Back when Ike was in the White House, the West Coast featured some of the most influential music not only in jazz, but in popular music. The Hollywood studios were brimming with jazzers who were supplementing their income by playing on TV shows like Leave it to Beaver. Here are a couple sessions from the days of the Brown Derby
Clifford Brown has become one of the most important trumpet players in jazz history. This session from Hollywood in 1954 tends to get unjustifiably overlooked. He’s with his teammate Max Roach/dr and along with Lighthouse All Stars Herb Geller-Joe Maini/as, Walter Benton/ts, Kenny Drew/p and Curtis Counce/b they deliver relaxed and casual jam session reads of “Coronado,” “You Go To My Head,” Caravan” and “Autumn in New York.” Geller almost steals the show on “Autumn” with his creamy alto, and Brown is a dream come true on a searing “Caravan.” And, if you ever think that jam sessions are relaxed and sloppy affairs, just get a load of the interplay between the horns as the race to the finish line on “Coronado!” You feel like you’re sitting in amongst the giants here.
Cool-toned alto saxist Paul Desmond made his name with Dave Brubeck’s band, but before that period of his life he’s found here in Hollywood and San Francisco in a variety of swinging sessions. He’s with Dick Collins/tp, Dav Van Kriedt/ts, Bob Bates/b and Joe Dodge for a snappy session which is cleverly cool on “Baroque” but sizzles on “Jeruvian.” The next month he includes some background vocalists (which were “in vogue” at the time”) along with Barney Kessel/g for some lithely MOR-ish pieces such as “Garden in the Rain” and “Winky.” Desmond bears down a bit more on the February 1956 session from SFO with Don Elliot/mel-tp, a non –Psycho Norman Bates/b and Joe Dodge/dr on a snazzy “Line For Lyons” and “Let’s Get Away From It All.” Desmond croons on “You Go To My Head” and “Everything Happens to Me” while the whole team is as sharp as the fins on a Caddy.
Fresh Sound Records