Howard Rumsey: He Switched the Lighthouse On to Jazz

“It was a wonderful era, full of excitement and energy and creativity. I had the time of my life.”

Howard Rumsey was remembering the period from 1951 to 1961 when, as bassist and club manager, he led the Lighthouse All Stars, one of the West Coast’s most revered jazz ensembles, at the Lighthouse Cafe in Hermosa Beach.

The era will be recalled Sunday at the Hermosa Civic Theater when Rumsey and several of his former cohorts gather for a concert dubbed “Howard Rumsey’s Lighthouse All Stars Revisited.” Though the show, produced by Ken Poston as a benefit for radio station KLON-FM, is sold out, it is being recorded and will be available on Contemporary Records later this year.

Rumsey, who stopped playing more than 20 years ago, will serve as leader for his reassembled corps, which includes saxophonists Bob Cooper and Bud Shank, trumpeter Conte Candoli, trombonist Bob Enevoldsen, pianist Claude Williamson, bassist Monty Budwig and drummer John Guerin. All the players served lengthy stints with the All Stars save Budwig, who was a frequently sub for Rumsey, and Guerin, whose combo won an award at one of several collegiate jazz festivals.

The former bassist, who was also part-owner of the Concerts by the Sea jazz club in Redondo Beach from 1972-1986, is looking forward to seeing his former charges. “It’s going to be a great opportunity to hear them,” he said in a phone interview from Hemet, where he has retired and makes golf his new passion. Rumsey, 71, added he’ll let the musicians pick their own program. “I’ll just introduce them and then sit down and listen.”

Rumsey, a native of Brawley who gained renown as a bassist with Stan Kenton’s Orchestra in 1941-42, was looking for “a beautiful place to settle down,” when he happened into the Lighthouse in 1949 and asked owner John Levine to try a jazz policy.

“I walked in there on a Sunday, there was nobody in the place except Levine, who was behind the bar,” Rumsey said. “The place had a bandstand so I said to Levine, who kind of looked like a gangster but whom I later found out couldn’t hurt a fly, ‘Why don’t you put in a Sunday afternoon jam session?’ He said, ‘Hey kid, Sunday is the worst day of the week for the liquor business.’ I pointed to his empty club and said, ‘What can you lose? Let’s give it a try.’ So he agreed and next week we propped open the two front doors and blasted the music out into the street and in a couple of hours Levine saw more people in there than he’d seen in six weeks,” Rumsey chortled.

For two years, the sessions were held only on Sundays, then in 1951, Rumsey convinced Levine to expand to a six-day-a-week schedule with a Sunday show that ran from 2 p.m. to 2 a.m. Among the players who worked as part of the All-Stars were drummers Max Roach, Shelly Manne and Stan Levey, pianists Sonny Clark, Victor Feldman and Vince Guaraldi, saxophonists Jimmy Giuffre, Teddy Edwards and Richie Kamuca, trumpeters Shorty Rogers and Joe Gordon and trombonist Frank Rosolino. Various Rumsey-led groups made several LPs for the Contemporary Records label.

Levey, who joined the Lighthouse crew for a six-year stint in 1954, had fond memories of the room. “It was a meeting place for all the musicians, and there was a lot of quality music,” said Levey, a photographer who gave up playing in the ‘60s.

Candoli said his 1954-60 tenure proved almost ideal. “It was the hippest,” said the trumpeter, currently with “The Tonight Show” orchestra. “I was just thrilled to be playing jazz every night. We didn’t make much money, but nobody did then.”

Candoli praised Rumsey for his organizational efforts. “It was like a family,” Candoli said. “Howard treated it like it was his club, and John (Levine) gave him the the go-ahead.”

Rumsey has always been self-effacing about his reputation as less-than-stellar bassist. “That’s one reason I’m glad I’m not playing this Sunday,” he said “My best playing days were when I was sideman with Kenton, because I wasn’t forced to think about anything except play the bass. At the Lighthouse, I had half a foot on the bandstand, half in management.”Rumsey’s association with the Lighthouse ended in 1971, when Levine died and his son, Ross, sold the club to Rudy Onderwyzer. It was later sold again and is now primarily a rock and blues club.

Turning philosophical for a moment, Rumsey summed up the impact of the music that was made at the Lighthouse. “The music belonged to the people and the people belonged to the music,” he said. “We felt like playing what we felt and the audience felt like listening. I’m very fortunate that I got to do what I did and heard what I heard.”