Virgil Gonsalves: Sextet and Big Band

We tend to think of West Coast jazz as a style centered exclusively in Los Angeles. While much of the relaxed, contrapuntal sound did evolve in the suburbs of the city in the 1950s, San Francisco also had a West Coast sound that was slightly more intensive. Artists who emerged from the San Francisco jazz experience in the late 1940s and '50s included Dave Brubeck, Paul Desmond, Cal Tjader, Dick Collins, David Van Kriedt, Bill Smith, Vince Guaraldi, Eddie Duran and Carson Smith. Add Virgil Gonsalves to the list. 

Many jazz fans are unfamiliar with Gonsalves. Paul Gonsalves, yes. But not Virgil. The two musicians were not related. Virgil was a baritone saxophonist who recorded only four jazz albums between 1954 and 1959. By the late 1960s, Gonsalves gravitated to the San Francisco rock scene, playing with horn bands such as the Electric Flag and Pacific Gas & Electric. During that 10-year period, Gonsalves gigged extensively in San Francisco with a series of sextets he assembled. In the 1970s and beyond, he gigged and taught in schools, a vocation he loved.

Now, Fresh Sound has released Virgil Gonsalves: Sextet and Big Band, a two-CD set that unites his jazz output in the 1950s. These dates feature extraordinary music and musicians. The albums included are Virgil Gonsalves Sextet (1954), Jazz San Francisco Style (1955), Intro to Jazz: Rudi Salvini Orchestra (1956) and Jazz At Monterey: Virgil Gonsalves Big Band Plus Six (1959). The 32 tracks are uniformly excellent.

The combo sessions are fabulous with towering players and the big band tracks are spectacular. For example, the 1954 sextet session featured two great combos in one: The horns of Bob Enevoldsen (v-tb), Buddy Wise (ts) and Virgil Gonsalves (bar), backed by a killer rhythm section comprised of Lou Levy (p) Harry Babasin (b) and Larry Bunker (d).

The big band sessions are truly astonishing. One is Gonsalves with the Rudy Salvini Orchestra, featuring Rudy Salvini, Allen Smith, Al Del Simone, Wayne Allen, Billy Catalano (tp) Van Hughes, Archie Lecoque, Chuck Etter, Ron Bertuccelli (tb) Charles Martin (as) Jerry Coker, Tom Hart, Howard Dudune (ts) Virgil Gonsalves (bar) John Marabuto (p) Dean Reilly (b) John Markham (d) and Jerry Cournoyer, Jerry Mulvihill, Jerry Coker (arr).

The other features Gonsalves's sextet of Mike Downs (tp), Danny Pateris (ts), Virgil Gonsalves (bar), Merrill Hoover (p), Eddie Khan (b) and Al Randell (d) backed by Bill Cataligio, Jerry Cournoyer, John Coppola, Mike Downs and Dickie Mills (tp); Bob Davidson and Leo Wright (as); Danny Pateris and Chuck Peterson (ts); Virgil Gonsalves (bar); Merrill Hoover and Junior Mance (p); Eddie Khan (b) and Benny Barth (d).

If you're a big band head like me, you're in for quite a surprise. And it's fair to say that Gonsalves is treat in all of his groups. This new set's extensive liner notes by Jordi Pujol and booklet art are excellent and provide a robust biography of Gonsalves.

Virgil Gonsalves died in 2008.