Such was the iconic status that Lester Young previously earned for himself with both Count Basie and Billie Holiday, that by the time he signed with Norman Granz many chose to ignore that an over-fondness for spliffs and liquor had greatly diminished the capabilities of a man who had influenced a whole generation of tenor sax players. At best, his studio recordings now offered only a shadow of his former self, often being erratic and unfocused. It seemed that he only pulled himself together when on a JATP stage in the company of his peers. This album was seen as some kind of comeback as Pres had recently been released from hospital following a nervous breakdown just a couple of months earlier. Perhaps because he was in the company of old comrades (Wilson, Ramey and Jones), he felt more at ease, but Coleman Hawkins had become so dismayed by his decline to where he publicly stated that Pres was in no fit state to play – he'd lost it. A trifle harsh, but it still contained elements of truth. Recorded five years earlier with Ramey and Jones on board, but with John Lewis at the piano, the bonus session finds Pres in better shape, but still not at his best.