Mulligan & Baker quartet

[alocispepraluger102]

http://memory.loc.gov/cocoon/ihas/html/mulligan/gm-chet.html

http://memory.loc.gov/cocoon/ihas/html/mul...gm-counter.html

Edited October 21, 2006 by alocispepraluger102

[montg]

http://memory.loc.gov/cocoon/ihas/html/mulligan/gm-chet.html

http://memory.loc.gov/cocoon/ihas/html/mul...gm-counter.html

Interesting site. How did we ever get along without the internet

[alocispepraluger102]

http://memory.loc.gov/cocoon/ihas/html/mulligan/gm-chet.html

http://memory.loc.gov/cocoon/ihas/html/mul...gm-counter.html

Interesting site. How did we ever get along without the internet

do check out the 'gil's place'.

been diggin these cats for 50 years.

[Morganized]

Lately, I've been exploring West Coast jazz, after being dissmissive for a number of years (doesn't swing, stiff, overly formal etc.). My preconceptions have been mostly wrong, particularly in the case of the Baker & Mulligan early quartets. I just picked up this CD the other day and it's a revelation. This is desert island stuff, I can't believe I've overlooked it for so long. The music is light and open and it's intense in an understated way. Chet Baker surprised me too--I always thought of him as technically limited and although he's no Clifford Brown, he gets around pretty well on the horn. And he doesn't sing on these sides, which is a plus for me.

Any other fans of this music?

Yes, indeed, count me as a big fan of this music. Much like you, for years I had a musical blind spot for this stuff. Then all of a sudden (around '99 or 2000) I really started to dig it. It's not "flashy" music, but it does swing. Now I'll get almost anything by Mulligan.

Same thing happened to me about 3-4 years ago. I have made the comment that Blue Note pulls their stuff way too fast. That West Coast Series that they did a number of years ago was really great but it took a long time for folks to appreciate these guys. It is a little different and the West Coast stuff may be less emotionally compeling at first but after careful listening it is super appealing in it own way. It is very intricate and a lot of the emotion of the music is found in the intricate arrangements and the way the players play off of each other. Just my opinion.

Sounds like you are at the beginning of a very interesting trip. Soon you will pick up Brookmeyer and learn that Mulligan was getting some of his arranging technique from Brookmeyer. Then you will find that Brookmeyer had learned well from Giuffre, etc. etc. .....There are so many great West Coast players. Some have been mentioned here already but don't forget lou levy, jimmy rowles, al haig, harold land, teddy edwards, sonny criss, hampton hawes, curtis counce, lennie niehaus, herb geller, bill perkins, bud shank, jack montrose, etc. etc. and of course, the big names, stan getz, chet baker, and art pepper. The more you listen to these players the more you will appreciate the West Coast players IMHO.

I had the same intial feelings about Chet that you have expressed. Now I own a whole lot of his stuff and find it unbelievable. To me Chet is a lot like Sinatra in that he is not the greatest player by a long shot but d..mn can he get to the essence of a tune. He can deliver a tune like no one else. His playing has a purity that I find quite moving now.

Have fun and enjoy!

[Chas]

.....There are so many great West Coast players. Some have been mentioned here already but don't forget lou levy, jimmy rowles, al haig, harold land, teddy edwards, sonny criss, hampton hawes, curtis counce, lennie niehaus, herb geller, bill perkins, bud shank, jack montrose, etc. etc. and of course, the big names, stan getz, chet baker, and art pepper. The more you listen to these players the more you will appreciate the West Coast players IMHO.

I don't think Al Haig belongs in your list . If the rubric " West Coast Jazz " is geography-based then Haig is excluded , as most of his recording was done on the east coast . If it is style-based , then what are Land , Edwards and Criss doing in a list with Montrose , Perkins and Shank ?

[Big Beat Steve]

I don't think Al Haig belongs in your list . If the rubric " West Coast Jazz " is geography-based then Haig is excluded , as most of his recording was done on the east coast . If it is style-based , then what are Land , Edwards and Criss doing in a list with Montrose , Perkins and Shank ?

I've wondered about that too when I read both Ted Gioia's "West Coast Jazz" and Robert Gordon's "Jazz West Coat". Both devote chapters to "LA Hard Bop" and "California Hard", respectively (according to the authors, Herb Geller, Hampton Hawes and Pepper Adams are others that would fall into that category, as would Frank Rosolino's "Free For All" I mentioned above). It all depends what you think of the categories they use. Some music just isn't that easy to pigeonhole, it seems.

[Morganized]

.....There are so many great West Coast players. Some have been mentioned here already but don't forget lou levy, jimmy rowles, al haig, harold land, teddy edwards, sonny criss, hampton hawes, curtis counce, lennie niehaus, herb geller, bill perkins, bud shank, jack montrose, etc. etc. and of course, the big names, stan getz, chet baker, and art pepper. The more you listen to these players the more you will appreciate the West Coast players IMHO.

I don't think Al Haig belongs in your list . If the rubric " West Coast Jazz " is geography-based then Haig is excluded , as most of his recording was done on the east coast . If it is style-based , then what are Land , Edwards and Criss doing in a list with Montrose , Perkins and Shank ?

By the way, though, according to period reports Gerry Mulligan resented being associated with the West Coast movement!

[

I've wondered about that too when I read both Ted Gioia's "West Coast Jazz" and Robert Gordon's "Jazz West Coat". Both devote chapters to "LA Hard Bop" and "California Hard", respectively (according to the authors, Herb Geller, Hampton Hawes and Pepper Adams are others that would fall into that category, as would Frank Rosolino's "Free For All" I mentioned above). It all depends what you think of the categories they use. Some music just isn't that easy to pigeonhole, it seems.

I agree.

As many of the "West Coast" players would agree, I don't think it is easily defined and most would shed the label. I think many were associated to the "West Coast" by the company they kept, so to speak. I am certainly not going to get into an argument about what is West Coast and what is not and whether it is better than East Coast jazz or not. That has been hashed and re-hashed for 50+ years without success. Some of it has to do with where they were recorded. I was just trying to point out that there are a host of players often associated with the west coast. Who would be included on your list?

[DukeCity]

I've wondered about that too when I read both Ted Gioia's "West Coast Jazz" and Robert Gordon's "Jazz West Coat". Both devote chapters to "LA Hard Bop" and "California Hard", respectively (according to the authors, Herb Geller, Hampton Hawes and Pepper Adams are others that would fall into that category...

Should that be Art Pepper? I'm not a Pepper Adams historian, but he was born/raised in Detroit and most of the recordings I have are recorded in NY.

I would put Art Pepper in a list of West Coast (geographically) players who aren't excessively "cool".

Edited October 22, 2006 by DukeCity

[JSngry]

I mighg be wrong, but wasn't Pepper Adams L.A. based for a little while, when he was w/Kenton? He did a side for PJ, I know, & wasn't he on some Mode sides from the time as well?

Still, he's about as "West Coast" as coal oil furnaces.

[Larry Kart]

I mighg be wrong, but wasn't Pepper Adams L.A. based for a little while, when he was w/Kenton? He did a side for PJ, I know, & wasn't he on some Mode sides from the time as well?

Still, he's about as "West Coast" as coal oil furnaces.

Right on both counts. For instance, check out Adams being his busy burly self on the Lennie Niehaus CD "Zounds!" (OJC) from 1956.

[(BB)]

Definitions of “ West Coast Jazz” aside, I do enjoy a lot of this music. Some sides I find my self pulling out on a fairly regular basis would be:

The Jimmy Giuffre Clarinet – good god I love this album

Collaboration West – Giuffre, Manne, Rodgers, T.Charles

The Three & The Two - Shelly Manne (w/ Giuffre and Rodgers)

The Gerry Mulligan Quartet – What is there to say?

[fomafomic65]

If you want to try more West Coast stuff, don't forget to check out "Shelly Manne and his men at the Blackhawk" (all five volumes are great). The two "at the Manne-Hole" discs are also nice.

Another slice of West Coast Jazz greatness: Bud Shank.

In the Mosaic box "The Pacific Jazz Bud Shank Studio Recordings", the last two cds at last feature astounding music. Cd3 carries Slippery When Wet session (1959), a quartet with guitarist Billy Bean -and a great Gary Peacock! It's a first magical soundtrack for a documentary about surfing by surfer Bruce Brown. Some of the greatest flute playing I ever heard in a swinging, loose jazz contest. Great music. Still with Peacock, but with guitarist Dennis Budmir (trumpeter Carmell Jones, sax Bob Cooper and either drummer Shelly Manne or Mel Lewis) cd4 has two more lps: New Groove and Barefoot Adventure (1961). Some more of the best West Coast jazz music in my experience.

Edited November 22, 2006 by ArmandoPeraza