Stars of Jazz. A Complete History of the Innovative Television Series, 1956-1958 by James A. Harrod (2020)

Between 1956 and 1958, a unique TV show hosted by Bobby Troup (who penned “Route 66”) was aired live from Los Angeles by KABC. Stars of Jazz, as it was rightfully baptized, brought contemporary – mostly cool jazz – artists as well as a few big names from the past swing era to American living rooms on a weekly basis. First broadcast solely locally in the L.A. region by Channel 7 KABC, in 1958 it was only partially and shortly shown on the ABC network coast-to-coast and in Canada, but canceled quickly.

Contrary to many other TV shows, it was basically about instrumental jazz exclusively and did not just feature musicians as short intermissions – as was often the case with (mostly) female singers who attracted a large consumer crowd.
The show – intended to be educational – conceived by producer Jimmie Baker, program director Pete Robinson and several devoted jazz fans at the station – garnered various awards and set the standard for other music shows to come; aside from being some sort of “third place” where black and white musicians/guests were presented on TV together (definitely not standard procedure in the late 1950s). Furthermore, (West Coast) jazz then was a niche product that could not compete with the commercial success of sweet music, pop tunes or rock and roll at that time. Devoting a program to the style was highly unusual.

Together with that innovative concept, a number of visual treats came to the consumer at home, such as experimental set design, avant-garde stage lighting (heavy use of kookaloris that broke shadow and direct spot light very nicely), at times sharp contrasts or a rather dimly lit environment, providing night club atmosphere. Furthermore, certain visual gimmicks for TV audiences were presented, like on-screen views of oscilloscope wave forms of performed music, a metronome focused by the camera or short films by Charles and Ray Eames were shown  during performance.

After more than 20 years of research and interviewing, author James A. Harrod now presents the first ever full documentation of the show and lists every episode, musician, band and guest who performed there, including composer and lyricist credits. As a list of all musicians participating would cover at least two pages, let’s just say: there were many.

A link to an online source, mostly YouTube, with either the full episode or at least, some snippet is mentioned whenever available. A brief interview with renowned jazz photographer Ray Avery serves as an introduction to the book, followed by chapters on the respective production years, where 1958 with almost 60 pages is the most interesting one.
Every single episode is listed with musicians, songs performed, unusual visual ideas, at times short bio of the performers or last minute replacement sidemen, special episode feature such as inch-by-inch exposure of a certain instrument or longer background report on a specific musical style or local jazz scene, and recent record releases. Almost all depictions between half a page and two pages, come with a performance still or set photo by Avery, many previously unpublished. Two appendices list all sound transmissions (designed for broadcast on the AFRS worldwide) and the Calliope catalog. Part two lists the restored video, those available or restored by UCLA, as well as other DVD or video publications.

The title is a very welcome and much-appreciated chronicle, as the show Stars of Jazz has mostly been forgotten. The reason why apart from the thirty-six Calliope “Sessions, live” LPs taped during the show and sold in the 1970s that may still be in circulation, the show’s name may not ring a bell with you is simple. Out of the totally 130 episodes shot in kinescope, just a handful survived, so far, only little more than a dozen has been restored (by UCLA Film & Television Archive).
29 episodes out of the 130 were discarded by KABC TV. So far, 85 kinescopes remain lost. And unfortunately there were no TV reruns.
An excellent and elaborate jazz research document and important catalog of a lost music show that finally receives attention long overdue.

Review by Dr. A. Ebert © 2021

 

James A. Harrod. Stars of Jazz. A Complete History of the Innovative Television Series. 1956-1958. McFarland, 2020, 235 p.