This valuable re-release is a part of Warner Japan's ‘Jazz: Best Collection 1000’ series of 24 bit remastered classics, mainly from the Atlantic vaults, but also from Warner's other acquisitions, in this case Frank Sinatra's old Reprise label. The history of the Chico Hamilton Quintet, originally formed in 1955, is unique in jazz with its penchant for experimenting with – in the context of its time – ‘exotic’ instrumentation and unusual musical forms. The original group comprised drums, bass and guitar plus cello and Buddy Collette on flute, clarinet, alto and tenor saxes. The group's history until 1959 was documented on the Pacific Jazz label, plus a memorable appearance at the Newport Jazz festival captured for posterity on film in Jazz on a Summers Day. When Charles Lloyd joined the group on reeds in 1960 as musical director, the first of his many permutations he would initiate was dispensing with the signature sound of cello, replacing it with piano (Drumfusion from 1961). Gradually he transformed the group into a different organisation and one with a different focus as these tracks, recorded in January 1963, reveal – they have a darker tone than previous iterations of the group thanks to George Bohanon on trombone plus guitarist Szabor taking over the piano role as in the earlier versions of the quintet. Lloyd solos impressively throughout this album (remember, in just over a year he would go out on his own after a stint with Cannonball Adderley's group, debuting under his own name with Discovery!). Here he provides all the material, of which ‘Island Blues’ would be picked up by his own groups and recorded on Nirvana, The Flowering of the Original Charles Lloyd Quintet and Love-In. Gabor Szabor is equally accomplished on guitar, and he too was on the threshold of a solo career, making his debut under his own name for Impulse! two years later. Thus, this record is a valuable historical document of a pivotal moment in the Hamilton Quintet's evolution, with two future stars of jazz poised to emerge in their own right.