Your book was a huge part of my education in jazz, and remains my favorite thing you have written. (Well, along with your first, The Imperfect Art.) I've returned to the book and re-read it over the years maybe five times, not counting the occasions when I just dip in for a chapter or two. Maybe the most important thing I learned was that west coast jazz was more than Brubeck/Shorty Rogers/Kenton etc., though you do well by them too. So one of the gifts of SubStack is I get to say directly to you: thank you for writing the book. It made a difference.
Thanks Ted, and thanks, too, for your pioneering research on the Jazz West Coast musicians and their music. I've placed the video on my jazzprofiles.blogspot.com site and I plan to make a large contribution to the film project.
Yes! Unfortunately, given the racial element to all of this, there is a sizable (and loud) group of critics, activists, etc. that claim the West Coast scene *wasn’t*—or even *can’t be*—jazz. Mulligan and Baker were nothing—and couldn’t be anything—but “appropriators” in the eyes of some.
Vince Guaraldi was indeed great! He is the only reason I went to my senior ball in high school. Would have skipped it as to classe, but his name as the other band got me there.
Good luck! So many: W Coast jazz has current stars from San Diego to Seattle. Gilberto Castellano, Mark Dresser,
Kamasi Washington, Thundercat, the Bay Area improvisers (Myra Melford, Ben Goldberg, the Clines, Larry Ochs, Kitty Margolis, SFJazz Sextet, Joshua Redman, Steve Bernstein, Peter Apfelbaum (if you consider natives who emigrated), Larry Carlton, Lee Ritenour, Joe Sample, the Portland scene and Seattle w Origin Records come to mind. And not to forget influence of Horace Tapscott’s circle, George Duke, Haden’s Quartet West, Cal Arts, Bobby Bradford, Nancy King, Gerald Wilson, besides Mingus, Chico Hamilton.
Ted. I hope you have heard of and listen to the Portland jazz station KMHD. They are the best and have a streaming app if you’re not in the pacific northwest. Please donate to OPB or your local PBS station if possible and support listener supported radio. Thank you
I had a huge collection of West Coast jazz CDs. Dave Brubeck was my gateway (still the jazz musician I listen to most) followed by the Gerry Mulligan Quartet with Chet Baker, then Barney Kessel, Jimmy Giuffre, Chico Hamilton, Shorty Rogers… the list goes on and on.
I agree with critics that say that it can be very lightweight at times, but It was a much more diverse and exploratory scene than people are willing to admit.
I’d like to think there’s an alternate universe out there where Dick Twardik made a bunch of albums in the fifties and sixties.
Your book was a great guide to stuff I otherwise would have missed.
Terrific! Contribution made. Since my father's Brubeck albums, Jazz at Oberlin and Jazz at College of the Pacific, were the first jazz records I ever listened to, I guess you could say I started with West Coast jazz. And I've been a huge Desmond fan my whole life. Later on I learned about the Lighthouse (and I think thanks to you enjoyed hearing a 19-year-old Keith Jarrett smoking on a tune, maybe with Chuck Mangione?) Very much looking forward to this.
Miles dealt with a lot of racism in his life so I can understand why he resented the acclaim that Chet Baker received. It all came so easily to Baker too, and that may have bugged Miles too.
& then there's the even more neglected faction of NORTH West coast jazz...(at least Paul DeBarros is writing a sequel to his wonderful "Jackson Street After Hours"..!) -- think Ray Charles, Quincy Jones et al...(!)
To quote LA’s poet laureate Kendrick Lamar, “Don't say you hate L.A. when you don't travel past the 10”. As a native and an appreciator of LA’s cultural history, LA as a cultural center is robust and always worth celebrating. And add that to California’s cultural heritage in the arts, it isn’t anything to feel inferior about. To close out with KL “Don't say you hate L.A., but live in L.A. and pretend”
Thanks Ted. I read West Coast Jazz this year and enjoyed it immensely. I learned a lot from your book. We share a deep affinity for the music from our home state.
I'm a New York native and am proud of where I was born and raised, but there's no question that NYC-ers have a superiority complex. Sometimes deserved sometimes not. I'm not enough of a jazz fan to know but judging from some of the names Ted dropped, I'm not sure how we can say that west coast jazz was any less important? Shame that's the case!
Your book was a huge part of my education in jazz, and remains my favorite thing you have written. (Well, along with your first, The Imperfect Art.) I've returned to the book and re-read it over the years maybe five times, not counting the occasions when I just dip in for a chapter or two. Maybe the most important thing I learned was that west coast jazz was more than Brubeck/Shorty Rogers/Kenton etc., though you do well by them too. So one of the gifts of SubStack is I get to say directly to you: thank you for writing the book. It made a difference.
Thanks Ted, and thanks, too, for your pioneering research on the Jazz West Coast musicians and their music. I've placed the video on my jazzprofiles.blogspot.com site and I plan to make a large contribution to the film project.
Yes! Unfortunately, given the racial element to all of this, there is a sizable (and loud) group of critics, activists, etc. that claim the West Coast scene *wasn’t*—or even *can’t be*—jazz. Mulligan and Baker were nothing—and couldn’t be anything—but “appropriators” in the eyes of some.
This is why we can’t have nice things.
Vince Guaraldi was indeed great! He is the only reason I went to my senior ball in high school. Would have skipped it as to classe, but his name as the other band got me there.
Let's not forget Stan Kenton
Good luck! So many: W Coast jazz has current stars from San Diego to Seattle. Gilberto Castellano, Mark Dresser,
Kamasi Washington, Thundercat, the Bay Area improvisers (Myra Melford, Ben Goldberg, the Clines, Larry Ochs, Kitty Margolis, SFJazz Sextet, Joshua Redman, Steve Bernstein, Peter Apfelbaum (if you consider natives who emigrated), Larry Carlton, Lee Ritenour, Joe Sample, the Portland scene and Seattle w Origin Records come to mind. And not to forget influence of Horace Tapscott’s circle, George Duke, Haden’s Quartet West, Cal Arts, Bobby Bradford, Nancy King, Gerald Wilson, besides Mingus, Chico Hamilton.
Ted. I hope you have heard of and listen to the Portland jazz station KMHD. They are the best and have a streaming app if you’re not in the pacific northwest. Please donate to OPB or your local PBS station if possible and support listener supported radio. Thank you
Also, KSDS out of San Diego. The station gives an on-air home to Loren Schoenberg and Will Friedwald, along with lots of other great programming.
I had a huge collection of West Coast jazz CDs. Dave Brubeck was my gateway (still the jazz musician I listen to most) followed by the Gerry Mulligan Quartet with Chet Baker, then Barney Kessel, Jimmy Giuffre, Chico Hamilton, Shorty Rogers… the list goes on and on.
I agree with critics that say that it can be very lightweight at times, but It was a much more diverse and exploratory scene than people are willing to admit.
I’d like to think there’s an alternate universe out there where Dick Twardik made a bunch of albums in the fifties and sixties.
Your book was a great guide to stuff I otherwise would have missed.
Terrific! Contribution made. Since my father's Brubeck albums, Jazz at Oberlin and Jazz at College of the Pacific, were the first jazz records I ever listened to, I guess you could say I started with West Coast jazz. And I've been a huge Desmond fan my whole life. Later on I learned about the Lighthouse (and I think thanks to you enjoyed hearing a 19-year-old Keith Jarrett smoking on a tune, maybe with Chuck Mangione?) Very much looking forward to this.
Miles used to dump on Chet. Some then considered West Coast jazz to be racist, especially of the Baker-Pepper variety.
Miles dealt with a lot of racism in his life so I can understand why he resented the acclaim that Chet Baker received. It all came so easily to Baker too, and that may have bugged Miles too.
& then there's the even more neglected faction of NORTH West coast jazz...(at least Paul DeBarros is writing a sequel to his wonderful "Jackson Street After Hours"..!) -- think Ray Charles, Quincy Jones et al...(!)
Is the honest broker a real estate broker, a stock broker?, and is it an exception in that field to be honest?
Done and done
To quote LA’s poet laureate Kendrick Lamar, “Don't say you hate L.A. when you don't travel past the 10”. As a native and an appreciator of LA’s cultural history, LA as a cultural center is robust and always worth celebrating. And add that to California’s cultural heritage in the arts, it isn’t anything to feel inferior about. To close out with KL “Don't say you hate L.A., but live in L.A. and pretend”
Thanks Ted. I read West Coast Jazz this year and enjoyed it immensely. I learned a lot from your book. We share a deep affinity for the music from our home state.
You can see this in hip-hop too of course.
I'm a New York native and am proud of where I was born and raised, but there's no question that NYC-ers have a superiority complex. Sometimes deserved sometimes not. I'm not enough of a jazz fan to know but judging from some of the names Ted dropped, I'm not sure how we can say that west coast jazz was any less important? Shame that's the case!