First released on LP by Columbia some 20 years after these varied sessions were recorded, this CD version is in effect a facsimile reissue with nothing added, despite a plethora of other titles and alternative takes available according to Tom Lord's The Jazz Discography. Bob Porter's original note is repeated and that's it. Oh well. For all that, much of the music is quite wonderful – spirited, funky in the old sense of the word, and utterly relaxed. Burrell is never seemingly short of ideas, invariably fluent, swingy and down-home on the blues, while Illinois Jacquet is on fire in the opening slightly manic ‘Mambo Twist’, his wide-open Texan sound perfectly captured as he trades phrases tit-for-tat with Burrell. He's in imperious form too on the stately ‘The Squeeze’, leaning back on the beat as Burrell takes his time. Wright is heard on three tracks with McDuff and is impassioned and impressive on ‘Moten Swing’, McDuff's basslines and comping behind Burrell are like a masterclass in swing even though the track is allowed to fade. This kind of unclassifiable small group playing seems to come so easily to these musicians, all at ease with the concept, while Eddie Bert on his single appearance fits in equally well despite his tendency to take a bopper's line. Hard to understand Columbia's reluctance to issue these sessions in full, either then or now. Lovely stuff.