# To fully understand the romance of West Coast jazz of the early 1950s: Videos, Photos

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2018/03/24/to-fully-understand-the-romance-of-west-coast-jazz-of-the-early-1950s-videos-photos/
- Published: 2018-03-24T10:17:35+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**To fully understand the romance of West Coast jazz of the early 1950s, you have
to walk the beaches of Hermosa, Huntington, Laguna and Redondo in California. I 
did that in the 1980s with a Walkman. **

As I walked the sand in tan Converse sneakers, I listened to home-made cassettes
of Shorty Rogers, Shelly Manne, Stan Kenton and Johnny Richards, among others. Only
then did I realize how much Pacific Ocean is in the music along with the toasted
air, the salty smell and the sound of the crashing surf. When you listen to the 
music and awaken your other senses, the music’s charm and young ambition hits you.[
Hermosa Beach in 1953]

[⌊8715d515ac4a9ec0b3a420fb900224ae-jazz1⌉⌊8715d515ac4a9ec0b3a420fb900224ae-jazz1⌉[
 If you won’t
be in California anytime soon, another way to enter the world of West Coast jazz
is through the recordings of Howard Rumsey and the Lighthouse All-Stars. As Howard
told me during our interview in 2009, the Lighthouse jazz club he managed in Hermosa
Beach was the first stop for musicians dropping out of big bands in 1952. As musicians
such as Shorty Rogers, Jimmy Giuffre and Shelly Manne waited the six months needed
to establish permanent residency for their union cards, many found work playing 
at the Lighthouse. With Howard on bass, different ensembles came together each night,
depending on who was available. Different configurations of the All-Stars recorded
for Contemporary starting in 1952.

[⌊Screen Shot 2018-03-19 at 10.08.13 PM⌉⌊Screen Shot 2018-03-19 at 10.08.13 PM⌉[
 A good place
to start listening is _Howard Rumsey’s Lighthouse All-Stars Vol. 3_. This 12-inch
LP was released on Contemporary Records and featured recordings that were previously
released as 78 rpm singles in 1952 and on a 10-inch LP in ’53. The 12-inch LP in’
56 featured these recordings plus three more from 1955.

[⌊Screen Shot 2018-03-19 at 9.58.34 PM⌉⌊Screen Shot 2018-03-19 at 9.58.34 PM⌉[
 The first
four songs are Shorty Rogers’s _Swing Shift, _Jimmy Giuffre’s_ Out of Somewhere_
and_ Big Girl,_ and Rogers’s _Viva Zapata!_ All were recorded in June 1952, with
Rogers (tp); Milt Bernhart (tb); Giuffre and Bob Cooper (ts); Frank Patchen (p);
Rumsey (b); Shelly Manne (d) and Carlos Vidal (cga).

The next four are Rogers’s _Mambo Los Feliz, _Bob Cooper’s_ Jazz Invention _and 
_Witch Doctor_ and the standard _Love Letters_ from October 1953. The All-Stars 
here were Rolf Ericson (tp); Milt Bernhart (tb); Herb Geller (as); Cooper (ts); 
Bud Shank (bar); Claude Williamson (p); Rumsey (b); Max Roach (d) and Jack Costanzo(
bgo).

[⌊A1VUmOsRV6L._SL1500_⌉⌊A1VUmOsRV6L._SL1500_⌉[
 The final three tracks are Bob Cooper
and Bud Shank’s _Mexican Passport, _the standard _The Song Is You_ and Cooper’s 
_Snap the Whip_ from August 1955, with Frank Rosolino (tb); Cooper (oboe,ts); Bud
Shank (as,fl); Claude Williamson (p); Rumsey (b) and Stan Levey (d).

[⌊Screen Shot 2018-03-19 at 10.09.53 PM⌉⌊Screen Shot 2018-03-19 at 10.09.53 PM⌉[
 As you can
see, you get a nice cross-section of these Lighthouse groups on this album. Of particular
note is _Out of Somewhere, Jazz Invention, Mexican Passport_ and _Snap the Whip_.
As pretty as West Coast jazz can be. As you’ll hear, these guys were top notch, 
happy to be off the road and hungry for recognition. You can hear it in every composition
and arrangement. Before you get back in the car, don’t forget to brush the sand 
off your feet. [Photo of Shorty Rogers and Howard Rumsey].

![D352ef6f8a96e01d2619dc1a679b0fbc](http://marcmyers.typepad.com/.a/6a00e008dca1f0883401b7c959ad72970b-
500wi)

### _Related_