SHM-CD. With a taut and punchy brass section, cool reeds and a finger-snapping groove, this is the sound of the modern, progressive big band at it's pinnacle, popping bebop. The band features largely the same personnel Jones had assembled for the Free and Easy dates, including saxophonists Phil Woods and Jerome Richardson, Buddy Catlett (bass), Patti Bown (piano), Melba Liston (trombone), Julius Watkins (horn), and Clark Terry (trumpet). Billy Byers, Thad Jones, Snooky Young, Freddie Hubbard and Oliver Nelson also feature. There's some Basie-esque arrangements here on tunes such as Benny Golson's "Little Karen," and Jones' original "Hard Sock Dance," a hard-swinging version of "Straight No Chaser," while Hubbard and Nelson distinguish themselves in the contemporary urban strut of Billy Byers' "Robot Portrait." There isn't a wasted moment here. SHM-CD (Super High Material) format features more clarity, depth and definition of sound.
