With the rapid evolution of jazz and the emphasis on coming up with new ways to play the music, there have been periods when certain styles that had been considered fresh and innovative were thought of as old hat just a few years later. The collapse of the big band era during 1945-49 resulted in many of the orchestras’ sidemen being overshadowed by the younger bop innovators and, by the early 1950s, West Coast cool jazz. Those veterans seemed to have just four choices if they wanted to continue playing music: Master bebop, switch to Dixieland, simplify their playing to fit into r&b groups, or become a studio musician. Small-group swing combos were considered out of style. The fact that most of the top swing soloists were just in their forties (the elder statesman Duke Ellington was turned 54 in 1953) and very much in their prime was often overlooked by record labels.
John Hammond, the enthusiastic talent scout, record producer, and lover of swing, came to the rescue, at least for many of the artists who (unlike Lester Young, Billie Holiday, Roy Eldridge, Art Tatum and some others) were not part of Norman Granz’s tours and recordings. Hammond was hired by the Vanguard label in late 1953 to produce the Vanguard Jazz Showcase, a series that lasted into 1959. Hammond immediately hired some of the top exponents of the music he loved, the straight ahead swing often heard in the sma
