Gene Estes - Westful: Jazz In Hollywood

GENE ESTES BAND
Westful: Jazz In Hollywod
1976
256+ VBR LAME mp3
Vinyl rip & scans from Nocturne NRS-701

Preview clip:
Big "P"
Besame Mucho


Although the name may not jump out at you right away, first-call LA percussionist Gene Estes has played a part in many classic recordings, including some of my best-loved soul faves like Willie Hutch's The Mack, Eddie Kendrick's The Hit Man (c/o Flabbergasted Vibes RIP) and Johnny Bristol's Feeling The Magic. He worked with practically every big name who recorded in LA for a major label during the 60s and 70s and appeared on dozens of albums spanning genres from jazz and soul to rock and country and almost everywhere in between. Counted among the "Important Records" to which he contributed are The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, Frank Zappa & The Mothers' Freak Out! and David Axelrod's Songs of Innocence as well as critically-acclaimed records by Leonard Cohen, Johnny Cash, Nilsson and a host of others.

Brian Wilson w/ Gene Estes on the vibes in May 1967 from
Pop Surf Culture: Music Design Film and Fashion from the Bohemian Surf Era

OK, so he's also assisted corporate concoctions like Sonny & Cher, The Monkees, Neil Diamond, Barry Manilow, Eric Carmen, REO Speedwagon and many other mediocre MOR megastars but then that's LA session life for ya, ain't it? It's no wonder then that this obscure solo project, the culmination of a couple years spent jamming every Sunday night with other SoCal session stalwarts, is brimming with the energy of a joyful release from frustration and monotony. In the liner notes Estes describes their weekly rehearsals as not "trying to prove anything with writing or playing...it's just a matter of having a ball" and that pretty much says it all about the atmosphere here.

Besides a noticeable lack of bombast or breakneck tempos normally found on drummer-led big band dates, there's really not much in the way of surprises here - just the sound of some excellent musicians gelling together to get that swing and nailing their solos without melodrama or overwrought pyrotechnics. In fact, the entire affair actually sounds like a throwback that could have been recorded 15-20 years prior and as such, it's one of those rare jazz albums recorded in the 70s upon which Mr. Yanow and I can agree:

AMG Review
by Scott Yanow

Other than a very obscure early-'60s LP for the Carlton label, this album from 1976 was drummer Gene Estes' debut as a leader. For the only recording by Estes' rehearsal big band, the drummer contributed five of the nine selections and all of the arrangements. Among the all-star jazz and studio players heard from are saxophonists Med Flory and Tom Scott, trumpeter Conte Candoli, trombonists Herbie Harper and Bob Enevoldsen, pianist Joyce Collins and Gene's younger brother Alan Estes on vibes. The excellent music is essentially straight-ahead and has its exciting moments, although this LP may be difficult to locate.

Gene would maintain his roughly 16-year cycle and record another album as leader in 1993, when he returned with another equally anachronistic slice of jazz called On The Edge. There would be one further posthumous release, In A Sentimental Mood, which contained material recorded shortly before his passing in 1996.

Discography as Leader

1960 The Greatest Stereo Vibraphone in Recording History
[Carlton ST LP 12/25]

1976 Westful: Jazz In Hollywood
[Nocturne NRS-701] at Soundological

1993 On The Edge
[Progressive 7095] at Amazon

2000 In A Sentimental Mood
[Arbor ARB0101] at iTunes

Gene Estes - Drums
Med Flory - Sax
Tom Scott - Sax
Bob Hardaway - Sax
Jay Migliori - Sax
Bill Hood - Sax
Meyer Hirsch - Sax (7 & 8)
Ollie Mitchell - Trumpet
Ralph Osborn - Trumpet
Conte Candoli - Trumpet
Herbie Harper - Trombone
Bob Enevoldsen - Valve Trombone
Dick Leith - Bass Trombone
Joyce Collins - Piano
Alan Estes - Vibes
Jim Hughart - Bass


1 Sharly My Boy
2 All About Henry
3 Poca Nada
4 Big 'P'
5 Pot Luck
6 D.A.V.
7 Sweet Lump
8 Besame Mucho
9 Good-Bye


Ride off into the sunset with Gene Estes and Soundological in the comments.

Jack Marshall & Shelly Manne - Sounds!

JACK MARSHALL & SHELLY MANNE
Sounds!
1966
256+ VBR LAME mp3
Vinyl rip & scans from Capitol ST-2610

The Girls of Sao Paulo

This is the final effort in the Sounds! series of duet albums Manne & Marshall did together during the early 60s. Manne was a drummer who always followed a different beat and was quite a bit more experimental than contemporaries like Buddy Rich and Louis Bellson. It was due to this bohemian bent that he proved the perfect percussionist for what amounts to sound-centred stereo test records that also provided an enjoyable listening experience.

The series was experimental to start with and was conceptualised as a showpiece for the flegdling Hi-Fi stereo sound consumers were still adopting at the start of the 60s and was envisioned as a way to demonstrate the frequency range and cutting-edge studio techniques of the era. In fact, after cruising some of the audiophile forums, it's surprising to see this particular LP in the series is still often slapped on to show off the strengths of a $erious $tereo $etup.

While Marshall has an exquisite tone and picks clean as a whistle throughout, Manne does his very best David Van Tieghem and pounds on whatever is at hand, whether shoe-boxes or sheet metal, giving the proceedings an avant-garde flavour belying the simple melodic strings Marshall effortlessly floats atop the percussion. Although a pleasurable listen in its own right, if you'd like to learn something about mic placement you need look no further than this long-play lesson in room, range and dynamics.

This one goes out to The Oracle for his excellent Portal of Groove blog, where you will also find the other releases in the series as well as a heapin' helpin' of hi-fi hi-jinx covering exotica, the-in-sound-from-way-out, space-age-bachelor-pad music and other auditory delights of the dollar bin variety.

Dusty Groove sez:

Wild! Shelly Manne plays odd percussion behind Jack Marshall's jazzy guitar, and the two of them run through an odd bunch of tracks that will stretch the dynamic range of your stereo. More "hi fi" than jazz, but with a firm jazz base -- even though there's odd bits like shoeboxes, whistling, and handclaps. Cuts include "The Girls of Sao Paulo", "The Rain in Spain", and "Choros".

Jack Marshall - Guitar
Shelly Manne - Percussion


1 Theme From "Lawrence Of Arabia"
2 Sweet Sue, Just You
3 All The Things You Are
4 Choros
5 Am I Blue?
6 The Rain In Spain
7 Spanish Dance No.5
8 S'posin'
9 Yesterdays
10 The Girls Of Sao Paulo
11 A Day In Brazil - Medley


Sound off with Manne, Marshall & Soundological HERE or HERE.

Chico Hamilton - The Best of (Impulse!)

Boomp3.com
Boomp3.com

CHICO HAMILTON
The Best of Chico Hamilton
1967

82 MB
256+ VBR LAME mp3
Vinyl rip & scans from Impulse! AS-9174

“I don't play music for people. I play music for music's sake.”
- Chico Hamilton, All About Jazz interview

Continuing with the Chico Hamilton edition of Give The Drummer Some!, we have another "best of" package from Impulse! that follows through quite nicely by pulling material from the early 60s phase of the Quintet. It seems one of my favourite tracks on here, "Conquistadores," is finally starting to get the love it deserves and has popped up on a couple comps the last few years. The collection is also notable for the final track which was Larry Coryell's biggest contribution to The Dealer, his debut recording in the jazz world.

In fact, if nothing else, Chico will be fondly remembered as the man who either gave some of the world's jazz giants their first big break in the biz or allowed young players (like Paul Horn and Eric Dolphy) the unrestricted freedom to develop their own unique voice. For instance, Gabor Szabo had this to say about his stint with Hamilton in the September 26, 1964, issue of Melody Maker:

"When I was studying at Berklee," he added in discussing his own role, "I got the feeling I couldn't play the instrument at all, because I could not use my own things as they didn't fit any set pattern. When I joined Chico, he helped me immensely to develop my own style. He never forced me in any set way. At all times, he encouraged me to be myself on the instrument."

Unlike yesterday's post, I'm going to list each player's appearances since Doug Payne made it so dang easy with his comprehensive research on Szabo, who provides guitar for all but one track on this collection. One other peculiarity of this compilation is that it seems to have gone out of its way to avoid inclusion of brass in many tracks. For instance, El Chico is noted for being the only recording to document the time Sado Watanabe spent with the Quintet, yet the two tracks included are the only ones on which he did not play. It might be due to the same type of contractual issues presently preventing Impulse! from reissuing a huge chunk of their back catalogue - although it could also be because they are far and away the best two tracks on the album :-)


Chico Hamilton - Drums
Charles Lloyd - Tenor Sax (1), Flute (3)
Jimmy Woods - Tenor Sax (3)
Arnie Lawrence - Alto Sax (7)
Larry Coryell - Guitar (7)
Gabor Szabo - Guitar (1,2,3,4,5,6)
Albert Stinson - Bass (1,2,3,4)
Ron Carter - Bass (5,6)
Richard Davis - Bass (7)
Willie Bobo - Percussion (2,3,4,5,6)
Victor Pantoja - Percussion (2,4,5,6)
Ernie Hayes - Organ (7)


1 Forest Flower - Sunrise / Forest Flower - Sunset [Man From Two Worlds 1963]
2 People [El Chico 1965]
3 Chic Chic Chico [Chic Chic Chico 1965]
4 Conquistadores (The Conquerors) [El Chico 1965]
5 Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me) [The Further Adventures of El Chico 1966]
6 Evil Eye [The Further Adventures of El Chico 1966]
7 Larry Of Arabia [The Dealer 1966]


It was also during this period that Hamilton branched out into TV and film work to a greater degree. In 1957 he had scored The Sweet Smell of Success (a superb film noir revolving around the seedier aspects of the music and entertainment industry) as well as making a cameo appearance with the Quintet, featuring Paul Horn and John Pisano. The year after he appeared at the Newport Jazz Fest and the recording of their legendary performance documented in Jazz On A Summer's Day was the first time Eric Dolphy entered the consciousness of the mainstream world, sandwiched between Chuck Berry and Louis Armstrong no less! Other than that, it was pretty quiet on the A/V front for a few years.

Chico Hamilton Quintet in
The Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

Chico Hamilton Quintet performs "Blue Sands"

at Newport Jazz Fest (1958)

However, it was being asked to score Roman Polanski's classic Repulsion in '64 while in the UK backing Lena Horne that really started the ball rolling for Chico's career in commercial composition. Based on an assortment of interviews, Chico's not much of a romantic where music is concerned and he sure ain't big on nostalgia, but Repulsion obviously holds a special place in his heart. The actual soundtrack is extremely rare, with only a small run put out by Italy's CAM records. If you see it on vinyl, pounce on it as it is worth m-e-g-a-b-u-c-k-s. From there on, he was in high demand for theme and incidental music and he churned it out for films and TV on the side over the next 20 years, never forsaking his own recordings and gigs for too long even while teaching jazz at NYC's New School University.

When asked why he ultimately got off the TV gravy train in a recent All About Jazz Q&A, he had this to say:

"Well I found that it became boring. Very boring. Plus I found out that it bleeds you. I found out I was just doing things, just for the money. TV will ruin you; it uses up your talent."

Can I get a "amen!" brothers and sisters?


This collection has been OOP for over three decades and, like most of Chico's work on the label, it has never seen CD reissue. Since you're unable to make an Impulse! purchase of this collection, Soundological offers it to you at the deepest discount available HERE or HERE.

Chico Hamilton - Easy Livin'

Boomp3.com
Boomp3.com

CHICO HAMILTON
Easy Livin'
1965

82.2 MB
256+ VBR LAME mp3
Vinyl rip & scans from Sunset SUS-5215


Alright skins heads, we told you the Give The Drummer Some! series would be irregularly reoccurring on Soundological and we meant it. We're already dipping into our second percussionist feature in less than a month's time. Why the rush? Well, today's a special occasion - it's Chico Hamilton's 87th birthday!

As usual, we'll be dropping back-to-back-to-back posts of the featured artist and throw in some extra goodies along the way. Unfortunately since I only just learned his DOB a few days ago, this GTDS will be brief compared to the man's immense output in over 50 years of active recording - and he's still gigging! In fact, if you're anywhere near Ithaca, NY **TONIGHT** you can catch a free concert he's giving for his b-day! Chico is the man, make no mistake about it!

For the full 411 on his long career, check out the pages dedicated to him on his management company's website, which has a huge amount of biographical info and Chico-related links all over the place. For a teaser on the man, here's Chico's rundown on AMG by Scott Yarrow:

Chico Hamilton, a subtle and creative drummer, will probably always be better known for the series of quintets that he led during 1955-1965 and for his ability as a talent scout than for his fine drumming. Hamilton first played drums while in high school with the many fine young players (including Dexter Gordon, Illinois Jacquet, and Charles Mingus) who were in Los Angeles at the time. He made his recording debut with Slim Gaillard, was house drummer at Billy Berg's, toured with Lionel Hampton, and served in the military (1942-1946). In 1946, Hamilton worked briefly with Jimmy Mundy, Count Basie, and Lester Young (recording with Young). He toured as Lena Horne's drummer (on and off during 1948-1955), and gained recognition for his work with the original Gerry Mulligan piano-less quartet (1952-1953).

In 1955, Hamilton put together his first quintet, a chamber jazz group with the reeds of Buddy Collette, guitarist Jim Hall, bassist Carson Smith, and cellist Fred Katz. One of the last important West Coast jazz bands, the Chico Hamilton Quintet was immediately popular and appeared in a memorable sequence in 1958's Jazz on a Summmer's Day and the Hollywood film The Sweet Smell of Success. The personnel changed over the next few years (with Paul Horn and Eric Dolphy heard on reeds, cellist Nate Gersham, guitarists John Pisano and Dennis Budimir, and several bassists passing through the group) but it retained its unusual sound. By 1961, Charles Lloyd was on tenor and flute, Gabor Szabo was the new guitarist, and soon the cello was dropped in favor of trombone (Garnett Brown and later George Bohanon), giving the group an advanced-hard bop style.

In 1966, Chico Hamilton started composing for commercials and the studios and he broke up his quintet. However, he continued leading various groups, playing music that ranged from the avant-garde to erratic fusion and advanced hard bop. Such up-and-coming musicians as Larry Coryell (1966), Steve Potts (1967), Arthur Blythe, Steve Turre (on bass, surprisingly), and Eric Person (who played in Hamilton's '90s group Euphoria) were among the younger players he helped discover. In 1989, Chico Hamilton had a recorded reunion with the original members of his 1955 quintet (with Pisano in Hall's place), and in the 1990s he made a number of records for Soul Note.

Breakin' it down on NBC's "Talking Jazz" in '97

Although released in 1965, this collection is drawn from the late 50s period on Pacific as the West Coast Cool sound was being defined. Time is tight, so we're foregoing the research to determine the exact personnel for each track (the liner notes are paltry by any standard, even for a budget subsidiary like Sunset) but the line up listed below includes all players appearing on this compilation.


Chico Hamilton - Drums
Jim Hall - Guitar
Howard Roberts - Guitar
John Pisano - Guitar
Paul Horn - Sax
Buddy Collette - Sax
Bill Perkins - Sax
Eric Dolphy - Sax
Percy Heath - Bass
George Duvivier - Bass
Ben Tucker - Bass
Carson Smith - Bass
Freddy Gambrell - Piano


1 Lullabye Of The Leaves [Introducing the Piano of Freddy Gambrell JP-1242]
2 These Foolish Things (Remind Me Of You) [Introducing the Piano of Freddy Gambrell JP-1242]
3 Taking A Chance On Love
4 Easy Living [Bill Perkins Quintet - 2 Degrees East, 3 Degrees West JP-1217]
5 Sleep
6 Caravan
7 Porch Light [Chico Hamilton Trio JP-1220]
8 Autumn Landscape [Chico Hamilton Trio JP-1220]
9 Satin Doll
10 Reflections

Most of the recordings here have been made available by Mosaic recently on The Complete Pacific Jazz Recordings of The Chico Hamilton Quintet except for those noted above. Besides the track by the Bill Perkins Quintet (which was basically the Chico Quint with Bill as leader) the others are by the Chico Hamilton Trio. The eponymous Chico Hamilton Trio from 1957 has also been reissued this year by Lone Hill but the material with Freddy Gambrell has not and is only available on the original albums or this compilation.

Poor Freddy Gambrell. Not only was he completely snubbed from the notes, he was just all-out snubbed by the looks of it. In Ted Gioia & William Claxton's book West Coast: Modern Jazz in California, 1945-1960 he only rates one throwaway line in regard to his contribution to Chico's team and jazz in general: "Pianist Freddy Gambrell was simply not strong enough a soloist to sustain the new band." Ouch. Well, gotta say after listening to his tinkling of the ivories on "Lullabye of the Leaves" I can't really argue with history.

More Chico on the way in the next couple days but for now Soundological makes Easy Livin' even easier HERE or HERE.