Zardi’s adopted their final moniker in 1953 The musical merry-go-round of Sardi’s, Cardi’s, and Zardi’s settled with the latter name in March of 1953. The existence of the well-known New York restaurant might have been the motivation to make the name changes although evidence of any legal challenge did not make headlines in the newspapers. […]
Continue ReadingChet Baker
Teddy Charles / Dave Brubeck / Chet Baker
Teddy Charles / Dave Brubeck / Chet Baker – Los Angeles 1953 The individual careers of Teddy Charles, Dave Brubeck, and Chet Baker intersected when they appeared at clubs and concerts in 1953. Teddy Charles shared the stage with the Dave Brubeck Quartet and a Shelly Manne group at Wilshire-Ebell in July for what was […]
Continue ReadingTiffany Club – 1954
Los Angeles in the mid 1950’s was a jazz lovers paradise. A snapshot of January 1954 provides an example. Billie Holiday was ending her current engagement at Tiffany Club, Bud Powell was opening at The Haig, Chet Baker and Russ Freeman were at Zardi’s, Nat “King” Cole was at Ciro’s, June Christy was at Trianon […]
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 ReadingTiffany Club – 1952 – Part One
Chuck Landis budgeted over one hundred thousand dollars for talent in his Tiffany Club in 1952.
Continue ReadingJohnny Mandel & Dick Bock
Johnny Mandel had a noteworthy role in the early success of Dick Bock’s Pacific Jazz label. From February of 1954 until August of 1958 Mandel’s composing/arranging hand embellished eleven albums.
Continue ReadingThe Haig – Part Three
The halcyon days of the original Gerry Mulligan Quartet at the Haig with a packed house and patrons waiting patiently in lines that stretched up to Wilshire Boulevard were long gone at the beginning of 1954. The small capacity of the club made it difficult to turn a profit when competing clubs like Zardi’s and […]
Continue ReadingThe Haig – Part Two
The Gerry Mulligan Quartet continued their engagement at The Haig in January of 1953. Bob Whitlock departed the quartet before Christmas and was replaced by Carson Smith, a logical choice by Mulligan as Smith had demonstrated his chops during the initial engagement at the Black Hawk in September of 1952. The quartet’s version of “My […]
Continue ReadingThe Haig – Part One
The first major building to occupy the 3300 block of Wilshire Boulevard was the Gaylord Apartments, designed by the Walker & Eisen architectural firm in 1924. The apartments were named for Gaylord Wilshire who named the boulevard that bears his name. The vintage photograph below shows the surrounding area shortly after the building was completed. […]
Continue ReadingJAZZ CITY PART SEVEN JULY – DECEMBER 1956
The Australian Jazz Quartet/Quintet engagement that began in June carried over to July 5, 1956. The Chet Baker Quintet opened the following day, Friday, July 6, 1956. The Chet Baker Quintet appeared on Stars of Jazz the next Monday, July 9th, with the addition of Bill Loughborough on boo-bams, a percussion instrument consisting of calf skin stretched over varying lengths of timber bamboo. Chet would frequently play boo-bams during the engagement at Jazz City.
Continue ReadingJAZZ CITY PART FOUR JANUARY – JUNE 1955
Barney Kessel opened Jazz City in October of 1954 and featured Art Pepper as a guest soloist for four weeks and then Zoot Sims for four weeks. Kessel continued to be the headliner until mid January of 1955 when Maynard Sloate hired Lee Konitz for a two week run at Jazz City. Konitz and his quartet, Jeff Morten, drums; Ronnie Ball, piano; and Peter Ind, bass played an extended gig at The Tiffany Club that ended mid January when the Bob Scobey group arrived. The Lee Konitz Quartet opened at Jazz City on Friday, January 14, 1955.
Continue ReadingBUD SHANK / CHET BAKER THEME MUSIC FROM “THE JAMES DEAN STORY”
The recording date for the Pacific Jazz / World Pacific session that produced the above album has consistently been given as November 8, 1956 in jazz discographies. Jorgen Grunnet Jepsen’s JAZZ RECORDS 1942-1965 Vol. 1: A – Bl entry was one of the first discographies to annotate the album. This pioneering work was accomplished at […]
Continue ReadingCHET BAKER QUARTET JAZZ AT ANN ARBOR
Chet Baker’s first American tour included stops in Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Toronto, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. The appearances in major cities were at established jazz clubs where the quartet was booked for stays of a week or longer. In between the major stops there were many one night performances such as the concert in […]
Continue ReadingCHET BAKER “SAD WALK”
Chet Baker expressed his admiration for the compositions of Bob Zieff in an interview with the Italian journalist, Francesco Forti, on July 25, 1959, that was published in Jazz di Ieri e di Oggi. Chet stated, “There is a young composer who lives in New York, his name is Bob Zieff. He writes music that […]
Continue ReadingCHET BAKER QUARTET CALIFORNIA TOUR JULY 1954
Barnet Schorr embarked on an avocation as jazz concert impresario when he was still in his early twenties in 1953. His initial concerts with the Dave Brubeck Quartet, Erroll Garner, Claire Austin and Odetta were quite successful and in the summer of 1954 he made arrangements with Russ Freeman to book the Chet Baker Quartet […]
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