Search - Shorty Rogers, Bud Shank, Lighthouse All Stars :: America the Beautiful

Read this BEFORE you buy this CD!

Richard Narcisso | Belmont, CA USA | 01/26/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"1. The recording was made in the late 1980s, about 20 years after the original Lighthouse All-Stars disbanded......

2. Howard Rumsey, the bandleader and driving force behind the group, was not involved and did not play bass on the record.

3. This is a USA release, with material somwhat uninteresting compared to the original lineup's work; from around 1991 and was also released in the UK under the title, "America The Beautiful" with the same tracks. Another 90s release with the same line-up of mostly imposters features the same cover photo, but different songs and is titled, "Eight Brothers."

4. Better albums of original, 1950s Lighthouse All-Stars material, are plentiful.

5. The DVD documentary by Ken Koenig called "Jazz On The West Coast: The Lighthouse" is incredible.... won awards at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 2006, and is THE BEST piece of media to start with if you're new to the Lighthouse All-Stars and the West Coast Jazz movement of the 50s and 60s."