Zardi’s Jazzland kicked off 1956 with a double-bill – an Andre Previn combo plus Shorty Rogers and His Giants. Previn was recording for Decca Records at the time and his recent LP, let’s get away from it all!, Decca DL 3181, featured Al Hendrickson, Irv Cottler, and Red Mitchell. Shorty was recording for Atlantic Records […]
Continue ReadingJimmy Giuffre
ZARDI’S – 1955
Zardi’s 1955 Sam Donato and Ben Arkin had been tinkering with the décor of Zardi’s ever since they acquired the club in 1953. The woven raffia ceiling that was framed in bamboo remained but the backdrop below the ceiling behind the musician bandstand changed several times. The strip below the bamboo termination of ceiling […]
Continue ReadingZARDI’S – 1954
Zardi’s 1954. 1954 provided a cornucopia of modern jazz for Los Angeles jazz fans. In addition to booming business at the city’s leading jazz clubs, jazz impresarios Gene Norman and brothers Norman and Irving Granz staged sell out concerts to meet the growing demand for modern jazz. Gene Norman continued to wear several musical […]
Continue ReadingTiffany Club – 1956/1957
Tiffany Club – 1956/1957 Shelly Manne and His Men continued to be the headline attraction through December 1955 at Tiffany Club and were carried over into January of 1956. The continuing engagement included a special “New Year’s Eve Gala” at the club with favors, hats, horns, and noisemakers. Manne’s working quintet comprised Stu Williamson […]
Continue ReadingTeddy 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 ReadingJazz Cabaret
The club space at 5510 Hollywood Boulevard was vacant for nearly a year after Maynard Sloate closed Jazz City. It gained new life in February of 1958 when Carl Greene opened Jazz Cabaret.
Continue ReadingJack Lewis / East Coast
Jack Lewis produced the RCA Victor Jazz Workshop series of albums while head of A&R in New York.
Continue ReadingThe Haig – Part Six
The Bud Shank Quartet returned to The Haig at the beginning of 1957. The Ad Lib column in the January 9, 1957, issue of Down Beat noted that Shank’s return gave a boost to business. The same column mentioned that the Jimmy Giuffre Three spent a week at The Haig in December.
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 ReadingJAZZ CITY PART SIX JANUARY – JUNE 1956
The December 28, 1955, issue of Down Beat magazine ran a short column announcing a series of West Coast bookings for Miles Davis’s current combo with Paul Chambers, Philly Joe Jones, Red Garland, and John Coltrane. The new quintet had a recent release on the Prestige label, MILES, that featured the new quintet. Miles Davis’s new quintet opened at Jazz City on Friday, January 6, 1956. The quintet’s engagement ran through Thursday, January 19, 1956. Prior to heading north to San Francisco for their booking at the Black Hawk, Paul Chambers joined a combo led by Kenny Drew for Jane Fielding’s second album for Herb Kimmel’s Jazz:West label.
Continue Reading“JAZZ MASQUERADE” UNMASKED
This research was originally published in the Dutch discography journal, Names & Numbers, No. 48, January 2009, in slightly different form. The Bihari brothers established their record empire beginning in late 1944 with the Modern Music label. Jules Bihari had a keen ear for talent and the rooster of artists recording for Modern soon numbered […]
Continue ReadingTHE FIRST LIGHTHOUSE ALL STARS RECORDINGS PT 4
TAMPA This research was originally published in the Dutch discography journal, Names & Numbers, No. 42, July 2007 and No. 44, January 2008 in slightly different form. The recordings to be examined are commercial recordings that were issued on the Skylark, Lighthouse, Contemporary and Tampa labels within the time frame of the […]
Continue ReadingTHE FIRST LIGHTHOUSE ALL STARS RECORDINGS PART THREE
CONTEMPORARY RECORDS This research was originally published in the Dutch discography journal, Names & Numbers, No. 42, July 2007 and No. 44, January 2008 in slightly different form. The recordings to be examined are commercial recordings that were issued on the Skylark, Lighthouse, Tampa and Contemporary labels within the time frame of the early […]
Continue ReadingTHE FIRST LIGHTHOUSE ALL STARS RECORDINGS PT 2 – THE LIGHTHOUSE RECORD COMPANY
This research was originally published in the Dutch discography journal, Names & Numbers, No. 42, July 2007 and No. 44, January 2008 in slightly different form. The recordings to be examined are commercial recordings that were issued on the Skylark, Lighthouse, Tampa and Contemporary labels within the time frame of the early 1950s when Howard […]
Continue ReadingTHE FIRST LIGHTHOUSE ALL STARS RECORDINGS PT 1 – SKYLARK
This research was originally published in the Dutch discography journal, Names & Numbers, No. 42, July 2007 and No. 44, January 2008 in slightly different form. The recordings to be examined are commercial recordings that were issued on the Skylark, Lighthouse, Tampa and Contemporary labels within the time frame of the early 1950s when Howard […]
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