By the late 1950s in Los Angeles, golf had become as vital to a jazz musician's income as a working automobile. The sport was a social meeting ground, a place to get to know musicians off the bandstand. Several of the West Coast jazz musicians I've interviewed talked about the importance of the golf course in terms of work opportunities and camaraderie. This was especially true for black musicians, who were able to build friendships with white musicians who could help them with gigs and record dates.
But early in the decade, there had been a problem. Most courses in Los Angeles back then didn't allow blacks, Jews, Italians or other ethnic groups. That changed in 1955, when Maggie Hathaway, a black social activist, applied for membership to the Chester Washington Golf Course's Women’s Golf Club. Rejected, she went to see Kenneth Hahn, a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and a supporter of civil rights. She explained that public courses dependent on the tax dollars of L.A. residents couldn't discriminate. Hahn agreed and the course's management team was replaced. He also compelled other public courses to diversify.
The reason I'm telling you all of this is that I'm fairly certain that the iconic photo by Richard Gross on the cover of Hampton Hawes's Four! album was taken at Chester Washington. Recorded in January 1958 for Contemporary, the musicians featured Hawes on piano accompanied by guitarist Barney Kessel, bassist Red Mitchell and drummer Shelly Manne. But unlike most piano-led ensemble sessions, this one was more of a musical dialogue between four superb West Coast jazz musicians.
The tracks on the LP were Charlie Parker's Yardbird Suite, There Will Never Be Another You, Red Mitchell's Bow Jest, Sweet Sue, and Hampton Hawes's Up Blues. Two additional tracks wound up on the CD release: Thou Swell and Hawes's gospel blues The Awful Truth.
The album is notable not only for its engaging and elegant improvisational exchanges but also for it's swinging, upbeat feel. As Nat Hentoff points out in the album's liner notes, the album marked a series of firsts. The session was the first time in more than a year that Hawes played with Manne. Bow Jest was Mitchell's first recorded bowed solo. And the album marked the first time Hawes played Love Is Just Around the Corner, learning it as he went along.
As Hawes told Nat:
I started to look at the chords and found I'd listened to it sometime, somewhere. I had it in my mind, I guess, because I was playing the right chords.
Hampton Hawes died in 1977, Barney Kessel in 2004, Red Mitchell in 1992 and Shely Manne in 1984.
JazzWax clips: Here's Yardbird Suite followed by the rest of the album...
But early in the decade, there had been a problem. Most courses in Los Angeles back then didn't allow blacks, Jews, Italians or other ethnic groups. That changed in 1955, when Maggie Hathaway, a black social activist, applied for membership to the Chester Washington Golf Course's Women’s Golf Club. Rejected, she went to see Kenneth Hahn, a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and a supporter of civil rights. She explained that public courses dependent on the tax dollars of L.A. residents couldn't discriminate. Hahn agreed and the course's management team was replaced. He also compelled other public courses to diversify.
The reason I'm telling you all of this is that I'm fairly certain that the iconic photo by Richard Gross on the cover of Hampton Hawes's Four! album was taken at Chester Washington. Recorded in January 1958 for Contemporary, the musicians featured Hawes on piano accompanied by guitarist Barney Kessel, bassist Red Mitchell and drummer Shelly Manne. But unlike most piano-led ensemble sessions, this one was more of a musical dialogue between four superb West Coast jazz musicians.
The tracks on the LP were Charlie Parker's Yardbird Suite, There Will Never Be Another You, Red Mitchell's Bow Jest, Sweet Sue, and Hampton Hawes's Up Blues. Two additional tracks wound up on the CD release: Thou Swell and Hawes's gospel blues The Awful Truth.
The album is notable not only for its engaging and elegant improvisational exchanges but also for it's swinging, upbeat feel. As Nat Hentoff points out in the album's liner notes, the album marked a series of firsts. The session was the first time in more than a year that Hawes played with Manne. Bow Jest was Mitchell's first recorded bowed solo. And the album marked the first time Hawes played Love Is Just Around the Corner, learning it as he went along.
As Hawes told Nat:
I started to look at the chords and found I'd listened to it sometime, somewhere. I had it in my mind, I guess, because I was playing the right chords.
Hampton Hawes died in 1977, Barney Kessel in 2004, Red Mitchell in 1992 and Shely Manne in 1984.
JazzWax clips: Here's Yardbird Suite followed by the rest of the album...
This story appears courtesy of JazzWax by Marc Myers.
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