'Tis the season to explore vintage West Coast jazz

There are, I believe, seasons in an individual’s cultural development.
That is, times when you as a consumer of music, movies, literature, etc., become passionate about a particular artist or genre and as a result focus much of your time and attention on that. Someone suggests you read a certain author, you do, the book resonates with you for reasons connected both to its content and your mindset and you immediately set off for the library and/or bookstore looking to scoop up that writer’s every other available title.
I certainly have had that experience – indeed, that’s the reason I’m currently working my way through the collected works of Kinsgley Amis and William Dean Howells – and with music as well. My present, burgeoning passion is for West Coast jazz.
Now, it’s not like the genre has been totally alien to me. Long before I started covering Bay Area jazz – and I think we can all agree our region is the gem of the aforementioned coast – I listened to and appreciated some of its leading lights. I practically grew up on Dave Brubeck (and Paul Desmond, natch) and among my first favorite jazz artists were Vince Guaraldi (never underestimate the power of TV) and Stan Getz (an attraction, regular readers of these postings no doubt have picked up on).
That said, I generally have shied away from delving too deeply into West Coast (or cool) jazz. The reasons, I believe, lie at some sort of intersection of machismo and creativity – simply put, the West Coast sound comes across as fairly lightweight when compared to the titanic, galvanic music and concepts of jazz’s acknowledge giants as well as the awe-inspiring hard bop of Blue Note’s classic period.
But, as mentioned above, I seem to have hit a new season in my jazz development. Am I getting old? Has life and the world frayed me a bit at the edges? Is it just the coming of the Northern California winter with all its clouds, rain and wind? I’m not sure; most likely, a bit of all of the above.
No matter the reason, my pleasure and appreciation of vintage West Coast jazz is growing. Before going any further, however, let’s define our terms, via Wikipedia.

West Coast jazz is a form of jazz music that developed around Los Angeles and San Francisco at about the same time as hard bop jazz was developing in New York City, in the 1950s and 1960s. West Coast jazz was generally seen as a sub-genre of cool jazz. It featured a less frenetic, calmer style than hard bop. The music tended to be more heavily arranged and more often compositionally based. While this style was prominent for a while, it was by no means the only style of jazz played on the West Coast, which exhibited more variety than could be conveyed by a simple name.
The Pacific Jazz Records and Contemporary record labels were two of the best known that carried West Coast jazz. Some of the major pioneers of West Coast jazz were Shorty Rogers, Gerry Mulligan, Cal Tjader, Chet Baker, Stan Getz, Bud Shank, Bob Cooper, Jimmy Giuffre, Shelly Manne, Bill Holman, Manny Albam, André Previn, and Dave Brubeck with Paul Desmond.
Some critics looked down upon West Coast jazz because most of its musicians were white. However, there were a sizable number of African American musicians who played in the style, such as Curtis Counce, Chico Hamilton, Buddy Collette and Hampton Hawes. Regardless of the race of the musicians who played it, much of the music has withstood the test of time.

Mulligan has played the lead role in my budding interest in the genre. I stumbled upon “Gerry Mulligan Meets Johnny Hodges” (1959) a year or two ago and was immediately taken with its mellow, soulful groove. From there, it’s been a short step to exploring the music of Jim Hall, Bob Cooper, Shelly Manne and others. One big selling point: The album covers of that era, a sample of which you’ll find in the slide show.
I do feel, however, that I am just at the start of this journey into vintage West Coast jazz. Got any recommendations as to essential artists and albums? Please let me know.

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