Jazz For The Screen ★ Pete Rugolo

Pete Rugolo

The Music From Richard Diamond

The character of Richard Diamond originated in 1949 as a radio drama created by writer and director Blake Edwards and starring Hollywood actor Dick Powell. On the radio, Diamond was a charismatic New York private investigator, a former police officer who had the unique quirk of playing the piano and singing to his girlfriend, Helen, at the end of each episode.  In 1957, Four Star Television (co-founded by Powell himself) adapted the formula for television, casting a young David Janssen in the lead role. While the show retained the core of the film noir hardboiled detective—cynical yet charming—the TV adaptation dropped the character's singing trait and evolved toward a more stylized tone tailored to the late-1950s crime drama aesthetic.

During its first two seasons on CBS, the series featured traditional background music scored by Frank De Vol. However, for its third season in 1959, the show underwent a major overhaul: it moved to NBC, relocated Diamond from New York to Los Angeles, and embraced a distinct West Coast atmosphere. Capitalizing on the commercial success Henry Mancini had achieved a year earlier with Peter Gunn, TV networks recognized that modern jazz provided the perfect sonic vehicle for private eye stories.

To lead this musical shift, the producers hired Pete Rugolo. Rugolo, renowned for his work with the Stan Kenton Orchestra and a key figure in West Coast jazz, assembled a top-tier group of Los Angeles session musicians in Hollywood recording studios. The resulting soundtrack featured biting brass arrangements, driving hard bop rhythms, and improvisations charged with dramatic tension. The LP released by Mercury Records in 1959 was not merely a collection of short background cues taken from the TV audio tracks. Instead, it offered expanded arrangements, specifically re-recorded with high-fidelity production for the commercial record market, ultimately becoming a classic of the crime jazz subgenre. 

Back in the early '30s, in Pittsburgh, I played trumpet, clarinet, and saxophone and led my own band. I've never lost my enthusiasm and enjoyment for jazz and I've followed, with undiminished interest, the development of modern American music and its creators.

When we at Four Star Films Inc. were planning the current Richard Diamond television series I insisted on live background jazz and I insisted on the best. We got the best. We got Pete Rugolo. Rugolo gained international acclaim with his compelling compositions for Stan Kenton. And for the last decade Rugolo has been the leader in his field. His distinctive scoring has been heard in every medium.

Pete's imaginative and stimulating music for the Richard Diamond television programs is both intensely expressive and exciting. The whole music world has such high respect for Rugolo's inventive scores. The music in this album represents some of his best work. 

*Dick Powell (from the liner notes)*

Side 1

1 - Richard Diamond Theme

2 - Diamond On The Move

3 - Fancy Meeting Karen (Love Theme From Richard Diamond)

4 - I'm Always Chasing Butterflies

5 - Who's Sam?

6 - All Star

Side 2

7 - The Teaser

8 - Ye Olde Curiosity Shape

9 - Teen Age Rock

10 - The Sleeve Job

11 - Does Mama Know You're Out?

12 - Richard Diamond's Blues

(All compositions by Pete Rugolo)

Pete Rugolo (arranger, conductor);

Pete Candoli [#1, #3, #5, #6, #9, #10, #12], Buddy Childers [#2, #4 to #8, #10, #11],

Don Fagerquist [#5, #6, #8, #10], Ray Linn [#2, #4, #7, #11], Mickey Mangano [#2, #4, #7, #11],

Ollie Mitchell [#1, #3, #9, #12], Jimmy Salko [#2, #4, #7, #11],

Joe Triscari [#1, #3, #5, #6, #9, #10, #12], Stu Williamson [#1, #3, #9, #12] (trumpets);

Frank Rosolino, Milt Bernhart [#1, #3, #5, #6, #9, #10, #12],

Francis "Joe" Howard [#1 to #4, #7, #9, #11, #12], (trombones); 

George Roberts  (bass trombone);

Vincent DeRosa [#5, #6, #8, #10], Claude Sherry [#2, #4, #7, #11] (french horns);

Paul Horn, Bud Shank (piccolo, flute, alto sax);

Buddy Collette (tenor saxophone, clarinet, flute [#2, #4, #7, #11]);

Bob Cooper (tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, flute);

Chuck Gentry [#1, #3, #9, #12], Dale Issenhuth [#2, #4 to #8, #10, #11] (baritone saxes);

Larry Bunker (vibes, percussion, bongos, xylophone [#2, #4 to #8, #10, #11]);

Bernie Mattison - vibes, percussion [#1, #3, #9, #12]); Jimmy Rowles (piano);

Al Viola (guitar); Edgar Lustgarten (cello);

Rollie Bundock [#2, #4, #7, #11], Red Mitchell [#1, #3, #5, #6, #9, #10, #12],

Phil Stephens [#2, #4 to #8, #10, #11] (basses);

Irving Kluger [#2, #4, #7, #11], Shelly Manne [#1, #3, #5, #6, #8 to #10, #12] (drums).

Recorded at United Recording Studios, Hollywood, California, March 10, 1959 (#1, #3, #9, #12), 

March 31, 1959 (#5, #6, #8, #10) and April 9, 1959 (tracks #2, #4, #7, #11)

[other source gives: March 12, 1959 (#1, #3, #9, #12), March 19, 1959 (#5, #6, #8, #10)

and March 20, 1959 (tracks #2, #4, #7, #11)]

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 XXVIII ★ Jazz On Television (I)

Los Angeles Jazz Institute presents

Rare And Unissued Audio of

West Coast Jazz On Television

From the 1950s

Following the "historical route" of existing recordings by the Lighthouse All-Stars, including their mentor Howard Rumsey, we come across hard-to-find recordings covering the group's appearances on the television circuit. These will be two very special posts.

This first post rescues a collection of rare and unissued broadcast recordings made between 1953 and 1957. The core of the album consists of performances from the celebrated TV show Stars of Jazz (broadcast on ABC/KABC-TV starting in June 1956 and hosted by Bobby Troup), alongside invaluable television gems: from the Lighthouse All-Stars' historic appearance on the premiere broadcast of NBC's Monitor in 1955, to a newly discovered 12" acetate featuring Chet Baker on The Today Show, as well as the 1953 charity telethon with the Sonny Burke Orchestra and an appearance by the Dave Brubeck Quartet on Steve Allen's show.

Although very few kinescopes with the original video footage survived over the years, the audio archive has been meticulously preserved thanks to the work of the Los Angeles Jazz Institute—sourced from the collections of key figures like Jimmie Baker and Bob Andrews, as well as transcription discs recorded for the Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS) and material later issued by Calliope Records—. Much of the historical rigor surrounding these broadcasts is owed to James Harrod's exhaustive research across his platforms (Jazz Profiles, Stars of Jazz blog, and Calliope Records blog), an essential reference for understanding this era.

A unique opportunity to experience the vibrancy of the Los Angeles scene live on television, preserved in a truly indispensable archival release.

1 - Anybody Hurt / Hey Bellboy

(Sonny Burke, Paul Francis Webster / Sonny Burke)

Gloria Wood and Pete Candoli with Sonny Burke Orchestra:

Gloria Wood (vocals), Pete Candoli (trumpet), Sonny Burke (piano, conductor).

[other personnel unidentified]

Recorded at KECA-TV (Channel 7), Cerebral Palsy Telethon,

Los Angeles, California, June 6, 1953

2 - Goodbye / I Get Along Without You Very Well

(Gordon Jenkins / Hoagy Carmichael)

Chet Baker

Chet Baker (trumpet, vocal), Russ Freeman (celeste).

[unidentified percussionist]

Recorded live on "The Today Show",

NBC Television Network, May 13, 1955

3 - Happy Town / Jazz Invention

(Bob Cooper / Bob Cooper)

Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars:

Bud Shank (alto sax, flute), Bob Cooper (tenor sax, oboe), Frank Rosolino (trombone),

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

Recorded live at The Lighthouse, Hermosa Beach, California,

"NBC Monitor Premiere", NBC Network, June 12, 1955

4 - All The Things You Are

(Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II)

Dave Brubeck Quartet:

Dave Brubeck (piano), Paul Desmond (alto sax), Norman Bates (bass), Joe Dodge (drums).

Recorded live on "The Tonight Show hosted by Steve Allen",

NBC Television Network, February 22, 1956

5 - Doxy

(Sonny Rollins)

Shelly Manne and His Men:

Stu Williamson (trumpet), Charlie Mariano (alto sax),

Russ Freeman (piano), Leroy Vinnegar (bass), Shelly Manne (drums).

Recorded live on "Stars of Jazz", KABC-TV (Channel 7),

Los Angeles, California, July 16, 1956

6 - Sweet Georgia Brown

(Ben Bernie, Maceo Pinkard, Kenneth Casey)

Red Norvo Ensemble:

Red Norvo (xylophone), Jack Montrose (tenor sax),

Robert Drasnin (reeds), Bill Kosinski (french horn),

Jimmy Wyble (guitar), Buddy Clark (bass), Bill Douglass (drums).

Recorded live on "Stars of Jazz", KABC-TV (Channel 7),

Los Angeles, California, August 27, 1956

7 - Coolin' The Blues

(Hampton Hawes)

Hampton Hawes Trio:

Hampton Hawes (piano), Red Mitchell (bass), Leroy McCray (drums).

Recorded live on "Stars of Jazz", KABC-TV (Channel 7),

Los Angeles, California, September 10, 1956

8 - Modus Operani

(Jack Montrose)

Jack Montrose Quintet:

Jack Montrose (tenor sax), Fred Waters (baritone sax),

Paul Moer (piano), Ralph Peña (bass), William Donley (drums).

Recorded live on "Stars of Jazz", KABC-TV (Channel 7),

Los Angeles, California, December 10, 1956

9 -I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me

(Jimmy McHugh, Clarence Gaskill)

Lennie Niehaus Quintet:

Lennie Niehaus (alto sax), Bill Perkins (tenor sax),

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

Recorded live on "Stars of Jazz", KABC-TV (Channel 7),

Los Angeles, California, January 14, 1957

10 - Short Stop

(Shorty Rogers)

Shorty Rogers Big Band:

Shorty Rogers (flugelhorn); Ollie Mitchell, Conte Candoli, Al Porcino,

Harry "Sweets" Edison (trumpets); Sam Rice (tuba);

Milt Bernhart, Frank Rosolino, Frank Strong Jr., Harry Betts (trombones); 

Herb Geller, Jack Montrose, Bill Holman, Bill Perkins, Pepper Adams (reeds);

Pete Jolly (piano); Red Mitchell (bass); Stan Levey (drums).

Recorded live on "Stars of Jazz", KABC-TV (Channel 7),

Los Angeles, California, February 4, 1957

11 - Wow

(Shorty Rogers)

Kay Brown with Shorty Rogers Big Band:

Kay Brown (vocal) with

Shorty Rogers (flugelhorn); Ollie Mitchell, Conte Candoli, Al Porcino,

Harry "Sweets" Edison (trumpets); Sam Rice (tuba);

Milt Bernhart, Frank Rosolino, Frank Strong Jr., Harry Betts (trombones); 

Herb Geller, Jack Montrose, Bill Holman, Bill Perkins, Pepper Adams (reeds);

Pete Jolly (piano); Red Mitchell (bass); Stan Levey (drums).

Recorded live on "Stars of Jazz", KABC-TV (Channel 7),

Los Angeles, California, February 4, 1957

12 - Popo

(Shorty Rogers)

Shorty Rogers Big Band:

Shorty Rogers (flugelhorn); Ollie Mitchell, Conte Candoli, Al Porcino,

Harry "Sweets" Edison (trumpets); Sam Rice (tuba);

Milt Bernhart, Frank Rosolino, Frank Strong Jr., Harry Betts (trombones); 

Herb Geller, Jack Montrose, Bill Holman, Bill Perkins, Pepper Adams (reeds);

Pete Jolly (piano); Red Mitchell (bass); Stan Levey (drums).

Recorded live on "Stars of Jazz", KABC-TV (Channel 7),

Los Angeles, California, February 4, 1957

13 - Infra Rae

(Hank Mobley)

Claude Williamson Trio:

Claude Williamson (piano), Willfred Middlebrooks (bass),Billy Higgins (drums).

Recorded live on "Stars of Jazz", KABC-TV (Channel 7),

Los Angeles, California, June 24, 1957

14 - Westlake Bounce

(John Graas)

John Graas Quintet:

John Graas (french horn), Sam Firmature (tenor sax),

Dick Grove (piano), Dick Fritz (bass), Ray Roten (drums).

Recorded live on "Stars of Jazz", KABC-TV (Channel 7),

Los Angeles, California, August 5, 1957

15 - Makin' Whoopee

(Walter Donaldson, Gus Kahn)

Lucy Ann Polk with the Marty Paich Septet:

Lucy Ann Polk (vocal) with

Jack Sheldon, Don Fagerquist (trumpets);

Stu Williamson, Bob Enevoldsen (valve trombones);

Marty Paich (piano); Buddy Clark (bass); Mel Lewis (drums).

Recorded live on "Stars of Jazz", KABC-TV (Channel 7),

Los Angeles, California, November 11, 1957

16 - Blue Lou

(Edgar Sampson, Irving Mills)

Marty Paich Septet:

Jack Sheldon, Don Fagerquist (trumpets);

Stu Williamson, Bob Enevoldsen (valve trombones);

Marty Paich (piano); Buddy Clark (bass); Mel Lewis (drums).

Recorded live on "Stars of Jazz", KABC-TV (Channel 7),

Los Angeles, California, November 11, 1957

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

✤✤✤✤

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

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... 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

Dennis Farnon - Caution! Men Swinging

Dennis Farnon was born in 1923 in Toronto, Canada as John Denis Farnon to Robert and Elsie Farnon (née Menzies). He grew up in a musical family, and learned to play the trumpet at age 12. Through his older brother Robert, he enlisted into the Canadian Army Band, also travelling to Europe to entertain the Allied troops during the last years of the war. In his mid-20s, he moved to Chicago where he played in jazz clubs and pursued studies in conducting, arranging, and orchestration, strongly influenced by the works of Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy, Béla Bartók and Sergey Prokofiev.

Several years later, he accepted an invitation to Hollywood as musical director for singer Johnny Holiday, and he stayed, continuing to compose, conduct and arrange. In 1956, he was tapped by RCA Records to head their West Coast A&R and signed on as producer, arranger and recording artist. During that time, the Dennis Farnon Orchestra recorded numerous albums, including Magoo in Hi-Fi, over 10 episodes of Mr Magoo cartoon shorts, Chet Atkins in Hollywood, Velvet Carpet with The George Shearing's Quintet, The Enchanted Woods, Songs From The Motion Picture Gigi, While My Lady Sleeps with Phineas Newborn Jr., and Caution! Men Swinging.

This roaring, vibrant album has all the drive, sparkle and vibrancy that characterized swing big bands in their heyday, plus imaginative new ideas. Not only is the swing youthful, but Dennis Farnon's own musical imagination has also brought it up to date and added new lustre and meaning to the idiom. Caution! Men Swinging stands out for its precision and powerhouse sound of the brass and sax sections in the overall set, arranged and conducted by Canadian Dennis Farnon. In addition, there is ample room for solo blowing by Don Fagerquist, who plays all the jazz trumpet; pianists Lou Levy and Jimmy Rowles, guitarist Howard Roberts, tenor Ted Nash, plus the superb lead trumpet work of Frank Beach and George Roberts' bass trombone very present at all times. This 1957 album was the only jazz LP Farnon recorded in his entire career and, possibly thinking he could hardly have surpassed it, he devoted his work primarily to writing arrangements and conducting for pop singers. Enjoy this fantastic swinging big band session! *Jordi Pujol*

Back in the 1950s, as the Big Band Era was slowly dying, the money for musicians was to be made in the studios, with alumni from Herman, Rogers and Kenton playing for TV shows and movies in order to pay off their mortgages in  the San Fernando Valley. Here are a couple swinging albums from Hollywood in the swinging Eisenhower Years.

Canadian conductor Dennis Farron leads a 1957 studio orchestra that includes Pete Condoli/tp, Ted Nash/ts, Bob Enevoldsen/vtb, Howard Roberts/g, Jimmy Rowles-Lou Levy/p and Alvin Stoller/dr for a mix of originals and standards. They sound like a background sound track for a film noir on the swaggering "Caution! Men Swinging" while the muted horns sway on "Lover Come Back To Me". West Coast Cool moods dominate "Why Don’t You Do Right" while big brass is bold on "Just You, Just Me" with the team sounding like Kenton on the hard hitting "Three Little Words". Bright primary colors. *George W. Harris*

Side 1

1 - Caution! Men Swinging

(Dennis Farnon)

2 - Spring Will Be A Little Late This Year

(Frank Loesser)

3 - Lover Come Back To Me

(Oscar Hammerstein, Sigmund Romberg)

4 - Shoo-Shoo Baby

(Phil Moore)

5 - Just You, Just Me

(Jessie Greer, Raymond Klages)

Side 2

06 - Isle Of Capri

(Wilhelm Grosz, James Kennedy)

07 - South Of The Border

(M. Beresford, J. B. Kennedy)

08 - It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)

(Duke Ellington, Irving Mills)

09 - Why Don't You Do Right

(Joe McCoy)

10 - Three Little Words

(Harry Ruby)

11 - Resume Speed

(Dennis Farnon)

Pete Candoli, Frank Beach, Don Fagerquist, Paul Geil (trumpets); Tommy Pederson, Joe Howard (trombones); Bob Enevoldsen (valve trombone); George Roberts (bass trombone); Jack Dumont, Brian Farnon (alto saxes); Ted Nash, Gene Cipriano (tenor saxes); Chuck Gentry (baritone sax); Howard Roberts (guitar); Jimmy Rowles [#1, #2, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9], Lou Levy [#3, #4, #10, #11] (pianos); Cliff Hills (bass); Alvin Stoller (drums).

Recorded at Radio Recorders, Hollywood, California, May 30, 1957.

 

Milt Bernhart Brass Ensemble - Modern Brass

Milt Bernhart grew up as a musician playing in the bands of Boyd Raeburn, Buddy Franklyn, Jimmy James and Teddy Powell. After that peculiar apprenticeship he joined Stan Kenton's band. The years with Kenton boosted Bernhardt to considerable popularity with jazz followers, and his solos won him repeated high placings in Down Beats readers poll. After that, he was a graduate of the Kenton school of higher learning. But, for the most part, musicians are born, not made, and the notes Milt blew, the phrasing and imagination he so vividly demonstrated, could not have been easily picked up in any learned institution. With this particular group, nucleus of the West Coast school of jazz, he contributed more than his share to its new sounds and seemingly fantastic thought processes. This album includes some of the most inspired trombone playing since the invention of that venerable instrument. *Jordi Pujol*

When RCA Victor decided to make an album showcasing the considerable talents of Milt Bernhart, they searched for an entirely new form of presentation employing not only his horn but a unique voicing and instrumentation in which to frame it. Milt came up with the idea of an all-brass setting, exclusive of the conventional rhythm section. After deciding upon the voicing — two trumpets, Milt's trombone, French horn, bass horn and tuba, along with guitar, string bass and drums — the arrangers were chosen. Certainly no single jazz album ever done has had such a roster of composers-arrangers: Shorty Rogers, Pete Rugolo, Andre Previn, Wes Hensel, Pete Candoli and Jimmy Guiffre — the individual approach of each further enhances their collective reputations as the vanguard of the West Coast school. That they solved any seeming problems should be very evident, for in none of the twelve selections could any lack of color or tonality be detected; in fact, the unique voicing and arranging, the inspired solos and warm feeling of the group as a whole are everywhere evident.

Thus this album features not only Milt Bernhart’s happy, brazen trombone along with other equally great soloists playing superb arrangements, but a fresh and unique — nonetheless valid and justifiable — approach to the problem of extending the horizons of jazz.

Listen then to Modern Brass played by Milt Bernhart and his brass ensemble.

*Paul Krupa (liner notes)*

This is an experimental album that clearly expands the frontiers of modern jazz. Giving a brass section, consisting of two trumpets, trombone, French horn, bass horn amd tuba the task of creating a well-balanced sound without the relieving colors of the usual band sections is practically an invitation to disaster. The success here, against heavy odds, is due chiefly to the skill of the fine arrangers employed for this remarkable set: Pete Rugolo, Shorty Rogers, Andre Previn, Jimmy Giuffre, Wes Hensel and Pete Candoli. The trombone of Bernhart is featured thruout, and in the richly varied fare offered here, his solos are consistently warm and imaginative.

*Billboard, October 15, 1955*

Side 1

1 - The Horns

(Jimmy Giuffre)

2 - Hooray For Hollywood

(Mercer, Whiting)

3 - What Is There To Say

(Harburg, Duke)

4 - Looking For A Boy

(G. and I. Gershwin)

5 - Amor Flamengo

(Laurindo Almeida)

6 - Southern Comfort

(Pete Candoli)

Side 2

7 - London In July

(Vernon Duke)

8 - Tangerine

(Mercer, Schertzinger)

9 - Lavender

(Jimmy Giuffre)

10 - Hillside

(Andre Previn)

11 - It's All Right With Me

(Cole Porter)

12 - Save Your Chops

(Pete Candoli)

Milt Bernhart (trombone) with:

#1, #3, #8, #9

Shorty Rogers [as Roger Milton], Ray Linn (tumpets); Maynard Ferguson (euphonium); John Graas (French horn); Ray Siegel (tuba); Jack Marshall (guitar); Red Mitchell [as Keith Mitchell] (bass); Irv Kluger (drums).

Recorded in Hollywood, California, March 4, 1955.

#5, #7, #12

Shorty Rogers, Pete Candoli (trumpets); Maynard Ferguson (euphonium); John Graas (French horn); Ray Siegel (tuba); Jack Marshall (guitar); Red Mitchell (bass); Irv Kluger (drums).

Recorded in Hollywood, California, March 6, 1955.

#2, #4, #6, #10, #11

Ray Linn, Pete Candoli (trumpets); Maynard Ferguson (euphonium); John Graas (French horn); Paul Sarmento (tuba); Jack Marshall (guitar); Red Mitchell (bass); Irving Cottler (drums).

Recorded in Hollywood, California, March 8, 1955.