In 1949, Howard Rumsey, former bassist with Stan Kenton’s Innovations Orchestra, talked the owner of the Lighthouse bar into featuring jazz at the Hermosa Beach, California venue, southwest of downtown LA. In 1950, Kenton disbanded his ensemble, and many of the musicians — including veterans of WWII military bands, and some of whom also had played with Woody Herman — stayed in Southern California, where the weather was mild, and the recording and film industries offered steady work when not touring or gigging in local clubs.
Rumsey began hosting regular, extended jam sessions, and assembled and headed The Lighthouse All-Stars, recording steadily with Contemporary Records and making the club a world-renowned jazz destination. The Lighthouse All-Stars made music that sparked a Southern California scene and shaped the West Coast cool jazz sound, while also drawing top artists from across the United States.
A partial Lighthouse All-Stars shifting cast: Jimmy Giuffre, Bill Perkins, Bob Cooper, Bud Shank, Buddy Collette, and Herb Geller on woodwinds; trumpeters Chet Baker, Conte Candoli, Rolf Ericson, Maynard Ferguson, and Shorty Rogers; trombonists Frank Rosolino, and Milt Bernhart; pianists Hampton Hawes, Dick Shreve, Lorraine Geller, and Claude Williamson; Rumsey on bass; Jack Costanzo and Carlos Vidal on Latin percussion; and drummers Stan Levey, Shelly Manne, and Max Roach.
In addition to numerous Lighthouse All-Stars releases, artists who headlined and recorded there included Cannonball Adderley, Mose Allison, Curtis Amy, Chet Baker, Art Blakey, Miles Davis, Charles Earland, Joe Farrell, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Grant Green, Hampton Hawes, Richard “Groove” Holmes, Joe Henderson, The Jazz Crusaders, Elvin Jones, Barney Kessel, Ramsey Lewis, Shelly Manne, The Modern Jazz Quartet, Lee Morgan, Art Pepper & Shorty Rogers, Gabor Szabo, Horace Tapscott, The Three Sounds, and Cal Tjader.
This episode of Jazz Roots & Branches samples live music from The Lighthouse from the early 1950s into the 1970s that grew out of and inspired a singular period of North American jazz history.
Title | Artist | Album | Composer | Label
[Intro music bed] Mambo Los Feliz | Howard Rumsey’s Lighthouse All-Stars | Howard Rumsey’s Lighthouse All-Stars, Vol. 3 | Shorty Rogers | Contemporary
Glidin’ Along | Howard Rumsey’s Lighthouse All-Stars w/ Chet Baker | Sunday Jazz a la Lighthouse, Vol. 2 | Jimmy Giuffre | Contemporary
Witch Doctor No. 1 | Howard Rumsey’s Lighthouse All-Stars | Howard Rumsey’s Lighthouse All-Stars, Vol. 3 | Bob Cooper | Contemporary
Round Midnight | Miles Davis & The Lighthouse All Stars | At Last | Thelonious Monk | Contemporary
What Is This Thing Called Love | Cannonball Adderley Quintet | At The Lighthouse | Cole Porter | Riverside
In Your Own Sweet Way | Curtis Amy | Tippin’ on Through | Dave Brubeck | Pacific Jazz
Aleluia | Jazz Crusaders | Live at the Lighthouse ‘66 | Edu Lobo; Ruy Guerra | Pacific Jazz
Here’s That Rainy Day | The Three Sounds | Live at The Lighthouse | Jimmy Van Heusen; Johnny Burke | Blue Note
Alonzo | Cal Tjader | Cal Tjader Plugs In | Cal Tjader | Skye
Flood in Franklin Park | Grant Green | Live at The Lighthouse | Shelton Laster | Blue Note
The Shadow of Your Smile | Modern Jazz Quartet | Live at The Lighthouse | Johnny Mandel; Paul Francis Webster | Atlantic
Eleanor Rigby | Jazz Crusaders | Lighthouse ‘68 | John Lennon; Paul McCartney | Pacific Jazz
Windjammer | Grant Green | Live at The Lighthouse | Neal Creque | Blue Note
Neophilia | Lee Morgan | Complete Live at The Lighthouse | Bennie Maupin | Blue Note
Blue Bossa | Joe Henderson Quintet | At The Lighthouse | Kenny Dorham | Milestone
Get Out of My Way | Cal Tjader | Cal Tjader Plugs In | Ric DeSilva | Skye
