Song:Bernie's Tune
Album:Sunday Jazz A La Lighthouse
Howard Rumsey was a jazz bassist best known for running weekly jam sessions at the Los Angeles club The Lighthouse. The band recorded in the 50s for Contemporary Records. It was a good way for young musicians to get experience. He was born Nov. 7, 1917 in Brawley, CA. Rumsey was in Stan Kenton's first band. He also worked for Vito Musso, Johnnie Davis, Charlie Barnet and Barney Bigard. After taking a break from music, he convinced the new owner of The Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach to allow him to run jam sessions on Sundays. The Lighthouse was a Polynesian restaurant. The weekly jam sessions became so popular that Contemporary Records signed Rumsey to a record deal. Sunday Jazz A La Lighthouse was the first album in 1953. As I said, the band was different every week though Rumsey played bass. Other musicians were Bob Cooper and Jimmy Giuffre on tenor sax, Milt Bernhart on trombone, Maynard Ferguson and Shorty Rogers on trumpet, Frank Patchen on piano and Shelley Manne on drums. Giuffre and Rogers wrote most of the songs though Bernie's Tune was a jazz standard that was popularized by Gerry Mulligan. Max Roach and Bud Shank were among those who were Lighthouse All Stars members later on. After interest in jazz faded in the early 60s and the club owners decided to book blues artists, Rumsey took the Lighthouse All Stars on tour until he opened his own club Concerts By The Sea in Redondo Beach, CA. He operated the club from 1971 until Rumsey retired in 1985. Rumsey died on July 15, 2015 at age 97. For more, check out the 2005 doc Jazz on the West Coast: The Lighthouse narrated by Rumsey on DVD. Here's a video of Bernie's Tune by Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All Stars.
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