Robert Gordon sets the record straight on the oft maligned west coast jazz scene that enjoyed its heyday during the 1950s. Much of his book, originally published in 1986, details the many recording sessions that took place during that period in Los Angeles. He includes a short biography of each of the players and traces the links between them. He devotes individual chapters to the thriving scene in the black community along Central Avenue and to individuals such as Shorty Rogers, Gerry Mulligan, and Art Pepper, who were major influences on the music. He emphasizes the significance of the hard-driving Curtis Counce group, Howard Rumsey’s thriving Lighthouse club, and other significant players and arrangers such as Shelly Manne, Chet Baker, Chico Hamilton, and Marty Paich.

While admitting that some of the music of the period lacked fire, he makes a strong case for the multi-faceted, innovative nature of the music and the quality of the arranging and playing. He points out dynamic groups that explode the myth that west coast jazz was bland and recordings with artists such as Sonny Rollins, Ornette Coleman, and Charles Mingus, generally linked to east coast jazz. This is an enlightening book for listeners both familiar and unfamiliar with the music of that place and time.

Robert Gordon is a musician and jazz educator who grew up in California listening to the music of the musicians whom he chronicles. He is the former Director of Archives for the American Jazz Symposium.