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.

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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

Lighthouse All-Stars Collection X

Howard Rumsey

The Lighthouse All-Stars Plus Ten

Jazz Rolls Royce

For many years, the date of October 28, 1957 — Royce Hall, University of California, Los Angeles — has been accepted as the moment of origin of Jazz Rolls Royce. In an essential sense, it is: that evening gave rise not only to the album’s repertoire, but also to its underlying conception. Yet, as is often the case in jazz discography, the relationship between date and final result is more complex than traditional documentation suggests.

The concert, presented as part of the 1957 UCLA Homecoming Show, formed part of a broader institutional production, conceived not strictly as a jazz performance but as a ceremonial event that included the presentation of the Homecoming Queen and other elements typical of the university celebration. Within this context, Howard Rumsey assembled his Lighthouse All-Stars in an expanded formation — "All Stars plus ten" — designed to deliver a broader sonic statement within that festive framework.

The genesis of the project dates back several months prior to the concert, when, as part of the event's organization, a specific program began to take shape, combining original writing with expanded instrumentation. With Conte Candoli featured as a principal soloist, the ensemble reinforced in its lower register, and arrangements largely by Bob Cooper, the repertoire was conceived as a unified body of work, even at this early stage oriented toward eventual recording.

From an aesthetic standpoint, the project sought a delicate balance: preserving the immediacy and character of the Lighthouse small group while incorporating the color and density of a larger orchestral setting. This tension — between improvisational freedom and more elaborate writing — defines much of the project’s musical identity.

The concert was recorded with the explicit intention of producing a live LP. In that sense, the Royce Hall date is not an arbitrary convention: it represents the true starting point of the album. However, the tapes made that evening did not meet the standards required for commercial release. Performance flaws, ensemble imprecision, and incomplete or technically deficient material rendered them unsuitable as a basis for publication.

The solution was to move the project into the studio. In subsequent sessions held at Liberty Studios in Hollywood, the repertoire was re-recorded in its entirety, with a partially revised personnel — Stu Williamson replacing Conte Candoli, and a reconfigured low-brass section including Marshall Cram — under conditions that allowed for a greater degree of precision in the execution of the arrangements.

It is this studio material, rather than the Royce Hall recordings, that forms the basis of the LP Jazz Rolls Royce, although for many years the concert date continued to appear as the recording reference in various editions and discographies. The album thus became associated with a live event from which no direct master recording was ultimately derived.

The subsequent editorial history of the material gave rise to two distinct presentations, each of which approaches the relationship between the original concert and its later discographical realization in a different way. The following presents both releases.

V.S.O.P. Records

The edition issued by V.S.O.P. Records adopted a position of continuity with respect to the original release, preserving the configuration established in its initial appearance on Lighthouse Records (Lighthouse CS-300) and in the subsequent Omega reissue (Omega OSL-5). In this way, the structure of the LP is maintained as originally conceived from the studio material. However, this presentation introduces an additional element: the inclusion of applause not corresponding to the original recording at the end of three tracks, a device that artificially reinforces the impression of a live context in material which, as noted, does not derive directly from the Royce Hall concert.

Our idea was to add ten men to the Lighthouse group, forming a sixteen-piece band. We knew the first song should be the traditional "Strike Up The Band", the song that George Gershwin wrote specially as a "fight" song for UCLA. First of all, the students that accepted the responsibility of the 1957 Homecoming and particularly the producer of the Homecoming Show, John Brown, knew they wanted all new music written just for this occasion. The material should embellish the show, the traditional purpose being of course the selection of the Homecoming Queen and it should fit with the theme "Under the Bruin Big Top".

As we wanted to feature "new" jazz music we got in touch with Bob Cooper. "Coop" is the senior member of the Lighthouse All-Stars and watching his development as a soloist and a composer-arranger certainly has been a pleasure. As a musician he has every qualification: playing Tenor Saxophone, Oboe, English Horn or Clarinet, he has traveled extensively as a member of Stan Kenton's Band and Kenton's Innovations Orchestra; since becoming one of the best known members of the West Coast movement and joining forces with the Lighthouse he has made two European tours with Bud Shank. (...)

After deciding together on the program numbers, all written by Bob Cooper specially for the Show, we began the selection of the added men, players with much recording experience, yet men with strong roots in jazz. More important, it was to be a big modern band, one that pointed ahead. Furthermore, we wanted a permanent record of it. This was a labor of love and all the players responded in a grand manner; after rehearsals, they were on their own. No one conducted the performance or the recording. *Howard Rumsey (from the liner notes)*

1 - Strike Up the Band

(George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin)

2 - Prelude To The Queen

(Bob Cooper)

3 - The Clown's Dance

(Bob Cooper)

4 - Coop Salutes the "Co-Op"

(Bob Cooper)

5 - Bruinville, My Bruinville

(Bob Cooper)

6 -Mambo del Quado

(Bob Cooper)

Bob Cooper (tenor sax), Frank Rosolino (trombone), Stu Williamson (trumpet),

Victor Feldman (piano, vibes), Howard Rumsey (bass), Stan Levey (drums).

plus Ten Added Stars:

Pete Candoli, Al Porcino, Ed Leddy, George Werth (trumpets); 

Milt Bernhart, Harry Betts, Hoyt Bohannon (trombones);

Marshall Cram (bass trombone); Red Callender (tuba); Larry Bunker (tympany, vibes).

Recorded at Liberty Studios, Hollywood, California, circa 1957

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Fresh Sound Records

The edition released by Fresh Sound Records, by contrast, incorporated material from the original Royce Hall concert, adding the only two performances preserved in sufficiently complete and usable condition, introduced by Howard Rumsey himself. As indicated in the accompanying documentation, the surviving master tapes of the live event were largely compromised — affected by excessive audience noise, incomplete musical content, and various technical deficiencies — which reduces these two numbers to the only viable examples of the concert as it actually took place. Even these, however, present defects.

The jazz record buyer is listening more and more to the soloist, as opposed to ensemble writing. This is evident in the decline of the big band and increasing popularity of soloists and small groups. This may be the result of over-arranging and lack of honest emotion except during an improvised solo. It is here that the real communication between the listener and performer takes place. I have felt that the best points of the big band should be retained, especially since a big band can be a great source of inspiration to the soloist. With these things in mind we decided on the instrumentation used here. The idea being to preserve the sound of the small group (Lighthouse All-Stars) and inject the excitement and color of a big band with freedom and ample space for improvised solos.

We learned a great deal in recording and playing this music. I hope that the idea will be carried out and developed by others. I know we are all excited by its challenge.

*Bob Cooper (from the liner notes)*

1 - Strike Up the Band

(George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin)

2 - Prelude To The Queen

(Bob Cooper)

3 - The Clown's Dance

(Bob Cooper)

4 - Coop Salutes the "Co-Op"

(Bob Cooper)

5 - Bruinville, My Bruinville

(Bob Cooper)

6 -Mambo Del Quado

(Bob Cooper)

7 - Bruinville, My Bruinville

(Bob Cooper)

8 - Mambo Del Quado

(Bob Cooper)

#1 to #6:

Bob Cooper (tenor sax), Frank Rosolino (trombone), Stu Williamson (trumpet),

Victor Feldman (piano, vibes), Howard Rumsey (bass), Stan Levey (drums).

plus Ten Added Stars:

Pete Candoli, Al Porcino, Ed Leddy, George Werth (trumpets); 

Milt Bernhart, Harry Betts, Hoyt Bohannon (trombones);

Marshall Cram (bass trombone); Red Callender (tuba); Larry Bunker (tympany, vibes).

Recorded at Liberty Studios, Hollywood, California, circa 1957

#7 and #8:

Bob Cooper (tenor sax), Frank Rosolino (trombone),

Victor Feldman (piano, vibes), Howard Rumsey (bass), Stan Levey (drums).

plus Ten Added Stars:

Pete Candoli, Al Porcino, Ed Leddy, George Werth (trumpets); 

Milt Bernhart, Harry Betts, Hoyt Bohannon (trombones);

John Halliburton (bass trombone); Red Callender (tuba); Larry Bunker (tympany, vibes).

Recorded live at Royce Hall, University of California (UCLA), Los Angeles, October 28, 1957

Dave Pell: From Dixie to Cool

Dave Pell Octet

The Old South Wails

In a considerably cooler climate than is usually found below the Mason-Dixon Line, the Dave Pell Octet swings solidly through the South with their smooth, danceable stylings of Dixieland favorites. Bringing a new, modern sound to this fine collection of Dixie chestnuts is the inventive writing of no less than six different arrangers, who have up-dated such two-beat classics as "Ballin' The Jack" and "Sugar Foot Strut" to suit the "soft-swing" style that characterizes the music of Dave Pell. Many of the tunes begin in traditional Dixieland fashion, then make a subtle switch from hot to cool, as in "Jazz Me Blues" and Bill Holman's swinging, uptempo arrangement of "Oh, Didn't He Ramble" which opens with a slow and stately intro that's reminiscent of a solemn Bourbon Street processional. Still another highlight is the famous jazz spiritual "When The Saints Go Marching In", which is treated to a brilliant modern arrangement by Marty Paich, a Dave Pell colleague of long standing. Here Dave is featured on tenor sax, along with Jack Sheldon, trumpet; Harry Betts, trombone; Med Flory, baritone. Marty Paich and Johnny Williams share piano duties, heading a rhythm section that includes Lyle Ritz, bass; Tommy Tedesco, guitar; and Frankie Capp on drums.

*(From the liner notes)*

The final recording by the Dave Pell Octet until 1984 is a bit of a departure, for the 12 numbers are mostly Dixieland standards, including "Shim-Me-Sha-Wabble", "Ballin' the Jack", "Jazz Me Blues", and even "The Saints". The arrangements (by Med Flory, Marty Paich, Bill Holman, Harry Betts, Bob Florence and John Williams), however, are more modern, very much in the 1950s West Coast jazz style championed by Pell. The Octet (which includes Pell on tenor, trumpeter Jack Sheldon, trombonist Harry Betts, baritonist Flory, Paich or Williams on piano, guitarist Tommy Tedesco, bassist Lyle Ritz and drummer Frankie Capp) plays the charts well, swinging lightly, and the key musicians take plenty of short solos. Although there are hints of Dixieland in spots, this is mostly a cool jazz session and serves as the swan song for the fine group. It is a pity that so few of Dave Pell's recordings (including this one) have yet to be reissued on CD. *Scott Yanow*

This is a great example of the Dave Pell group. The jazz improv here is of the "brief" variety and the arrangements do interesting things...each one has its own eccentricities, and they all change around constantly. The style would probably qualify as "cool jazz", since the octet format has a number of different sound colors and the approach is not strictly bebop, but rather modern jazz as it was done in LA around the late fifties and early sixties.

This album takes tunes that would have been known in colleges and especially in the South, and sticks them into the jazz octet world of Dave Pell. All the tunes give plenty of soloing time, assuming you are not insistent upon extended form soloing like that of Miles and Trane.

If you are already familiar with the Jazz at the Lighthouse or the Shelly Manne and his friends style of jazz, then you will seriously dig this album.

I especially enjoyed hearing trombonist Harry Betts. Harry is also a great, great arranger and he plays great bone. Since I am a trombone player, I like to hear him.

*Christopher Tune (Amazon customer)*

Side 1

1 - Shi-Me-Sha-Wabble

(Spencer Williams)

2 - When The Saints Go Marching In

(Traditional, Arr. by Marty Paich)

3 - Sugar Foot Strut

(Pierce, Schwab, Myers)

4 - Ballin' The Jack

(Chris Smith, Jim Burris)

5 - There'll Be Some Changes Made

(Higgins, Overstreet)

6 - Paper Doll

(Johnny S. Black)

Side 2

7 - Jazz Me Blues

(Tom Delaney)

8 - Oh, Didn't He Ramble

(Handy, Arr. by Bill Holman)

9 - Blues (My Naughty Sweety Gives To Me)

(Swanstone, McCarron, Morgan)

10 - Manhattan

(Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)

11 - Ida! Sweet As Apple Cider

(Leonard, Munson, Arr. by Mary Paich)

12 - Tishomingo Blues

(Spencer Williams)

Dave Pell (tenor sax); Jack Sheldon (trumpet); Harry Betts (trombone);

Med Flory (baritone sax); John Williams, Marty Paich (piano);

Lyle Ritz (bass); Tommy Tedesco (guitar); Frank Capp (drums).

Recorded in Los Angeles, California, 1961

Shorty Rogers - Afro-Cuban Influence

Afro-Cuban music is probably the only musical import to come to America and become an integral part of our own music. The pulsating rhythms of Africa and Cuba 

have been liberally sprinkled into our pop music. It has influenced our religious and spiritual songs. It has found its way into our folk tunes. But nowhere has it left such an indelible mark as in the jazz music of our country — an art form that was essentially bred in America and which we now export with great pride throughout the world.

Without going into all the causes and effects, the term "Afro-Cuban Jazz" has been in use here for many years. Many great American bands have made use of its exciting musical colors — Duke Ellington, Stan Kenton and Dizzy Gillespie, to mention a few, are American-born musicians whose bands have come under the Afro-Cuban influence. Bands like those of Tito Puente, Machito and Perez Prado are also exciting examples of basically Afro-Cuban groups influenced by our native 

American jazz. Whichever way you look at it, the simplest way to describe the result is "Afro-Cuban Jazz".

This album is the result of collaboration by Carlos Vidal, Modesto Duran and myself. The three of us have always been fascinated by the richness, the moods, the color, the variety and the often wild excitement that Afro-Cuban music generates.

Throughout this album, we have given free reign to our impulses, fully conscious that we were leaning on, and affected by, what is perhaps the most dominant single factor in American music today — the AFRO-CUBAN INFLUENCE. *Shorty Rogers (liner notes)*

Shorty Rogers acknowledges the influence of Afro-Cuban music on this RCA Victor date, with a big band that is augmented by no fewer than eight Latin percussionists, along with drummer Shelly Manne. The leader is heard on flügelhorn exclusively. The entire first side of the record is devoted to "Wuayacañjanga Suite", a collaborative work by Rogers, Carlos Vidal, and Modesto Duran. Although the vocal segments can grow tiresome quickly, the variety within this extended suite is compelling. The flip side salutes earlier Afro-Cuban compositions by a number of jazz masters. His percolating arrangement of Dizzy Gillespie's "Manteca" is stretched out considerably, while the less well-known Duke Ellington-Juan Tizol piece "Moon Over Cuba" demonstrates the lyrical dimension of this style. Bud Powell's thrilling "Un Poco Loco" is played at a furious tempo, with a brilliant exchange between the individual horns and brass. Sadly, none of the soloists are identified on this highly recommended LP, which has been reissued overseas as Manteca Afro-Cuban Influence, but it has not reappeared in the U.S. *Ken Dryden*

A wonderful album of Latin grooves from Shorty! The record is one of his best, and features a whopping array of percussionists — including Carlos Vidal, Modesto Durán, and Mike Pacheco all coming into play with Shorty's west coast style of arrangements, tweaked greatly here to pick up an Afro Cuban sound. Players include Bud Shank, Bill Holman, Frank Rosolino, Herb Geller, and Bob Cooper — and the album is very similar to Perez Prado's Voodoo Suite álbum, which was also recorded for RCA around the same time. Includes the cuts "Un Poco Loco", "Manteca", "Viva Puente", and the extended suite "Wuayacañjanga".  *dustygroove.com*

Side 1

1 - Wuayacañjanga (Suite)

(Vidal, Durán, Rogers)

Side 2

2 - Manteca

(Fuller, Gillespie, Pozo)

3 - Moon Over Cuba

(Duke Ellington, Juan Tizol)

4 - Viva Puente

(Shorty Rogers)

5 - Un Poco Loco

(Bud Powell)

Shorty Rogers (flügelhorn); Al Porcino, Buddy Childers, Ed Leddy, Don Fagerquist, Ray Triscari (trumpets); Frank Rosolino, Harry Betts (trombones); Bob Enevoldsen (valve trombone); George Roberts, Kenny Schroyer (bass trombones); Bud Shank (flute, alto sax); Herb Geller (alto sax); Bob Cooper (oboe, tenor sax); Bill Hood (tenor sax, baritone sax); Chuck Gentry (baritone sax); Joe Mondragon (bass); Shelly Manne (drums); Frank Guerrero (timbales); Carlos Vidal (conga); Modesto Durán, Luis Miranda (conga, percussion); Mike Pacheco (bongos); Juan Cheda (bongos, vocal); Manuel Ochoa Kaskara (vocal, percussion); Sirelda González (maracas, vocal).

Recorded at Radio Recorders, Los Angeles, California, June 19 (#1) and June 26 (#2, #3, #4, #5), 1958.