Thomas Kelly Makagon was born on April 3, 1926, in San Francisco. The family relocated to southern California in the late 1930s where he attended high school in Sun Valley at John H. Francis Polytechnic. The 1942 high school yearbook page devoted to members of the school band and orchestra shows Earle Spencer as a […]
Continue ReadingBobby White
The Clef, 1841 Club, Duffy’s Gayety
The venue at 1841 N. Cahuenga Boulevard was known as Mary Louise of Hollywood in the 1930s when luncheon was served during noon contract bridge lectures. Noontime tea and biscuits disappeared in the mid thirties when a liquor license was issued to Carl Arnot and his White Horse Tavern featuring dining, dancing, and entertainment. The […]
Continue ReadingART PEPPER: THE DISCOVERY SESSIONS
Albert Marx resigned as A&R vice president at Musicraft in the spring of 1948 when that label was undergoing reorganization. He moved to Los Angeles that summer and established Discovery Records, Hollywood, in the fall of 1948. A Hollywood column in the September 4, 1948, issue of Billboard magazine noted that “Marx leaves here September […]
Continue ReadingTHE CHET BAKER QUARTET: FIRST RECORDINGS PART THREE
The European release of Chet Baker’s first 10” LP, Pacific Jazz PJLP-3, on UK Vogue (L.D.E. 045), French Swing (M. 33.308) and Swedish Karusell (KLP – 1) replaced THE LAMP IS LOW with WINTER WONDERLAND. The Swing LP label did not register the change and listed THE LAMP IS LOW in error. The UK LP […]
Continue ReadingTHE CHET BAKER QUARTET: FIRST RECORDINGS PART ONE
Jazz discography is not a static entity, it is constantly changing as new evidence emerges that modifies, changes and corrects existing data regarding musicians, tunes, dates and places. One of the first modern jazz discographies was compiled by Jorgen Grunnet Jepsen over forty years ago. He was assisted by jazz experts worldwide who contributed their […]
Continue Reading