An album full of vintage 1966-1968 music by the band that brought you the incredible "Hashish" on the legendary San Franciso Sampler "Fifth Pipe Dream". First ever release of this killer Westcoast psychedelic monster that took many years to complete! West Coast Natural Gas started in 1965 in Seattle. In early 1967 they went to San Francisco to work for a local music manager named Matthew Katz. Katz was the original manager for Jefferson Airplane, Moby Grape and later also It's a Beautiful Day. He talked West Coast Natural Gas into signing a contract with him but being young and stupid, they didn't realize at the time that they had basically signed everything over to him. They went into the studio and recorded some original tunes: A Favor, Go Run and Play, The Jumping Frog, Hashish, Water or Wine, Beyond This Place, and Two's A Pair…
One of the most infamously acrimonious musical unions transpired between two of the leading purveyors of West Coast cool jazz: Chet Baker (trumpet) and Stan Getz (tenor sax). Their paths crossed only a handful of times and West Coast Live captures two of their earliest encounters in Los Angeles at the Haig on June 12, 1953, and the Tiffany Club on August 17, 1953. These recordings have been issued in Europe and Japan ad infinitum in varying degrees of quality, completeness, and often sporting erroneous data. However, enthusiasts should note that West Coast Live is the only release derived from producer/engineer Dick Bock's own master reels. For two men who purportedly would rather not be in the same room at the same time, Baker and Getz are able to create some legitimately brilliant improvisation. For the Haig set, Getz had been brought in to co-lead a quartet with Baker for an incarcerated Gerry Mulligan.
In 1977 Art came back from the dead. Or so it seemed to those who followed him, followed his music. And then in 1979, the Japanese came calling in the guise of a small record label, Yupiteru, later Atlas. They wanted Art to record for them. By then, Art was under exclusive contract to Fantasy/Galaxy records and couldn’t record as a leader. However, and I think I deserve credit for this sneaky idea, he could be a “sideman.” And he could choose the “leaders.” He did six albums for Atlas with six terrific “leaders.” And they are classics, now.