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I haven’t mentioned how I found this site but it was all because of one of the finest works available on the subject of West Coast jazz. And that is the book by the same name by the founder of this site Ted Gioia. It is a very complete history, the most complete to date. I was most fortunate to be growing up in Los Angeles in the fifties and I got to meet many of the players Ted writes about. Most of the time I met them in a simple daily life way. In those days people were far more accessible then they are today. There was no paparazzi nor were there any stalkers etc. Life was different then, more simple and more direct. I have a million wonderful stories about that era. That’s is essentially why I bought the book. I wanted to share those stories with my children so I started to write each adventure down and email it to then together with an appropriate piece of music of the era. Ted’s book filled in many of the details that I had forgotten. I thought this was a way better thing to tell my kids than try to answer the question “Daddy what did you do in the war?” Ted’s excellent writing style makes the book an enjoyable read that you just can’t put down. It is the first time in decades I have made notes in the margin of a book or underlined specific passages. The book also helped me from exaggerating things that were foggy in my mind. I am not the kind of person who tell you they caught a six foot large mouth bass (I almost did but that’s another story) but time works on the mind.

When I opened the book the first thing that greeted me as that wonderful picture of Art Pepper walking up Fargo Hill. He lived on that street and I lived pretty close by . Fargo Street,, BTW is the steepest city street in the world. When I saw that picture I knew I had to have the book.

Ted takes you from the wild days of Central Avenue to the more subdued atmosphere of clubs in Hollywood at the beginning of the 1960s. From the romping tenor battles between Wardell Gray and Dexter Gordon to the “chamber” jazz of Chico Hamilton and Jimmy Giuffre The journey is well worth your time and you’ll find Ted is a great guide and I should know because I walked those very streets and haunted those clubs all during that time.

Will you finally be able to define West Coast Jazz when you finish the book? Probably not. It’s mystic is its charm to a great degree. If I push it, maybe West Coast Jazz should be called L.A: Jazz because that’s where it was born and was bigger than any of the other cities on the coast. Or maybe West Coast Jazz is simply jazz played on the West Coast, at least some of it certainly is in places like the California Club and on Central Avenue. There are a lot of parts to be put together and Ted’s book is a great help in doing so.

Maybe another part of it was the arranging as done by the musicians who lived on the West Coast at the time. On the East Coast the lines were generally played in unison or with simple harmonies between the horns but West Coast players built different textures, some what richer and thicker I would say, with harmonies like Mulligan, Giuffre and Shorty Rogers. These three, along with Kenton were the ones who were the kernel, so to speak, of the West Coast movement. For a great comparison listen to the Pacific Jazz recording of Tiny Capers by Clifford Brown. Here the East Coast sounds like the West due to the arrangements of Jack Montrose, a musical compatriot of Rogers and crew. Then listen to “Trickeydiddler” by Shorty Rogers. They are two different tunes but with the same air one by a West Coaster and one by and East Coaster. Coming to the West Coast did something to most people. It took off that sharp edge that the East Coast had. It made folks more laid back. “Relaxin at Camarillo” maybe?

Sometime I think these guys were just playing what they saw and what they lived. The expressed what was going on in the street, the air and attitude of LA 1955 through their music. When I hear this music now the images I see are palm trees, MacArthur Park, people strolling rather than hurrying like we did in Rochester New York. I feel the climate and the sea breeze from the Pacific. That is a key “pacific”. They played what they saw and who they were. When i was 16 I heard Ornette for the fist time in a concert for kids at Jazz City. He asked me what I thought. I said that I liked it but didn’t understand it. I said it was confusing to which he answered something like, “Hey kid have you been out in the street today?”

Ted’s book brought all of this out in me and I am forever grateful. Thanks Ted for a great adventure in reading and in sound.

Alan, that’s a great post. Brings back many memories again. Like you I never got tangled up in the East Coast vs West Coast thing and neither did any of my friends in LA. Back in Rochester N.Y. There were a few who did but I never really got with them. Just moving to LA was good for me as a kid. It opened my mind to many things i might have otherwise missed. Alan pardon me for asking but if it’s not too much could you tell me when you moved to LA? It sounds like we are about the same age. If you moved there in the 50’s we may have a lot of common ground around us.

I know my eyes are not what they used to be, but have I lost my sight completely? The last post is directed to someone named Alan, yet there is no post from an Alan. What’s happening?

Jon, I apologize for the confusion. I did indeed post a comment on this thread, but later had second thoughts and deleted it. Meanwhile, Tomas had replied to my post. Rest assured your eyes are just fine.