The good old great man theory tends to reduce the emergence of bebop to just a handful of musicians: Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Bud Powell. While there’s no doubt that those players did more than anyone to spread the gospel of the music in the mid-40s, they were hardly alone. The latest title in Uptown Records’ superb Flashback Series takes an invigorating look at the important role played—and the thrilling music made—by trumpeter Howard McGhee in Los Angeles during the same time. West Coast 1945-1947 contains eight previously issued studio sides, but the real hook is the presence of 11 radio performances from that period that evidence McGhee’s protean power as an upper-register speed demon as well as a full-bodied lyricist on ballads.
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