PACIFIC JAZZ 45 EP RELEASES – PART TWO
© James A. Harrod, COPYRIGHT PROTECTED; ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

The picture jacket EP4 series that had been a regular component of the Pacific Jazz line when the label began in 1952 would come to an end in 1956.  Bock announced that the EP line would be discontinued and received an outcry from dealers that would force a change in that decision. 

The November 3, 1956 issue of Billboard carried a small notice confirming that the EP line would be brought back, but with some changes.

The Fall 1956 catalogue listed EP4 releases of selections from the John Lewis / Bill Perkins session, the Chet Baker in Paris sessions, and the Bill Perkins Octet session.  Our research has not been able to confirm that these last three EP4 releases advanced to the finished product stage, and our presentation of labels ends with EP4-45, a selection from the Chico Hamilton Quintet’s second LP, PJ-1216.

EP4-50, a selection from Gerald Heard’s REFLECTIONS LP is an oddity in the EP4 series, acquired without a picture jacket and it is believed that it was not issued with a picture jacket originally.  The matrix numbers also indicate that this was issued out of series.  Dick Bock was part of a circle of friends that included Gerald Heard, Christopher Isherwood and Aldous Huxley.  This EP might have been produced for limited distribution within that circle of friends and their acquaintances.

The Summer 1957 catalogue confirmed the limited EP line.  The Chet Baker section does not list any Paris sessions release, the Chico Hamilton section ends with EP4-45, and the Gerry Mulligan section lists the two Paris Concert EPs, EP4-41 & EP4-42.

Extended play releases would continue to have a strong demand in the European market and World Pacific releases would continue to be available in Europe through Interdisc and other licensed distributors.  German EP releases on ton-treu schallplatten gmbh would continue the EP4 prefix.  The same item released on Interdisc would use a WP 5 prefix, thus EP 4-59 would be WP 5459 (in this instance, Jazz West Coast, Vol. 4, Part 1).

Pacific Jazz licensed the Bud Shank/Shorty Rogers Quintet session that had been issued on Roy Harte’s and Harry Babasin’s Nocturne label.  It first appeared as one side of PJ-1205 with the reverse side offering a Bud Shank/Bill Perkins session to fill out the LP.  The Pacific Jazz release of the Shank/Rogers session on EP used the same stampers that had been used for the Nocturne EP releases, hence the Nocturne matrix numbers seen on the labels.

Label images © EMI Capitol Music

Label images © EMI Capitol Music

© James A. Harrod, COPYRIGHT PROTECTED; ALL RIGHTS RESERVED