A smiling Don Rendell gazes approvingly at a bearded Ian Carr, assiduously pressing the valve keys on his glistening flugelhorn during a heated solo at a packed pub gig. It's a moment captured in time at a jazz venue typical of an era when British modern jazz was thriving even while battling the onslaught of Beatles-driven rock. The afore-mentioned photo of Don and Ian graces the sleeve of Warm Up, a superb double CD of live performances by their quintet recorded during a night at The Highwayman, in Camberley, Surrey.

It was 10 November, 1965 when the musicians assembled in the venue that boasted ‘dancing space, candlelight’ and cost punters six old shillings [30p] to gain admission. Even if London-based fans thought Camberley somewhat remote, the venue opened by pianist Michael Garrick attracted enough support to provide plenty of work for top class groups like the Don Rendell/Ian Carr Quintet that has since attained cult status, as Simon Spillett points out in his detailed liner notes here.

We hear the group with Garrick, Dave Green (bass) and Trevor Tomkins (drums) perform with both improvisational zeal and tight knit unity. Simon describes how the Highwayman gig was recorded, by the late Les Tomkins of Crescendo magazine and released in partial form in the early 2000s. Les had given Trevor Tomkins (no relation) a copy of the tape and a year before Trevor's death in 2022 he donated it to Jazz In Britain, enabling them to release this complete version.

Amidst on stage chatter, we hear Don count in Red Garland's ‘Blues By Five’ and the upbeat mood is set by Tompkins’ assertive snare drum fills and Dave Green's nimble double bass. Don's tenor sax leaps into action, his smooth tone interspersed with macho growls. Garrick's two fisted keyboard assault is matched by Green and Tomkins’ full length solos. ‘Jonah And The Whale’ has raunchy muted trumpet from Ian and Don's tenor explores all avenues of the ‘Ja Da’ based chords. Garrick's dramatic ‘The Sixth Seal’ is even more exciting, but a more meditative aspect of his unique style is a highlight of ‘Shades Of Blue’. The Garrick/Carr collaboration ‘Hot Rod’ has Tomkins putting his foot on the accelerator and Dave wins applause for another nifty bass solo.

Don's ‘Garrison ‘64’ is a quirky tune with interplay between Don's soprano sax and Carr's mellow trumpet. Cries of ‘Yeah!’ greet Rendell when he launches into a truly inspiring solo. Garrick's spritely ‘Promises’ is a fine example of the group's team work, taken at heart stopping tempo, the composer's own stop-time choruses greeted with cheers. After Dave Green shows who's the bass boss. Trevor Tomkins excels with a veritable drum symphony.

Michael's ‘Ursula’ is a jazz waltz set in motion by Don's romantic soprano while ‘Autumn Leaves’ sees him switch to flute, Garrick's attentive keys following his every move. The set concludes with ‘When I Fall In Love’ and ‘My Funny Valentine’ featuring Garrick and the rhythm section. Finally, watch out for the CD's evocative sleeve photo of The Highwayman, long since demolished and consigned to the past, unlike the music.