It’s no surprise that the combination of Washington and Jones seemed a good idea at the time, or that this material has been reissued so often. As well as the Verve CD of 1998 (which even bore notes by this writer – not reproduced by EJC), the basic 11-track big-band session has been included in recent years on Avid’s 2-CD Four Classic Albums and on EJC’s own 3-CD set of the Washington-Jones Complete Sessions. The latter and the Verve also added three singles from the same date (of which the most interesting is ‘I’ll Drown In My Own Tears’, Dinah’s cover having remained unissued at the time). But this new CD goes one better with the addition of most of the earlier octet project, For Those In Love, including ‘If I Had You’ (also originally unissued and therefore not on Avid) but without two tracks that are on Avid – confused? The main takeaway is that Dinah clearly relished singing standards, as a change from her singles material, and touches all the bases from reflective to belting. Jones’ writing shows that, already in this context, he had an ear for cute as well as swinging – this is no match for his 1956 LP This Is How I Feel About Jazz – but he’s doing his job, with considerable invention. And the bands (with brief solos by those listed above) are top-notch.