", "These Foolish Things", and "What's New". *Dusty Groove, Inc.*

1. Deep Purple

(Robbins, Parish)

2. Watkins Production

(Doug Watkins)

3. Everything Happens To Me

(Dennis, Adair)

4. Redd's Head

(Sonny Red)

5. These Foolish Things

(Maschwitz, Link, Strachey)

6. What's New

(Haggart, Burke)

#1, #6: Art Pepper Quintet

Art Pepper (alto sax), Jack Montrose (tenor sax),

Claude Williamson (piano), Monty Budwig (bass), Paul Ballerina (drums).

Recorded in Los Angeles, California, August 25, 1954

#2, #4: Sonny Redd Quintet

Sonny Redd (alto sax), Pepper Adams (baritone sax),

Wynton Kelly (piano), Doug Watkins (bass), Elvin Jones (drums).

Recorded at Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey, November 12, 1957

#3: Art Pepper Quartet

Art Pepper (alto sax), Russ Freeman (piano), Bob Whitlock (bass), Bobby White (drums).

Recorded in Los Angeles, California, March 29, 1953

#5: Art Pepper Quartet

Art Pepper (alto sax), Hampton Hawes (piano), Joe Mondragon (bass), Larry Bunker (drums).

Recorded in Los Angeles, California, March 4, 1952

Leonard Feather Presents… ★1954★

Jimmy Raney, Sonny Clark and Jazz Club U.S.A.

Jimmy Raney (August 20, 1927 – May 9, 1995) was an American jazz guitarist born in Louisville, Kentucky, known for his work from 1951 to 1952 and then from 1953 to 1954 with the Red Norvo trio (replacing Tal Farlow) and, during the same time period, with Stan Getz. In 1954 and 1955, he won the Down Beat Critics' Poll for guitar. Raney worked in a variety of jazz mediums, including cool jazz, bebop, post bop, hard bop, and mainstream jazz.

In 1946, he worked for a time as guitarist with the Max Miller Quartet at Elmer's in Chicago, his first paying gig. Raney also worked in the Artie Shaw Orchestra and collaborated with Woody Herman for nine months in 1948. He also collaborated and recorded with Buddy DeFranco, Al Haig and later on with Bob Brookmeyer. In 1967, alcoholism and other professional difficulties led him to leave New York City and return to his native Louisville. He resurfaced in the 1970s and also did work with his son Doug, who was also a guitarist. His other son Jon is a jazz pianist and maintains a website, The Raney Legacy devoted to Jimmy and Doug Raney.

Raney lived with Ménière's disease for thirty years, a degenerative condition that led to near deafness in both ears, although this did not stop him from playing. He died of heart failure in Louisville on May 10, 1995. His obituary in The New York Times called him "one of the most gifted and influential postwar jazz guitarists in the world".

Conrad Yeatis "Sonny" Clark (July 21, 1931 – January 13, 1963) was an American jazz pianist and composer who mainly worked in the hard bop idiom.

Clark was born and raised in Herminie, Pennsylvania, a coal mining town east of Pittsburgh. 

While visiting an aunt in California at age 20, Clark decided to stay and began working with saxophonist Wardell Gray. Clark went to San Francisco with Oscar Pettiford and after a couple months, was working with clarinetist Buddy DeFranco in 1953. Clark toured the United States and Europe with DeFranco until January 1956, when he joined The Lighthouse All-Stars, led by bassist Howard Rumsey.

Wishing to return to the east coast, Clark served as accompanist for singer Dinah Washington in February 1957 in order to relocate to New York City. In New York, Clark was often requested as a sideman by many musicians, partly because of his rhythmic comping. He frequently recorded for Blue Note Records as one of their house musicians, playing as a sideman with many hard bop players.

Clark died in New York City on January 13, 1963 (aged 31). The official cause was listed as a heart attack, but the likely cause was a heroin overdose.

Jazz Club U.S.A. was a weekly radio program that aired from 1950 to 1952. Hosted by jazz critic and producer Leonard Feather, it aired on the U.S. government-sponsored Voice of America network. Jazz Club U.S.A. did a remarkable job of presenting all forms of jazz, from slave-era spirituals to bebop, from Dixieland to swing, all presented as American music.

In 1954, Feather turned the Jazz Club U.S.A. "brand" into a series of concerts in Europe. One of the featured performers was guitarist Jimmy Raney, then voted "number one guitarist" by the French publication "Jazz Hot".

Raney's presence in Europe was recorded on several recordings. The ones we will present here are Jimmy Raney and Sonny Clark meeting for the first and only time.

Let's remember them...

Jimmy Raney All Stars

Leonard Feather Presents

Jazz Club U.S.A. In Sweden

This 10" album features two Jimmy Raney quintets backed by some of the highlights of the Sweden jazz scene at the time. But what makes these sessions so famous is the appearance of Sonny Clark on Side 1. Clark only has a solo choir on each track, and the overall impression of these sessions is "melancholic, relaxed, mellow chamber jazz music".

Leonard Feather composed "Jumping For Jane". This brightly boppish piece has a neat arrangement in wich the tenor sax of Gösta Theselius sounds spry, and in his opening measures Clark gives surprising acnowledgement to Lennie Tristano. There is also room for a splendid agile guitar solo, beside contributions from Mitchell and Leighton.

Raney's clever and complex "Invention" was, according to Leonard Feather, recorded with very little trouble by a group of musicians who had never seen it before. An intrincate, ingenious line, it is notable for the close rapport between Raney and Theselius and a beautiful pithy piano passage by Sonny whose firm comping is a great foundation for Theselius and Raney. Jimmy is particularly mellow and melodic, showing us the attribute conveyed by the tittle. The flowing fours by Theselius and Raney are an early example of Bebop Esperanto. By 1954 this music was universal. *Mark Gardner*

Side 1

1 - Invention

(Jimmy Raney)

2 - Jumping For Jane

(LeonardFeather)

Side 2

3 - Indian Summer

(Victor Herbert)

4 - Darn That Dream

(Jimmy Van Heusen, Eddie DeLange)

Jimmy Raney (guitar), with

#1, #2:

Gösta Theselius (tenor sax), Sonny Clark (piano), Simon Brehm (bass #1),

Red Mitchell (bass #2), Elaine Leighton (drums).

#3, #4:

Putte Wickman (clarinet); Bengt Hallberg [as Bengt Halberg] (piano),

Red Mitchell (bass), Elaine Leighton (drums).

Recorded in Stockholm, Sweden, January 13, 1954

✤✤

Jimmy Raney Quartet

Leonard Feather's Jazz Club U.S.A. Presents

Jimmy Raney Visits Paris

As part of Leonard Feather's "Jazz Club U.S.A". European tour in early 1954, guitarist Raney is presented in the fine company of pianist Sonny Clark, bassist Red Mitchell and drummer Bobby White. The music on this date, as well as the recording quality, is superb for its time. Raney and Mitchell had worked together in Red Norvo's trio, while Clark and White were the rhythmic anchors in Buddy DeFranco's group. One can't help but compare the sensitive yet energetic approach that Raney and Clark have toward their respective instruments. Both musicians have a truly artful touch with very clear articulation, never sounding hurried or arbitrary, or getting in the other's way. There are some lovely quartet interpretations of standard tunes, plus a piano trio rendition of "Once In a While". Listen to Red Mitchell's bass take the melody on "You Go to My Head" supported by Clark and Raney's sympathetic comping. *Lee Bloom*

1 - Stella By Starlight

(Young, Washington)

2 - Pennies From Heaven

(Johnson, Burke)

3 - You Go To My Head

(Coots, Gillespie)

4 - Yesterdays

(Kern)

05 - There'll Never Be Another You

(Kern)

06 - Body And Soul

(Green)

07 - Once In A While

(Green, Edwards)

Sonny Clark (piano), Jimmy Raney (guitar), Red Mitchell (bass), Bobby White (drums).

Recorded in Paris, France, February 6, 1954

Buddy DeFranco - Pretty Moods

Boniface Ferdinand Leonard "Buddy" DeFranco was born in Camden, New Jersey (February 17, 1923). He was raised in South Philadelphia. He was playing the clarinet by the time he was nine years old and within five years had won a national Tommy Dorsey swing contest. 

He began his professional career just as swing music and big bands — many of which were led by clarinetists like Artie Shaw, and Benny Goodman — were in decline. While most jazz clarinet players did not adapt to this change, DeFranco successfully continued to play clarinet exclusively, and was one of the few bebop clarinetists. In addition to his work as a bandleader, DeFranco led the Glenn Miller Orchestra for almost a decade in the 1960s and 1970s.

In 1950, DeFranco spent a year with Count Basie's septet. He then led a small combo in the early 1950s which included pianist Sonny Clark and guitarist Tal Farlow. In this period, DeFranco recorded for MGM, Norgran and Verve; the latter two labels were owned by Norman Granz. Buddy died in December 24, 2014.

Buddy De Franco is one of the few, and, in fact, quite possibly the only new name to be accorded giant recognition on the clarinet. I think possibly that the only things that have held him back have been, in certain cases, choice of material and lack of quantitative output, because the quality was always there no matter what Buddy played.

It is also true that any great artist in any art form must be able to do all things. The jazz artist must be able to create; to play different tempi, all of them with equal facility and creativeness; to create different moods — happy ones, sad ones, blue ones; and to operate, as it were, under different musical conditions. He must in short have adaptability.

Well, this album displays another facet of Buddy De Franco's tremendous artistic ability. For the first time, Buddy produces ballads with the melodic line primary, and the result is a rewarding one — for the composition, for the listener, and, yes, for De Franco himself, because it represents another step upward in his growth. 

This album is another in the series designed to make the jazz audience increasingly aware of Buddy De Franco's rich and many contributions to the jazz scene. *Norman Granz (liner notes)*

Buddy DeFranco with Sonny Clark on piano — an early classic in the wonderful run the two players cut for Verve Records — a key chapter in jazz during the early 50s ! Buddy's clarinet has these wonderfully angular turns here — very different than the generation before, and spurred on by some new bop modes from Clark's work on the keys. The format is lean, clean, and extremely tight — some of the best jazz clarinet work of the time, and proof that the instrument could have a life long after the swing years had ended. Other players include Bobby White on drums and Gene Wright on bass — and the whole thing's packaged in a sweet David Stone Martin cover ! Titles include "Lover Man", "Yesterdays", "If I Should Lose You", and "Deep Purple". *dustygroove.com*

1 - Tenderly

(Lawrence, Gross)

2 - Lover Man

(Davis, Ramirez, Sherman)

3 - Deep Purple

(DeRose, Parish)

4 - Yesterdays

(Kern, Harburg)

5 - If I Should Lose You

(Rainger, Robin)

Buddy DeFranco (clarinet), Sonny Clark (piano), Gene Wright (bass), Bobby White (drums).

Recorded at Fine Sounds, New York City, April 7, 1954.