Jack Sheldon, a beacon for some sixty years on the West Coast jazz scene, is having a very good year. At 77, 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. Sheldon and alto saxophonist Shank played together in the early fifties at the Lighthouse, the incubator for the West Coast sound. Along with Sheldon and Shank, the line-up at the time was pianist Claude Williamson, bassist Howard Rumsey and drummer Stan Levey.
AAJ contributor Larry Taylor spoke with Sheldon and Rumsey to create a picture of an artist who may be approaching 80, but is still filled with the enthusiasm and energy of youth.
Check out Jack Sheldon: Still Going Strong at AAJ today!
For more information contact All About Jazz.
