A rather forgotten figure these days, Pettiford was an important link from the innovations of Jimmie Blanton to Mingus and those who came after. Oscar also wrote tunes which have become test-pieces for bass students, some of them included here such as ‘Tricotism’, ‘Pendulum At Falcon’s Lair' (twice) and ‘Swingin’ Till The Girls Come Home'. The reason that Avid can fit six albums onto a double-CD is that the first four were all 10-inch LPs, two of which, along with the two 12-inch big-band sets, were all produced by a young Creed Taylor (uncredited in Avid's reprints of LP liner-notes and, sadly, so is the big-band personnel, thanks to a layout error). Heard en bloc, some of the material suffers from rather derivative heads and short individual performances, but Pettiford's bass and pioneering pizzicato cello are worthy of attention, as are Thompson, Farmer and the amazing French-horn of Watkins. The main highlights are from Oscar's occasional 12-piece band (plus harp on some tracks!), whose albums have been restored to their original running-orders, unlike the 1994 Impulse! reissue. The sound is faithful to earlier releases.