This is a successor to the earlier Lake reissue of Humph's mainstream octet albums from 1957-58 (see Jazzwise 132) and combines Humph Dedicates (previously on London LP) and Triple Exposure (from Parlophone, engineered by Joe Meek) with sundry singles and other unreleased material as a double-CD.

The big band serves as the backdrop on just six of thirty-one tracks, the octet working through arrangements by Harry South, Kenny Graham and Humph himself on Triple and Eddie Harvey on Dedicates. The premise of Dedicates really amounts to a series of re-workings of familiar band themes, all associated with famous names; thus ‘Take the A Train’ or ‘Alligator Crawl’, Harvey's charts performed with panache and swing. Coe's Hodges-like alto and Temperley's silken baritone are well heard, the latter impressively so on his feature ‘Midnight Sun’, with Humph's crackling trumpet resplendent over the top. The writing is invariably distinctive, invention overcoming familiarity, with Temperley like a rock and Picard getting the occasional fruity blow. If there's a let-down, it is in the relatively limited use made of Picard's blow-hard solo work. Rhythmically all is well, the group's drive standing comparison with the best US models. Skidmore excels, too.

Much the same goes for disc two, the band sounding relaxed yet potent, punching above its weight, Coe more like Willie Smith than the Rabbit, Graham's swing understanding on ‘Swallowing The Blues’ rewarded by Skidmore and Armit at their best, the underlying riff figure oddly compelling. Each piece has moments of intrigue for these writers were more associated with modernism than mainstream, glad to set challenges and hear them met. Brilliant music. Producer Paul Adams does my job for me when he states that these octet recordings are by ‘one of Humph's finest line-ups at the top of its game’. Just so.