Jazz For The Screen ★ Leith Stevens Or Lighthouse All-Stars?

Leith Stevens' All Stars

Jazz Themes

From

The Wild One

No picture — and no music — could have a more appropriate title than "The Wild One", for this is the story of hot blooded youth — particularly of the wild, half-inarticulate and violent leader of the Black Rebels Motorcycle Club. This leader, Johnny, played by Marlon Brando, lives, it seems only to get his gang into trouble. (...)

Decca is fortunate to be able to present the pulsing music which emphasizes the action of "The Wild One". It is written, arranged, and played by Leith Stevens and his All Stars. Leith Stevens was one of the first leaders and arranger-composers to foster jazz music over the air on radio. He led the orchestra on the original CBS Saturday Night Swing Show. This was the time of the revival of jazz music. Raymond Scott's Quintet started on that show, and, curiously enough, one of the performers in the house band — a trombone player — was the now famous comedian, Jerry Colonna. Although not generally known as one of the "fathers" of Jazz, Leith Stevens has always had a great fondness for it. This is exemplified by the brilliant performance and the equally brilliant ensemble heard on these recordings. *(from the liner notes)*

A missing link in the Lighthouse All-Stars collection?

Although conceived as a soundtrack recording for the motion picture The Wild One, this LP does not officially appear within the discography of the Lighthouse All-Stars; nevertheless, this recording belongs, in both spirit and execution, to the same musical nucleus that defined the Lighthouse sound in the early 1950s. Issued under the name "Leith Stevens' All Stars", the album reflects a logic typical of the Hollywood film industry: the music is credited to the composer responsible for the soundtrack—in this case, Leith Stevens—even when the actual musical realization is carried out by a clearly identifiable group of jazz musicians. It is now also known that, in reality, all the arrangements were done by Shorty Rogers.

Leith Stevens (1909–1970), a central figure in mid-century Hollywood film scoring, developed a distinctive approach that incorporated elements of modern jazz into dramatic cinema. His work includes scores for films such as Destination Moon (1950), Private Hell 36 (1954), The James Dean Story (1957), and Julie (1956), among many others. Stevens' use of progressive jazz created an innovation in film-music history, and he was particularly attentive in selecting the right musicians for his projects. For The Wild One, he turned to the interpretative skill of the outstanding young trumpeter and conductor Shorty Rogers. Shorty's collaboration with Stevens on film scores produced some of the most compelling background music of the era, representing one of the earliest instances of this approach in cinema and marking the beginning of a jazz trend in dramatic film scoring.

As Shorty Rogers recalls in Roy Carr's The Hip: Hipsters, Jazz and the Beat Generation (p. 91), his involvement in The Wild One originated through the direct intervention of Marlon Brando, who had heard his album  Modern Sounds:

"For a long time, the Lighthouse was the focal point for jazz in LA, the West Coast equivalent of Birdland, except that a lot of movie people were always dropping by. Composer Leith Stevens was a regular and through him I got to work on "The Wild One".

Brando had control over the soundtrack and he asked Stevens for suggestions. Stevens gave him some current LPs including my "Modern Sounds" ten-inch for Capitol. ‘I want that guy,’ Brando told Stevens after he'd heard the album. So Stevens composed the themes and I arranged them in exactly the same way I would have done for Stan Kenton's orchestra or my own Giants".

From another perspective, trombonist Milt Bernhart's testimony, from a telephone interview conducted on November 12, 1999, indicates that, through Shorty Rogers' connection with the Lighthouse, most of the musicians were hired to play for the score of Marlon Brando's film The Wild One:

"…We got our first chance to work in a studio playing all of the score for a motion picture because no one less than Marlon Brando had heard an album of Shorty's, The Giants, not the Lighthouse group but heard Shorty's album, on Capitol, and when they were talking about music for a picture called 'The Wild One', they had already assigned a man to do the score, Leith Stevens, who was a staff writer, a good one, but no background in jazz per-se and Brando opened up in a meeting and said listen to this. So they listened to it and I don't think any of the music department knew anything about Shorty, nor did they intend to. Before it was over he was assigned to the picture and then because of that the door opened to the rest of us. So that was the first time I worked on a movie out of the Lighthouse".

In this way, Jazz Themes From The Wild One can be understood as a natural extension of the Lighthouse universe: a recording conceived under external conditions—contracts, credits, and production requirements—but performed by the same group of musicians who, night after night, shaped one of the most active centers of jazz in Los Angeles. 

Hence the question and the reasonable doubt posed at the beginning… Wouldn't this be one of the Lighthouse All-Stars masterpieces that wasn't? 

It is also worth noting that, in the original Decca release credits, some of these musicians appear under slightly altered names—Shorty Rogers as "Roger Short" and Shelly Manne as "Manny Shell"—a common practice at the time, likely reflecting contractual constraints rather than artistic choices.

Heard in this context, the album reveals itself not merely as a soundtrack, but as a peripheral—yet fully authentic—document of the Lighthouse sound in its transition into the Hollywood studio system.

It is fitting, then, that Jazz Themes From The Wild One should also mark the beginning of a new series, Jazz For The Screen, a collection of film and television soundtracks, dedicated to exploring the many ways in which jazz musicians, arrangers, and composers brought their music to the world of film and television. From feature films to television productions, the series will trace a broader history of jazz composed and recorded for the screen, and the often fascinating encounters between the world of jazz and the demands of the studio.

Side 1

1- The Wild One

2 - Lonely Way

3 - Beetle

4 - Blues For Brando

Side 2

5 - Hotshoe

6 - Windswept

7 - Scramble

8 - Chino

(All compositions by Leith Stevens)

#1, #3, #7, #8

Shorty Rogers [as Roger Short], Maynard Ferguson (trumpets);

Bob Cooper (tenor sax); Bud Shank (alto sax); Jimmy Giuffre (baritone sax); 

Russ Freeman (piano); Carson Smith (bass); Shelly Manne [as Manny Shell] (drums). 

#2, #4, #5, #6

Shorty Rogers [as Roger Short] (trumpet); Bob Cooper (tenor sax); Bud Shank (alto sax, tenor sax), 

Jimmy Giuffre (tenor sax, baritone sax), Milt Bernhart (trombone),

Russ Freeman (piano), Carson Smith (bass); Shelly Manne [as Manny Shell] (drums). 

Recorded in Hollywood, California, October 2, 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.

✳✳✳✳

Five-Star Collection... Konitz and Mulligan

 Lee Konitz

And

The Gerry Mulligan Quartet

"With creative extemporization one cannot be consistent" avers Lee. "We are striving and improving".

"The most inventive improvisation comes only when conditions are compelling" Gerry will tell you.

Great jazz necessitates the right atmosphere. The right time, the right place, the right players, the right mental attunement — these things are essential for effusive emotional expression and stimulating swing.

For Konitz, too, there must be the intimacy of a small group.

"Soloing with a big band — the same things happening in the same places — they disturb the fluency and flow of expression" Lee asserts.

For these recordings we had just the right atmosphere. The majority of the performances were recorded on the spot at the Haig, Hollywood's jazz mecca. The conditions were just right. Bassist Carson Smith and drummer Larry Bunker gave sympathetic support. The articulate Chet Baker sparked with some of his most engaging and intriguing trumpet patterns. And we think we captured some of the most inspiring conceptions to date of Konitz and Mulligan.

"Konitz — a cool, calculating, controlled cat" say some critics.

Nonsense.

Listen yourself. It's not cool Konitz. It's cool critics. Critics without soul. Critics without feeling. Critics without understanding.

For this is emotional music above all. It's the assured, facile, masterful expressions of highly sensitive yet forceful people. Lee, Gerry and Chet blow long logical lyrical lines that are sincere and direct expressions.

And this music assuredly swings — not in a banal way, but with the subtle insinuation of a real and natural drive. *Howard Lucraft (fom the liner notes)*

These Foolish Things

Broadway

Too Marvelous For Words

Almost Like Being In Love

★★★★★

More sides made by Lee with the Mulligan quartet in January, 1953. Like the first set, they are among the best sides yet released by either Lee or the former Mulligan unit.

Lee handles most of the solo space with sustained linear invention, and the frequent interweaving of the three horns provides an absorbingly invigorating texture.

Lee has rarely had his ideas and tone so relaxedly under control. (Things and Too Marvelous are perhaps the most eloquent examples). Gerry and Chet are also at imaginative ease. On the last band, either the tape wavered or Chet's flat in the ensemble. That point aside, this is an impressive collaboration. (Pacific Jazz EP 4-11) *Nat Hentoff (Down Beat, March 10, 1954)

Too Marvelous For Words

I Can't Get Started

Almost Like Being In Love

These Foolish Things

Broadway

My Old Flame

Five Brothers

★★★★★

The titling of the set is slightly misleading. The four numbers on which Konitz joined with the Mulligan quartet have already appeared as an EP and were so reviewed (Down Beat, March 10). To fill out an LP, three numbers of the quartet alone were added. The five-star rating on the Konitz-Mulligan interplay still stands for reasons already noted. The quartet as such with Baker, Smith and Bunker performs with its usual calm proficiency.

Being fairly sated with this kind of low-keyed coolness, I would have given the three quartet sides a star less. But on the majority rule principle, we'll call it five. Howard Lucraft's notes are as intense a set as has appeared in some time. Easy, Howard, easy. There's still the H-bomb to worry about, too. The interestingly linear abstract cover is by William Claxton. (Pacific Jazz PJ LP-10)

*Nat Hentoff (Down Beat, June 2, 1954)*

Side 1

1 - Too Marvelous For Words

(Richard A. Whiting, Johnny Mercer) 

2 - I Can't Get Started

(Vernon Duke)

3 - Almost Like Being In Love

(Frederick Loewe, Alan Jay Lerner)

Side 2

4 - These Foolish Things

(Harry Link, Jack Strachey, Albert Eric Maschwitz)

5 - Broadway

(Wilbur H. Bird, Teddy McRae, Henri Woode)

6 - My Old Flame

(Arthur Johnston, Sam Coslow)

7 - Five Brothers

(Gerry Mulligan)

#1, #4:

Chet Baker (trumpet), Lee Konitz (alto sax), Gerry Mulligan (baritone sax),

Carson Smith (bass), Larry Bunker (drums).

Recorded at The Haig, Hollywood, California, January 23, 1953

#3, #5:

Chet Baker (trumpet), Lee Konitz (alto sax), Gerry Mulligan (baritone sax),

Carson Smith (bass), Larry Bunker (drums).

Recorded in Los Angeles, California, January 30, 1953

#6:

Chet Baker (trumpet), Gerry Mulligan (baritone sax),

Carson Smith (bass), Larry Bunker (drums).

Recorded at Radio Recorders, Los Angeles, California, April 27, 1953

#2, #7:

Chet Baker (trumpet), Gerry Mulligan (baritone sax),

Carson Smith (bass), Larry Bunker (drums).

Recorded at The Haig, Hollywood, California, May 20, 1953

Five-Star Collection... Chico Hamilton

Chico Hamilton Quintet

Featuring Buddy Collette

CHICO HAMILTON: "This is the way the group came about: After we made the trio records (Pacific Jazz PJ-17) I decided to add Buddy Collette to the group. In addition I had planned to use John Graas on French horn, but then John had to leave Los Angeles with the Liberace Show. About the same time I was working with Fred Katz who was then playing piano.

Fred had just said to me, 'Before I hang up my gloves I'd like to play a little jazz on the cello'. I told him about the group I had in mind and mentioned that John was leaving town. Right then and there the idea was born. Later, John suggested Jimmy Hall. I had told John that I needed a guitarist. He said, 'I've got a guitarist rehearsing with me. He's here fresh from Cleveland — he reads good, plays good, and also writes'. So I called Jimmy — now he's in the group. I was very fortunate to get Carson Smith. I actually had to look hard for him. I was told he had been working at the Celebrity Room in Hollywood. Three days later I found that the club had folded right after Carson opened. I finally managed to locate him — now I had a quintet. I called a rehearsal. The guys came over to my place and we just started making with the sounds. We only had two sheets of music then — it wasn’t exactly a rehearsal, but it was a beginning".

FRED KATZ: "I think that we have here, because of the calibre of the guys, something that is unique. That something is content. I think each one writes with feeling. Each

original composition has warmth, has meaning, has a reason for being; it’s not just a series of clever chords or clever ideas".

JIM HALL: "It's a necessity that we now have thorough arrangements, otherwise there’s no reason for the cello. Yet, it's the cello that pulls us together".

BUDDY COLLETTE: "We express ourselves mainly in writing now. Although we do improvise... out of which comes a tune — some idea one of us played — later, somebody brings in an arrangement on it".

CARSON SMITH: "Jazz is an American culture; it started in America. I believe jazz is the only really American cultural achievement. Improvisation is the key word. Out of

this comes composition and arrangement! I think improvisation is the most positive element in jazz. There wouldn't be jazz without it, but we can have jazz without arrangements. Because of the instrumentation of the Quintet, with the addition of the cello, we must depend on arrangements. We find freedom writing. In that direction, there is so far to go, so much to explore".

*(from the liner notes [an interview with the Chico Hamilton Quintet on October 9, 1955])*

Chico Hamilton's new quintet is responsible for one of the most stimulating, consistently inventive and unique jazz recordings of this or any recent year. There is, first of all, superb musicianship on the part of Buddy Collette, flute, clarinet, tenor and alto; Jim Hall, guitar; Fred Katz, cello; Carson Smith, bass, and Hamilton, drums. There is also the fresh writing by all five. As Katz points out in the notes, "...each one writes with feeling. Each original composition has warmth, has meaning, has a reason for being; it's not just a series of clever chords or clever ideas".

The third quality of excellence evident here is the collective emotional empathy of the quintet. This is really a unit, and while each of the men in it expresses his own individuality eloquently, they reach their total fulfillment in the cohesive, partly improvisational interplay that is so vitally basic to the best jazz.

There's a lot more — the excellent beat, the scope of the group, the discovery of Hall and Katz, and the newly impressive impact of Collette and Smith (Hamilton has always been first-rate so long as I can remember). Excellent recorded sound. Second side was cut at the Strollers Club in Long Beach, Calif. Only clinker are the notes on the individual numbers by Fran Kelley, written in her inimitable prose, a cross between science fiction and theosophy. 

*Nat Hentoff (Down Beat, December 14, 1955 [5 stars])*

1 - A Nice Day

(Buddy Collette)

2 - My Funny Valentine

(Rodgers, Hart)

3 - Blue Sands

(Buddy Collette)

4 - The Sage

(Fred Katz)

5 - The Morning After

(Chico Hamilton)

6 - I Want To Be Happy

(Youmans, Caesar)

7 - Spectacular

(Jim Hall)

8 - Free From

(improvisation)

9 - Walking Carson Blues

(traditional, arrangement by Carson Smith)

10 - Buddy Boo

(Buddy Collette)

Buddy Collette (flute, alto sax, tenor sax, clarinet), Fred Katz (cello),

Jim Hall (guitar), Carson Smith (bass), Chico Hamilton (drums).

#1 to #5: Recorded at Radio Recorders, Los Angeles, California, August 23, 1955 

#6 to #10: Recorded live at The Strollers Club, Long Beach, California, August 4, 1955

Mulligan/Baker Quartet: Modern Jazz Emblem

Gerry Mulligan Quartet

Featuring Chet Baker

Mulligan's birthplace has been given as in many places. He was, however, born in a Catholic in Queens, New York, the fourth and youngest son of an industrial engineer. Before he was a year old his family had moved to Marion, Ohio, and when his schooling was over at the age of seventeen in Philadelphia, he had lived, in  addition, to New Jersey, Chicago, Kalamazoo, Detroit and Reading. His first instrument was a ukulele. He also took piano lessons which were terminated rather suddenly after an overly hesitant recital. Following this, he learned the ocarina family, then the clarinet, although he had asked his father for a trumpet. When, in 1944, Mulligan left school, where he had led several bands, he went to work as an arranger for Tommy Tucker, turning out in the three months that he stayed a trunkful of material, some of which is still in use. He spent the next six months or so as an arranger and sometime tenor saxophonist with Elliot Lawrence, joined George Paxton, and eventually, for a year, Gene Krupa. During the next few years, he worked as a freelance writer and sideman around New York, made his first recordings, with Brew Moore and George Wallington (he had just taken up the baritone saxophone seriously), had various rehearsal bands, which occasionally practiced in Central Park because no one had money for a studio, and, shortly after the Miles Davis date, hitchhiked, over a period of months, with waystops at Reading and Albuquerque, to Lost Angeles, where he stayed more or less permanently until recent move east. On the West Coast he wrote for Kenton, and worked marathon twelve-hour gigs on Saturdays and Sundays at the Lighthouse, Hermosa Beach. In 1951 he landed a Tuesday night job at the Haig in Los Angeles, where he did some experimenting with a trio composed of guitar, his instrument and drums. Then, almost inadvertently, after he had met Chet Baker, he hit upon the instrumentation of the quartet and was recorded by Richard Bock of Pacific Jazz, the cream of which can be heard in this twelve reissues, recorded between 1952-53, that make up this record.

*Whitney Balliett (from the liner notes)*

A prize collection of recordings from the Quartet's 1952-53 phase, when Chet Baker was still blowing with Mulligan. The combo made history with their fresh sound and engaging style, blazing a trail that many since have attempted to follow. The delicately balanced sonorities of baritone sax and trumpet in seemingly effortless contrapuntal play was a new aural kick for which modern jazz audiences still have sharp appetites. Mulligan's own compositions and arrangements provide the group with the most congenial framework in which to display their talents and personalities. A must for all modern collectors, unless they have previously gotten some of them released on EP. *Billboard, September 3, 1955*

A full LP that collects together earlier recordings by Mulligan — done in the years 1952 and 1953, with a quartet that features Chet Baker, and bass by either Carson Smith or Bob Whitlock, and drums by either Larry Bunker or Chico Hamilton. Both Mulligan and Baker recorded together a number of times after this, in a "reunion" style that hearkened back to the fame of these sides — but the originals are still the best, and feature a magical pairing of two gentle jazz talents in a laidback piano-less setting. Titles include "Frenesi", "Swinghouse", "I May Be Wrong", "Tea For Two", and "Jeru". *Dusty Groove, Inc.*

Side 1

1 - Frenesi

(Dominguez, Whitcup)

2 - Nights At The Turntable

(Mulligan)

3 - Lullaby Of The Leaves

(Young, Patkere)

4 - Jeru

(Mulligan)

5 - Cherry

(Gillespie, Daniels)

6 - Swinghouse

(Mulligan)

Side 2

7 - I May Be Wrong

(De Lange, Van Heusen)

8 - Aren't You Glad You're You

(Burke, Van Heusen)

9 - I'm Beginning To See The Light

(Ellington , James, Hodges, George)

10 - The Nearness Of You

(Carmichael, Washington)

11 - Makin' Whoopee

(Kahn, Donaldson)

12 - Tea For Two / Gerry Mulligan Signing Off

(Youmans, Caesar / Mulligan)

#1, #2, #8:

Chet Baker (trumpet), Gerry Mulligan (baritone sax),

Bob Whitlock (bass), Chico Hamilton (drums).

Recorded at Gold Star Studios, Los Angeles, California, October 15 and 16, 1952

#3:

Chet Baker (trumpet), Gerry Mulligan (baritone sax),

Bob Whitlock (bass), Chico Hamilton (drums).

Recorded at Phil Turetsky's House, Los Angeles, California, August 16, 1952

#4, #6:

Chet Baker (trumpet), Gerry Mulligan (baritone sax),

Carson Smith (bass), Larry Bunker (drums).

Recorded at Radio Recorders, Los Angeles, California, April 27, 1953

#5, #11:

Chet Baker (trumpet), Gerry Mulligan (baritone sax),

Carson Smith (bass), Larry Bunker (drums).

Recorded at Gold Star Studios, Los Angeles, California, February 24, 1953

#7, #9, #10, #12:

Chet Baker (trumpet), Gerry Mulligan (baritone sax),

Carson Smith (bass), Larry Bunker (drums).

Recorded at Radio Recorders, Los Angeles, California, April 29 and 30, 1953

Note: about "Gerry Mulligan Signing Off"

The short songs that jazz groups in the 1950s often played to close their live performances are called "theme songs", "vamp tunes" or more specifically "out-choruses" or "set closers". These were short, recognizable melodies or riffs to close a concert, often upbeat and punchy, leaving the audience on a high note. These themes became identifiers for the band.

The final theme used by Gerry Mulligan's 1952~1953 quartet to close their live performances was a brief, signature piece titled "Gerry Mulligan Signing Off". This short tune, lasting approximately 20 seconds, served as a distinctive outro, signaling the end of their sets. ["Outro" is short for "outroduction", the opposite of "intro" (introduction)]

Dick Marx - Marx Makes Broadway

In recent years, a young Chicago pianist —without ever leaving his native city— has become a subject for musicians’ backstage conversation from coast-to-coast.

His name is Dick Marx and "you ought to hear Dick" is almost a cliche now. But Marx cannot be enjoined to go out on a road trip. It was an unusual thing for him to accept Omega’s invitation to come to Los Angeles and make this stereo recording.

Dick Marx is a serious, studious musician (not that his personality or music lacks humor; it’s just that music is his life and he’s serious about it) who has developed a naturally flexible piano technique into one of the most formidable piano styles of modern jazz. Pianist Billy Taylor, one of the top musicians in modern Jazz, has said, "Marx uses modern harmonic devices exceptionally well and because of excellent technical facility can execute many interesting polyphonic ideas... his touch is firm and sure and he can toss off a bravura passage with the ease that comes only from a solid pianistic background". 

Dick Marx began playing the piano at 5, and at 13 was accompanist to a dancing class. He studied music at DePaul University, and since 1948 has worked steadily in the Chicago area at such swank supper clubs as the Streamliner, the Pump Room and Mr. Kelly’s. He has arranged for a variety of singers, including Eydie Gorme, Eartha Kitt and Lurlean Hunter, and for numerous radio and TV shows. He has recorded several LPs for Coral and Brunswick with his bass-playing sidekick, John Frigo. He’s also heard as accompanist for Jeri Southern and for Johnny Desmond on recent LPs. In between night club and recording chores, he doubles as a vocal coach and piano teacher in Chicago, where he is much in demand. Dick is heard either in trio or with a quartet of the best jazz men in Hollywood. It required a particularly deft jazz musician to handle the gossamer melodies of the best Broadway show tunes to retain their intrinsic beauty without losing the jazz feeling. On this date Dick’s friends are Buddy Collette, flute; Carson Smith, bass; Frankie Capp, drums; and Irving Ashby, guitar. On the five numbers you'll hear Red Mitchell on bass, and on three Howard Roberts replaces Ashby on guitar. *Ralph J. Gleason (liner notes)*

This LP is one of the more obscure sessions reissued by V.S.O.P. and was originally cut for the Omega label. Dick Marx was a Chicago-based bop-oriented pianist brought to Los Angeles for these sessions. He gives a variety of show tunes melodic yet swinging treatment with the assistance of flutist Buddy Collette, either Howard Roberts or Irving Ashby on guitar, Red Mitchell or Carson Smith on bass and drummer Frank Capp. All ten of the tunes (which include "All of You", "Too Close for Comfort", "If I Were a Bell" and "Just in Time") are still remembered; it is a pity that this program (at 34 minutes) is so brief and that little has been heard of Dick Marx since. *Scott Yanow*

Side 1

1 - Joey, Joey

(Loesser)

2 - Why Can't You Behave

(Cole Porter)

3 - All Of You

(Cole Porter)

4 - Cool

(Leonard Bernstein)

5 - Too Close For Comfort

(Holofocner, Weiss)

Side 2

6 - If I Were A Bell

(Loesser)

7 - Baubles, Bangles And Beads

(Forrest, Wright)

8 - A Sleepin' Bee

(Loesser)

9 - Guys And Dolls

(Loesser)

10 - Just In Time

(Comden, Green, Styne)

Dick Marx (piano); Buddy Collette (flute); Howard Roberts, Irving Ashby (guitars); Carson Smith, Red Mitchell (basses); Frank Capp (drums).

Recorded in Los Angeles, California, 1958.