CRAFT RECORDINGS CELEBRATES 70 YEARS OF CONTEMPORARY RECORDS

2021 marks 70 years of Contemporary Records, the Los Angeles-based audiophile jazz label that both defined and radically expanded the sound of West Coast jazz. Throughout the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, Lester Koenig’s artist-friendly company released career-defining performances by some of modern jazz’s most influential and accomplished improvisers, including Ornette Coleman, Sonny Rollins, Hampton Hawes, Art Pepper, Harold Land, Shelly Manne andTeddy Edwards. In celebrating the history of this essential label and its exceptional catalog, Craft Recordings is releasing a variety of content throughout the coming year, including deluxe box sets, vinyl reissues, SACDs and digital compilations, as well as exclusive merchandise, video content and curated playlists. Full details of these new releases to follow.

Kicking off the campaign tomorrow, December 3, are five digital On Contemporary compilations focusing on individual jazz giants: Art Pepper, Hampton Hawes, Barney Kessel, André Previn and Shelly Manne. A sixth release, The Saxophonists, offers a tantalizing glimpse at the depth of the Contemporary catalog with an array of era-defining horn players. Included are three of the most consequential players to ever pick up the sax, with Benny Carter, the man who tamed the horn in the 1920s and kept it in the vanguard into the 21st century; the supremely expressive Art Pepper; and the revolutionary Ornette Coleman. Also featured are heavyweights Sonny Rollins, Ben Webster, Benny Golson, Harold Land, Bob Cooper and Teddy Edwards. For those fans who want to take a deeper dive into the extensive Contemporary Records back catalog, there is also a new 70-track playlist available on streaming services now, bringing together key tracks and highlights from this groundbreaking record label.

Taken together, the compilations make an indisputable case for Contemporary’s central role in documenting the evolution of modern jazz in the decades after World War II, while foregrounding Los Angeles as a proving ground for transformational talent.

For up-to-date release information and news on the Contemporary Records 70th anniversary campaign, stay tuned to @craftrecordings and craftrecordings.com/contemporaryrecords.

On Contemporary: Art Pepper

In the aftermath of Charlie Parker, no alto saxophonist blazed a more brilliant alternative path than Pepper (September 1, 1925 – June 15, 1982), who forged a lyrical detour bypassing bebop despite his love of Bird. The L.A. native poured his tormented soul into his horn, recording a series of classic albums between stints in prison due to his addiction to heroin. His Contemporary sessions rank among his very best work, and this anthology includes choice pieces from his 1957 encounter with Miles Davis’ sidemen on Art Pepper Meets the Rhythm Section, the scorching 1960 album Smack Upthrough his triumphant 1977 run at the Village Vanguard with George Cables, Elvin Jones and George Mraz, represented here with a sublime version of “Over the Rainbow.”

1. You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To – Art Pepper
2. Smack Up – Art Pepper Quintet
3. Come Rain Or Come Shine – Art Pepper
4. Red Pepper Blues – Art Pepper
5. Airegin – Art Pepper
6. Imagination – Art Pepper
7. Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise – Art Pepper
8. All The Things You Are – Art Pepper
9. ’Round Midnight – Art Pepper
10. I Can’t Believe That You’re In Love With Me – Art Pepper
11. How Can You Lose – Art Pepper Quintet
12. The Man I Love – Art Pepper
13. Birks Works – Art Pepper
14. Four Brothers – Art Pepper
15. Over The Rainbow (Live At The Village Vanguard, New York City, NY / July 28, 1977) – Art Pepper

On Contemporary: André Previn

If the Berlin-born Previn (April 6, 1929 – February 28, 2019) tends to be forgotten these days as an ebulliently swinging jazz pianist with a bright, bell-like touch, it’s because he was so brilliant in such a range of musical endeavors. Writing for MGM while still a teenager, he went on to win four Academy Awards® for his film scores and 10 GRAMMY® Awards. He spent the second half of his life as the principal conductor for some of the world’s greatest orchestras. As a jazz pianist, he recorded prolifically for Contemporary between 1957 and 1960, and this playlist focuses on his hugely popular trio with bassist Red Mitchell and drummer Shelly Manne (or Frankie Capp), a group best known for a series of albums devoted to musicals like Pal Joey, Gigi and West Side Story.

1. I’ll Remember April – André Previn Trio
2. I Could Write A Book – André Previn & His Pals
3. Long Ago (And Far Away) – André Previn
4. Tonight – André Previn & His Pals
5. Autumn In New York – André Previn
6. You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To – André Previn Trio
7. Bewitched – André Previn & His Pals
8. A Fine Romance – André Previn
9. A Sleepin’ Bee – André Previn
10. I’m Beginning To See The Light – André Previn Trio
11. Stormy Weather – André Previn
12. The Parisians – André Previn & His Pals
13. What Is A Man? – André Previn & His Pals
14. Gigi – André Previn & His Pals
15. I Feel Pretty – André Previn & His Pals

On Contemporary: Hampton Hawes

Much like Art Pepper, a fellow Angelino, Hampton Hawes (November 13, 1928 – May 22, 1977) would make an excellent subject for a Hollywood biopic (and like Pepper’s memoir Straight Life, Hawes’ Raise Up Off Me is a classic account of the jazz life that could serve as the screenplay). Even more memorable than his evocative prose were his funky, irrepressibly grooving trio and quartet sessions for Contemporary, his primary label throughout his career. Like a West Coast Horace Silver, Hawes honed an utterly personal church-steeped sound inspired by but not beholden to bebop, and this collection captures the breadth and depth of one of jazz’s most appealing yet unsung pianists.

1. I Got Rhythm – Hampton Hawes Trio
2. Hip – Hampton Hawes
3. Autumn In New York – Hampton Hawes Trio
4. The Champ (Live At Irvine Bowl, Laguna Beach, CA / June 20, 1955) – Hampton Hawes Trio
5. Blues The Most – Hampton Hawes Trio
6. Like Someone In Love – Hampton Hawes
7. You And The Night And The Music – Hampton Hawes Trio
8. Hampton’s Pulpit – Hampton Hawes Quartet
9. Yardbird Suite – Hampton Hawes
10. Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams – Hampton Hawes, Harold Land, Scott LaFarro & Frank Butler
11. Broadway – Hampton Hawes Quartet
12. Morning – Hampton Hawes
13. I Love You – Hampton Hawes, Harold Land, Scott LaFarro & Frank Butler
14. ’Round Midnight – Hampton Hawes Trio
15. Carioca – Hampton Hawes Trio

On Contemporary: Barney Kessel

A guitar virtuoso (October 17, 1923 – May 6, 2004) from Muskogee, Oklahoma, Kessel was one of Contemporary’s busiest artists between 1954 and 1963. He had already recorded with Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday and Oscar Peterson when he started making his own albums for Koenig. This compilation draws from both his own sessions and his numerous releases with The Poll Winners, a trio with Shelly Manne and Ray Brown with a moniker boasting of their long run topping critics’ polls in Downbeat and Metronome. While Kessel spent decades playing thousands of studio dates as a member of the legendary L.A. studio cadre the Wrecking Crew, he continued to record exceptional albums for Contemporary through the 1980s.

1. Indiana – Barney Kessel
2. On Green Dolphin Street – Barney Kessel
3. A Foggy Day – Barney Kessel, Ray Brown & Shelly Manne
4. Volare – Barney Kessel
5. Down Among The Sheltering Palms – Barney Kessel
6. On A Slow Boat To China – Barney Kessel
7. Just In Time – Barney Kessel
8. Satin Doll – Barney Kessel
9. Mack The Knife – Barney Kessel, Ray Brown & Shelly Manne
10. The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down – Barney Kessel, Ray Brown & Shelly Manne
11. Lullaby Of Birdland – Barney Kessel
12. Embraceable You – Barney Kessel
13. Little Susie – Barney Kessel, Ray Brown & Shelly Manne
14. Caravan – Barney Kessel, Ray Brown & Shelly Manne
15. 12th Street Rag – Barney Kessel

On Contemporary: Shelly Manne

One of the most prolifically recorded drummers in jazz history, the versatile Shelly Manne (June 11, 1920 – September 26, 1984) was another pillar of the Contemporary fold who elevated every project he worked on. Aside from the first track, a graceful date led by André Previn, this compilation focuses on Manne’s extensive catalog as a leader and co-leader. With equal parts force and finesse, he powered some of the era’s most exciting hard bop sessions, though his bands tend to be overlooked today because his players didn’t go on to wider fame, à la Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. But Manne’s muscular trap work made his L.A.-based bands consistently compelling, particularly when they stretched out in a nightclub. Almost a third of the compilation covers Shelly Manne & His Men at San Francisco’s flagship jazzspot The Black Hawk on a particularly torrid 1959 run, though the concluding track comes from a live 1961 date in his own Hollywood room, Shelly’s Manne-Hole. 

1. I Could Have Danced All Night – Shelly Manne & His Friends
2. Peter Gunn – Shelly Manne
3. If I Had My Druthers – Shelly Manne
4. Slan – Shelly Manne, Stu Williamson, Charlie Mariano, Russ Freeman & Leroy Vinnegar
5. Get Me To The Church On Time – Shelly Manne & His Friends
6. Blue Steel – Shelly Manne & His Men
7. You And The Night And The Music – Shelly Manne
8. Billie’s Bounce – Shelly Manne
9. Flip – Shelly Manne
10. Exodus – Shelly Manne
11. I Am In Love (Live At The Black Hawk, San Francisco, CA / September 22, 1959) – Shelly Manne & His Men
12. Step Lightly (Live At The Black Hawk, San Francisco, CA / September 24, 1959) – Shelly Manne & His Men
13. Cabu (Live At The Black Hawk, San Francisco, CA / September 24, 1959) – Shelly Manne & His Men
14. Summertime (Live At The Black Hawk, San Francisco, CA / September 22, 1959) – Shelly Manne & His Men
15. The Champ (Live At Shelly's Manne-Hole, Hollywood, CA / March 3-5, 1961) – Shelly Manne & His Men

On Contemporary: The Saxophonists

The Saxophonists – Various Artists offers a tantalizing glimpse at the depth of the Contemporary Records catalog with an array of era-defining horn players. The tenor titans represented include undisputed heavyweights Ben Webster, Sonny Rollins and Benny Golson, as well as two masters often overlooked due to their L.A. addresses, Harold Land and Teddy Edwards, who both did some of their finest work for the label. The irrepressibly swinging Bob Cooper shines on a solo date away from his usual spot in the Lighthouse All-Stars. Upholding the alto’s essential role are three of the most consequent players to ever pick up the sax, with Benny Carter, the man who tamed the horn in the 1920s and kept it in the vanguard into the 21st century; the supremely expressive Art Pepper; and the revolutionary Ornette Coleman. A track by the lithe, cool-toned Lennie Niehaus, who’s better remembered these days for his extensive work on film and television scores, recalls a major talent who took another path.

1. Four Brothers – Art Pepper
2. I’m An Old Cowhand – Sonny Rollins
3. Invisible – Ornette Coleman
4. Grooveyard – Harold Land
5. Ain’t She Sweet – Benny Carter
6. Smack Up – Art Pepper Quintet
7. Whisper Not – Benny Golson
8. I’ve Told Ev’ry Little Star – Sonny Rollins
9. The Sermon – Teddy Edwards Quartet
10. You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To – Art Pepper
11. The Fox – Harold Land
12. Day By Day – Lennie Niehaus Quintet
13. Turnaround – Ornette Coleman
14. Jazz Theme And Four Variations - 2nd Variation: Happy Changes – Bob Cooper
15. Georgia On My Mind (Live At The Renaissance, Hollywood, CA / October 14, 1960) – Ben Webster