Bob Keene Septet & Lex Golden Jazz Octet - Presenting Rare and Obscure Jazz Albums: Solo for Seven / in Hi-Fi (2021)

Solo For Seven
Bob Keene (1922-2009), took his first clarinet lesson at the age of six. At seventeen he signed with MCA as “The World’s Youngest Bandleader.” After World War II, he played with the Eddie Miller and Ray Bauduc bands, and in 1948 he was fronting his own orchestra once again, which appeared in almost every ballroom in Southern California for almost seven years. His first album came out in 1954 on the label Gene Norman Presents. After 1955 he decided to downsize, and for a time he led mostly smaller groups in clubs in and around Los Angeles. This continued until spring 1957, when he got the opportunity to join the more business-oriented side of music —Bob was involved in establishing a new company, Rex Productions, and became the musical director for the Andex and Keen labels. He produced his first sessions for Andex in May 1957, recording himself as a leader of two septets with arrangements by Jack Montrose, and featuring such illustrious jazzmen as Shelly Manne, Pepper Adams, Red Norvo and Red Mitchell. As a result, an album with the slogan “A presentation in jazz by the Bob Keene Septet” and with the title Solo for Seven, came out in September of 1957.

The Lex Golden Jazz Octet in HI-FI
When trumpeter Alexander “Lex” R. Golden (1913-2001) made his recording debut, his name was virtually unknown outside of Los Angeles. Still, he was by no means a Johnny-come-lately. Lex had had years of experience as an instrumentalist, gained working in almost every movie, T.V. and recording studio in Hollywood. Not only that, but starting in 1956 he performed in some of the most famous nightspots in Los Angeles with his band. On his album debut for Superior Records, Lex’s main purpose was to put together a set of tunes to “listen well and dance well,” with a jazz touch. With that idea in mind, he chose a talented group of arrangers consisting of Marty Paich, Paul Moer, Pete Carpenter, Bill Pitman and Ray Sherman, to write the scores for the jazz octet led by Golden and made up of some of the most accomplished Hollywood studio and jazzmusicians.