The Nocturne Records Story

In the early 1950s musicians Roy Harte and Harry Babasin, eager to document the ascending West Coast jazz scene, started a Los Angeles label called Nocturne Records. Babasin and Harte said they wanted to "broaden the nation‘s views of our activities out here in Hollywood and to present some of the better musicians who are most normally hidden in the more commercial work of the city, yet who are outstanding jazz musicians in their own right." Their series of 10-inch LPs, called "Jazz in Hollywood," featured friends and musical colleagues such as saxophonist Bud Shank, pianist Jimmy Rowles, trumpeter Shorty Rogers, and arranger Marty Paich. We‘ll hear recordings from all of those artists and more as we explore the sound of West Coast cool on "The Nocturne Records Story."