Gillespie
was at the peak of his powers throughout the 1950s and still the pacesetter among trumpeters. This double LP matches him with
Stan Getz
, the
Oscar Peterson Trio
, and drummer
Max Roach
for its first half.
Getz
, although identified with the "cool" school, thrived on competition and is both relaxed and combative on the uptempo explorations of "It Don't Mean a Thing" and "Impromptu." The remainder of this two-fer substitutes pianist
John Lewis
and drummer
Stan Levey
for
Peterson
and
Roach
and, most importantly, adds altoist
Sonny Stitt
to the frontline. The results are three uptempo stomps and just one medium-tempo performance. This is one of their better (and more explosive) studio jam sessions. ~ Scott Yanow