California Cool - the best of West Coast Jazz

"We were just so happy living out west; that sound you hear on those recordings - that's the sound of happiness." Dave Pell.

This compilation is centred on jazz from the west coast of the USA in the 1950s. The media were trying to whip up an East v West storm (the 'tough' be-bop of New York being portrayed as the antithesis of LA's 'cool') but in reality many musicians trod both paths. History has made legends of many bop players but the music in this playlist restores some of the glory of California's finest.