A Texas native, tenor saxophonist
Harold Land grew up in San Diego and his playing always evoked a balance of styles, bringing together the big swinging tone and edgy harmonics of the hard bop era with the warm lyricism and dusky romance of the West Coast sound. The engaging archival collection
Westward Bound! brings both of these aspects into sharp focus. Released in conjunction with Record Store Day 2021, the album showcases a handful of unissued live recordings featuring
Land and his group performing at Seattle's The Penthouse nightclub in 1962, 1964, and 1965. Just as
Land's own style drew from a geographic mix of influences, his bandmates here also display the vibrant blend of East Coast, Midwest, and West Coast traditions that were quickly breaking down the barriers of modern jazz in the 1960s. Joining
Land at various times are a superb line-up of players, including Kansas City-born trumpeter
Carmell Jones, Indiana-bred siblings pianist
Buddy Montgomery and bassist
Monk Montgomery, Pennsylvania drummer
Philly Joe Jones, and others. Interestingly, both
Land and trumpeter
Jones were members of
Gerald Wilson's West Coast big band during this period, and their playing here feels like a small group version of
Wilson's tasteful, melodic modern jazz style. Also joining
Land for several tracks is fellow California legend pianist
Hampton Hawes, who lends his sparkling sophistication to "My Romance" and the hard-swinging blues "Triplin' the Groove." While
Land never went totally avant-garde, by the late '60s his playing was moving in more expansive modal directions, influenced by
John Coltrane and the spiritual and political unrest of the era.
Westward Bound! is a buoyant time capsule of modern jazz on the move, before the free jazz era, when East Coast bop met West Coast cool. ~ Matt Collar
