Pacific Jazz Records: A History of the Label and Its Artists, 1952-1965

From its modest beginning in the back of a drum shop, Pacific Jazz became one of the most respected and successful independent jazz record labels in America, starting with a single 78 rpm release in 1952 that introduced the Gerry Mulligan Quartet. Its exponential growth during the 1950s launched the jazz careers of Mulligan, Chet Baker, Chico Hamilton, and Bud Shank. With expansion in the mid '50s and a name change to World Pacific, the catalog included folk, comedy, pop, vocal, Latin, and ...