Jack Sheldon
Cool '50s 'Survivor' Still Going Great
Artist Interview by: Larry Taylor
April 2008 - Jack Sheldon, a beacon for some 60 years on the West Coast jazz scene, is having a very good year. At 76, the celebrated trumpet player, vocalist, bandleader and TV personality, is the subject of a new documentary film, while his jazz career continues to accelerate.
He was there when the so-called West Coast Jazz, a cooled-down version of hard bop–was born. He calls himself a “survivor” from the period. “Only a few of us are left. Bud Shank is another,” he says. Jack and alto sax player Shank played together in the early fifties at the Lighthouse, the incubator for the West Coast sound. Along with Sheldon and alto sax player Shank, the line-up at the time was Claude Williamson, piano, Howard Rumsey, bass, and Stan Levey, drums.
Rumsey, 90, now retired in Orange County, California, started the All Stars in 1950. Recalling those early days, he says about Sheldon: “Although he was good back then, Jack is playing better today than he ever has.” By the way, Rumsey defines the West Coast style “as jazz without vibrato.”
Adding emphases to this opinion is the new documentary, “Trying to Get Good: The Jazz Odyssey of Jack Sheldon,” produced by Doug McIntyre and Penny Peyser. It has just been released and will play the Newport Beach Film Festival, April 29. The film stresses Sheldon’s dedication to his music.
Two special appearances coming up will showcase his talent. His quartet, California Cool, will perform at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, April 25-26, and at the L.A. Jazz Institute’s “The Stage Door Swings” event, May 22-25, featuring classic jazz interpretations of Broadway musicals. Sheldon’s 1964 participation in Shelly Manne’s big band LP, offering jazz takes on music from “My Fair Lady.” Sheldon and Irene Krall sang on the original; Tierney Smith will take the Krall part. The institute’s four-day event will be held at Four Points Sheraton at LAX.
The 76-year old Sheldon grew up in Jacksonville, Florida, and started playing trumpet when he was 12. He took to the instrument immediately and became proficient enough to play with Gene Brandt’s band back in the early forties. Sheldon says, “It was war time, and many musicians had gone off to fight. So Gene gave me a chance when I was 13.” Soon after the war, Jack went to Southern California. While attending Los Angeles City College, Sheldon played various small clubs. Next he became part of the Lighthouse group.
Sheldon’s biggest influence was Dizzy Gillespie. “After I first came to Los Angeles, Dizzy’s band was playing at the Million Dollar Theater,” he says. “I waited around the back, and Dizzy used to let me in to hear. He finally gave me a chance to sit in, which was a big thrill.”
His first recording came in 1955 on Jimmy Giuffre’s Tangents In Jazz, a bold, highly praised LP. Here Giuffre put together a quartet with himself on tenor sax, Sheldon, trumpet, Ralph Pena, bass, and Al Acton, drums. The concept was to play without an overt beat, with bass and drums inter-playing with the others as in a classical setting. “It was way ahead of its time,” Sheldon says. “Giuffre was a true genius.” Listening to the album today, the tracks still sound fresh, and, despite "no beat," it certainly swings. It has been reissued on CD by MSI Music Imports.
In 1958-59, Sheldon played with the bands of Benny Goodman and Stan Kenton. “Benny was my mentor. I really respected him. In fact, he even let me sing,” he says. “Stan would never do that. He was leery of my ad-libbing before the audience.” The big-band experience made him decide that traveling on the road was not for him. Sheldon returned to California and hasn’t left since.
Sheldon’s irrepressible, jokester personality made him a natural for TV. In the early sixties, he started with appearances on Steve Allen’s nightly show which featured lots of jazz. Here Jack’s comedic personality was recognized, and he was given his own TV show, “Run Buddy, Run” in 1966. Most memorable was his following 18-year stint with the Merv Griffin Show, trading quips with the host and acting as musical director.
During this busy period, Jack never stopped playing jazz at local clubs and making a long list of recordings under his own name and in collaboration with jazz greats. Sometimes overlooked as a vocalist, he has an inimitable voice, casual, with impeccable jazz phrasing and an irresistible way of bending notes. Some compare his style to Frank Sinatra’s. Indeed, Sheldon has played for ‘Ol Blue Eyes and has a few humorous anecdotes about the time.
Sinatra was one of the few who could suppress the irrepressible Sheldon.“Frank wasn’t easy to get to know,” Jack says. “He surrounded himself with friends and bodyguards. But, I remember I was ‘allowed’ to sit at his table one time at a party for Natalie Wood at the old Romanoff Club. I didn’t contribute much to the conversation, though, with Frank’s steely eyes on me.” Permission to speak was not granted.
It seems that Southern California cool is in nowadays. A critically acclaimed art exhibit, “Birth of the Cool: California Art, Design and Culture at Mid-century,” is currently touring the country after opening in Southern California at the Newport Harbor Art Museum. As well as the art, furniture and architecture on display, there is a section dedicated to jazz memorabilia, which includes photos by William Claxton with one featuring a handsome young Sheldon.
At his April appearance in Orange County, he will perform with his California Cool Quartet, a group he started in 1998 with his current lineup of Joe Bagg, piano, Jennifer Leitham, bass, and Dick Weller, drums. Besides the jazz, there will be lots of laughs. And as always, Sheldon is sure to sing a couple of songs.
An average day for Jack at home near Universal City has him spending three or four hours practicing his horn and vocals; then, most evenings, he gets ready to play with the quartet at one of his several regular gigs–-Charlie O's in Van Nuys, Jax in Glendale, Café 322 in Sierra Madre, the Westin LAX hotel. “I’m having a great time,” he says. “Just learning and playing.”
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