One of Dick Bock’s last recording sessions as president and owner of Pacific Jazz Records took place on January 13, 1965, at Capitol Records Studio “B” as he taped the initial session for Gerald Wilson’s fourth big band album. Writer Leroy Robinson was present and documented the proceedings in detail, one of the finest evocations […]
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Teddy Edwards – Sunset Eyes
Teddy Edwards’ Sunset Eyes is scheduled for release in the Tone Poet Audiophile Vinyl Reissue Series on April 4, 2025. Recording dates and personnel for the album have been muddled and unknown over the years. Teddy Edwards’ first album as leader for Pacific Jazz, It’s About Time, PJ/ST-6, evolved from Edwards’ sitting in with Les […]
Continue ReadingGeorge Byron / Jerome Kern
George Rinker-Forbes Beuchler was born in Jacksonville, Florida, on July 29, 1908. He attended Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and graduated when he was 18 years old. Beuchler was very active in musical productions at Georgetown including several Gilbert and Sullivan operas. After graduation he joined the National Opera Company where he was featured […]
Continue ReadingFRANKLY JAZZ with Frank Evans
Jazz returned to the television screen in Los Angeles in the summer of 1962. The first program was created for syndication by Steve Allen who hired Jimmie Baker to produce the shows. Baker was a veteran jazz TV producer who had been one of the creative forces responsible for the award winning Stars of Jazz […]
Continue ReadingWorld Pacific 1957 New York Sessions
This research originally appeared in the Dutch discography journal, Names & Numbers, No. 82, July 2017, in slightly different form and content. The January 23, 1958, issue of Down Beat published a notice in the opening “strictly ad lib” New York column that summarized a series of recording sessions that took place in December, 1957, […]
Continue ReadingWorld Pacific WP/S 1800 Covers Pt 9
WP/STEREO – 1891 / 21904 – Aura Records An article from the April 14, 1962 edition of Billboard Music Week under the headline “World Pacific Celebrates 10th Year” noted that Bock launched his label a decade earlier “…with a total investment of $350 and ‘a burning desire to record Gerry Mulligan.’” The article went on […]
Continue ReadingWorld Pacific WP/S 1800 Covers Pt 8
WP/STEREO – 1870 / 21890 The albums covered in this segment as well as albums in previous segments document Bock’s attempt to boost sales via pop oriented material using front line jazz musicians like Bud Shank, Chet Baker, and Joe Pass; along with arrangers Bob Florence, George Tipton, and Jack Nietzsche. Guest producers in this […]
Continue ReadingWorld Pacific WP/S 1800 Covers Pt 7
WP/STEREO – 1860 / 1868 The albums covered in this segment as well as albums in previous segments document Bock’s attempt to boost sales via pop oriented material using front line jazz musicians like Bud Shank, Chet Baker, and Joe Pass; along with arrangers Bob Florence, George Tipton, and Jack Nietzsche. Guest producers in this […]
Continue ReadingWorld Pacific WP/S 1800 Covers Pt 6
WP/STEREO – 1850 / 1859 The albums covered in this segment as well as albums in previous segments document Bock’s attempt to boost sales via pop oriented material using front line jazz musicians like Bud Shank, Chet Baker, and Joe Pass; along with arrangers Bob Florence, George Tipton, and Jack Nietzsche. Guest producers in this […]
Continue ReadingWorld Pacific WP/S 1800 Covers Pt 5
WP/STEREO – 1840 / 1849 Will Thornbury interviewed Dick Bock initially in 1963 and again in 1984 as part of his ongoing documentation of jazz on the West Coast. The interviews covered a wide range of topics regarding Bock’s Pacific Jazz and World Pacific years. When Bock sold the company to Liberty he was kept […]
Continue ReadingWorld Pacific WP/S 1800 Covers Pt 4
WP/STEREO – 1830 / 1839 The 1800 series was another mixed bag with Latin, comedy, folk, blues, Broadway shows, rock, pop, and everything else that did not fit anywhere else.
Continue ReadingWorld Pacific WP/S 1800 Covers Pt 3
WP/STEREO – 1821 / 1829 The 1800 series was another mixed bag with Latin, comedy, folk, blues, Broadway shows, rock, pop, and everything else that did not fit anywhere else.
Continue ReadingWorld Pacific WP/S 1800 Covers Pt 2
WP/STEREO – 1811 / 1820 The 1800 series was another mixed bag with Latin, comedy, folk, blues, Broadway shows, rock, pop, and everything else that did not fit anywhere else. The Sandells album was a new departure for World-Pacific although the earlier surfing soundtracks by Bud Shank were also aimed at a young male market.
Continue ReadingWorld Pacific WP/S 1800 Covers Pt 1
WP/STEREO – 1801 / 1810 The 1800 series was another mixed bag with Latin, comedy, folk, blues, Broadway shows, rock, pop, and everything else that did not fit anywhere else. Albums that appeared in the 1400 series were issued again as 1800 numbers.
Continue ReadingWorld Pacific WP/S 1400 Covers Pt 5
WP/WPS 2- 1447/1467 This last group of releases in the 1400 series included a few mono versions labeled as demonstration LPs. The retail versions were released in stereo versions only.
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