Pacific Jazz

Pacific Jazz on vinyl: from Chet Baker to soul jazz

In short: Pacific Jazz from Los Angeles began with the cool West Coast sound of the fifties – Gerry Mulligan and Chet Baker – and in the sixties became home to grooving soul jazz with Les McCann, the Jazz Crusaders and Gerald Wilson’s orchestra. The Vinyl Room currently has 111 Pacific Jazz records, 84 of them first pressings.

What makes Pacific Jazz special?

Richard Bock founded the label in Los Angeles in 1952, together with the drummer Roy Harte. It started with Gerry Mulligan’s pianoless quartet featuring the young trumpeter Chet Baker – recordings that made West Coast jazz known worldwide. William Claxton’s cover photos shaped the image of this music: Californian light, musicians outdoors. For a time the records also came out under the name “World Pacific”.

The other side: sixties soul jazz

In the sixties Pacific Jazz got groovy. Les McCann, The Jazz Crusaders and the Gerald Wilson Orchestra stand for music between jazz, soul and gospel – sought after today by jazz fans and by DJs looking for breaks and samples. In the mid-sixties the label went to Liberty.

From our stock

Pacific Jazz first pressings

Cool jazz

Soul jazz

New in

→ Jazz on vinyl · How to spot a first pressing · Grading explained · Plattenparty on YouTube

FAQ

Who founded Pacific Jazz? Richard Bock and Roy Harte, in Los Angeles in 1952.

What is the difference between Pacific Jazz and World Pacific? World Pacific was a name under which the label also released records for a time – the same company.

Which Pacific Jazz records are the best known? The early recordings of the Gerry Mulligan Quartet with Chet Baker and the soul jazz albums of Les McCann and the Jazz Crusaders.

How many Pacific Jazz originals do you have? Currently 84 Pacific Jazz records are marked as first pressings.