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 ReadingRuss Freeman
Tiffany 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 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 ReadingTiffany Club – 1955 – Part Two
Chris Connor opened at Tiffany Club on Friday, July 8, 1955. Slim Gaillard and his crew were held-over for the sixth time. Down Beat published a profile of Chris that started out on the wrong foot when they printed her last name as “Connors.” Corrected for entry here: New York—Young, energetic Chris Connor, the former […]
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 ReadingRuss Freeman – “The Wind”
Russ Freeman could not recall the exact date that he wrote “The Wind,” but he was certain that it was sometime in 1953. It might have been the fall of 1953 when he and Chet Baker were renting a house on Hollyridge Drive and Bronson in the Hollywood Hills. Southern California experiences hot winds in […]
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 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 ReadingJAZZ SCENE USA #24 – VI REDD
The 24th episode of Steve Allen’s Jazz Scene USA featured Vi Redd (as), Carmell Jones (tp), Herb Ellis (g), Russ Freeman (p), Roy Ayers (vib), Bob Whitlock (b) and Richie Goldberg (d).
Continue ReadingJAZZ SCENE USA #23 – BIG MILLER
The 23rd episode of Steve Allen’s Jazz Scene USA featured Clarence “Big” Miller (vocal), Russ Freeman (piano), Lorenzo Holden (tenor sax), Monty Budwig (bass), Frankie Capp (drums).
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 […]
Continue ReadingTHE CY TOUFF / RICHIE KAMUCA SESSIONS
Dick Bock produced two albums, one in late 1955 and the other in early 1956, that remained in the Pacific Jazz / World Pacific catalogue over the next ten years with each being released three times. The Cy Touff / Richie Kamuca sessions recorded on December 4-5, 1955 were originally issued as PJ-1211 with reissued […]
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 TWO
The first CHET BAKER session listed in Jepson’s JAZZ RECORDS on page 177 has vexed discographers since its appearance in print in 1965 crediting Red Mitchell on the first Chet Baker Quartet recording session: CHET BAKER QUARTET: Chet Baker (tp), Russ Freeman (p), Red Mitchell (b), Bobby White (dr) LA July 24, 1953 PJ224 Isn’t […]
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 […]
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