The LA studios of the 60s and 70s were filled with swing and mainstream jazz musicians earning some nice dough, but also looking for either hip venues like Donte’s or Concert By The Sea for some gigs, or maybe getting on some creative album sessions. Here are a couple of big band sessions that must have made the studio studs cheer for joy.
Drummer Gene Estes (1931-1996) puts together an impressive big band for a March 23, 1968 session that includes boppers like Conte Candoli/tp, Bob Enevoldsen/vtb and Med Flory/as , but also the up and comers like future LA Express man Tom Scott/as-cl and Jim Hughart/b. The nine tune include hard hitters with a big sound, such as Estes’ own ‘Sharly My Boy” and the bold “Sweet Lum;” while featuring Joyce Collins on the nifty read of Jimmy Heath’s “Big ‘P’”. Alan Estes’ vibes work well on the moody “Besame Mucho” and the woodwinds are as breezy as a drive on PCH on “D.A.V.” Driving with the top down.
Dick Grove (1927-1998) leads a band filled with some of LA’s finest in a more “contemporary” sound in this 1973 session. The ensemble includes Buddy Childers/tp, boppers Lanny Morgan/Bill Perkins/as, Sinatra alumnus Al Viola/g and Pete Jolly/p-keys. Gene Cherico plays a Fender bass on the funky soul’d “Good ‘N Plenty” and “Ain’t No Doubt About It” while the team sways on a 6/8 groove on “Dead Ringer”. Roy Burns supplies a hip intro to “Big, Bad and Beautiful” and the team goes on a magnificent journey on the 10 minute opus “Trilogy For A Boy”. This music sounds fresher than most “modern” charts that pass for today’s big band jazz.