Whereas in these take-the-money-and-run times, the premature death of a star can be viewed as a good career move (Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix, Whitney etc), in contrast Robert Altman's directorial debut The James Dean Story was pulled from cinema screens on the week of release. The reason? This inoffensive documentary was viewed as being in bad taste. While the movie remained unseen for years, both the original soundtrack album and this jazz interpretation remained in circulation. In reality both Johnny Mandel and Bill Holman's skillful arrangements of composer Leith Stevens’ score are a cut above many West Coast studio sessions and in doing so make for repeated listening. Just importantly Chet sounds confident whether fronting an 11-piece unit (‘Jimmy's Theme’, ‘Movie Star’) or a quintet with Bill Holman (‘Rebel At Work’). Elsewhere, Bud Shank contributes some pithy solos. Worth checking out.