This two CD or double gatefold LP set takes up where Universal's Impressed Repressed series left off in 2004-5. That series was curated by Tony Higgins, who also helped produce the BBC's Jazz Britannia TV series, and he has again curated this new two-volume compilation, which is intended to whet the appetite for a series of forthcoming re-releases of classic British jazz albums on Decca under the title ‘British Jazz Explosion’.

Slated for re-release is Kenny Wheeler's Windmill Tilter (with the Dankworth Orchestra), the Don Rendell Quintet's Space Walk and The New Jazz Orchestra's classic Le Dejeuner Sur l'Herbe. These albums are each represented by a track on this compilation, with the other 11 tracks comprising a series of well-chosen rarities – let's hope these latter selections will also be followed by the release of their parent albums which cost a fortune in the collector's market, so it's wonderful this rich seam of jazz is being brought within reach of current generations and established fans who don't see the funny side of forking out plus or minus a grand for the original LPs. They come from a unique, some say golden, period of British jazz where artists reframed their music according to their own musical vision, creating original and distinctive music that has provided the inspiration for subsequent generations and the current generation of jazz explorers behind the current Brit Jazz Explosion. As an appetite-whetter, this compilation succeeds admirably.