Every celebrity I've interviewed who lives in the Westwood section of Los Angeles has said the reason they live there is you don't have to take a car to get around the village. You can walk. I'm not sure if that was the meaning behind Gerry Mulligan's song title, but it would certainly make sense. Or he originally entitled the song Westward Walk, in tribute to his trip made by hitchhiking from New York to Los Angeles in 1951.
Mulligan recorded Westwood Walk with his newly formed tentet in January 1953. The musicians were Chet Baker and Pete Candoli (tp), Bob Enevoldsen (v-tb), John Graas (fhr), Ray Siegel (tuba), Bud Shank (as), Don Davidson and Gerry Mulligan (bar), Joe Mondragon (b) and Chico Hamilton (d).
Here's information on Westwood Walk from the site of JW Pepper, published by Jazz Lines Publications:
This bright swing arrangement was written by Gerry Mulligan shortly after he arrived in California in 1952. He originally arranged this for eight with a rhythm section: alto sax, tenor sax, baritone sax, two trumpets, French horn, trombone and tuba. The January 1953 recording was done with just bass and drums for the rhythm section.
Here's the Gerry Mulligan Ten-tette playing Westwood Walk...
Here's Les Double Six singing Westwood Walk in 1961 with singer Mimi Perrin's French lyrics and arrangement...
And here's a gem. To see and hear a super-rare video of Les Double Six rehearsing the song in 1965 plus a brief interview in French with Mimi Perrin, go here (be sure to unclick the mute button).
Other Perfection tracks in this ongoing series...
- Paul Desmond and Jim Hall: Any Other Time, go here.
- John Coltrane: You Say You Care, go here.
- Quincy Jones: Funk Junction, go here.
- Art Farmer's Work of Art, go here.
- Miles Davis: A Gal in Calico, go here.
- Gene Krupa: Mulligan Stew, go here.
- Dave Brubeck: The Duke, go here.
- Horace Silver: The Back Beat, go here.
- Horace Parlan: Up & Down, go here.
- Dexter Gordon: Society Red, go here.
- Barney Kessel: You Go to My Head, go here.
- Count Basie: Corner Pocket, go here.
- Herbie Mann: Manteca, go here.
- Donald Byrd: Bronze Dance, go here.
- George Shearing: I'll Be Around, go here.
- Ammons & Stitt: You Talk That Talk, go here.
- Count Basie: Blues in My Heart, go here.
- Moonlight in Vermont, go here.
- Johnny Griffin / Matthew Gee, Here, go here.
- Jimmy Smith / Stanely Turrentine: When I'I Grow Too Old to Dream, go here.
- Chet Baker, Estate, go here.
- Jazz Studio 1, Tenderly, go here.
- Herb Pomeroy, Down Home Outing, go here.
- Frank Sinatra, There's a Small Hotel, go here.
- Bill Harris Herd, Blackstrap, go here.
