Various Artists – Spiritual Jazz 19 – West Coast USA Part 1: 50s & 60s (2LP)

The West Coast of the USA has long been associated with the ‘cool jazz’ popular explosion of the 1950s, though wherever jazz was played, modal, Afro-centric and spiritualised streams flowed and flourished toothe West Coast was no exception.

In the post-war years, Los Angeles’ Central Avenue was second only to Manhattan as America’s greatest jazz district. Yet while Manhattan might have been the de facto centre of the jazz universe during these years, it was California that came to exert the greater pull on culture at large, drawing people from across America toward its burgeoning 1960s counter-culture.

Here we explore the effects of that counter-culture on jazz. We examine the influence of the most significant force in post-civil rights Black politics – the Black Panthers, and we delve into the novel spiritual practices and religions of the coming ‘New Age’.

Tracklist
01: Blue SandsChico Hamilton Quintet
02: New DelhiVictor Feldman
03: IborianHank Bagby
04: DamascusLes McCann
05: Cheap BlueKen Jensen Quartet
06: Jungle PipeBuddy Collette
07: Outa SightEarl Anderza
08: Shaker HeightsCurtis Amy
09: Wives And LoversRoy Haynes
10: Native LandNative LandCurtis Amy & Dupree Bolton
11: My! Oh! My!Mills Monarchs Of Jazz
12: TimetableHarold Land
13: Pretty GoodNow Creative Arts Ensemble
14: Dervish DanceCharles Lloyd