Howard Rumsey
b. 7 November 1917, Brawley, California, USA. After briefly playing piano and drums, Rumsey took up the bass while still at school. In the late '30s he played in the Vido Musso band alongside Stan Kenton and went with the pianist when he formed his own band in 1941. From 1943 he mostly freelanced but played in the bands of Freddy Slack and Charlie Barnet. At the end of the decade he was directly responsible for establishing a jazz club at the Lighthouse Cafe at Hermosa Beach. He was himself a member of the house band at the Lighthouse, a venue which became the focus of the west coast jazz scene. Throughout the '50s Rumsey played at the Lighthouse, eventually taking over the running of the Café. During this period he played and recorded with many of the outstanding musicians of the day, among them Teddy Edwards, Sonny Criss, Hampton Hawes, Shorty Rogers, Jimmy Giuffre, Conte Candoli, Rolf Ericson, Frank Rosolino, Bob Cooper, Art Pepper and Shelly Manne. He continued his activities into the '60s but eventually ceased playing and severed his connection with the Lighthouse. In the early '70s he returned to the scene by opening another club, Concerts By the Sea. A solid player with a good ear for the best in musical talent, Rumsey's greatest achievement in jazz remains the fact that he provided a setting and format that gave great encouragement to one of the most important areas of jazz in the '50s.