One hundred tracks spread over four CDs, packed into Proper's usual slim carrying case, and at a bargain price. Annotator/compiler Joop Visser has managed the tricky task of balancing well-known tracks (e.g. Glenn Miller's ‘Moonlight Serenade’) with others far less familiar, of the ilk of Harlan Leonard's ‘400 Swing’ or Cleanhead Vinson's ‘Railroad Porter's Blues’, with his customary aplomb. All bar one of the 100 tracks originated in the US – the exception is Ted Heath's ‘Euphoria’, albeit as arranged by Tadd Dameron, then briefly domiciled in Britain – and there's a very fair division between white and black bands. If most generic compilations are a triumph of the all too-familiar over the mediocre, then Visser's selection easily refutes that general rule. Just to pick out a few lesser known goodies, take ‘Ridin' High’ by Benny Goodman's 1937 band, the arrangement by Jimmy Mundy like a sampler for excitement, with BG and trumpeter Harry James engaging in a stirring battle of (musical) wits and Gene Krupa drumming like there's no tomorrow. Another drummer, JC Heard goes one step further on Teddy Wilson's ‘Wham’ singing and thrashing the skins at one and the same time. Good band, too bad it failed to succeed. No need to say more about Duke's ‘Ko-Ko’ but Horace Henderson's ‘Kitty On Toast’ deserves a mention, if only for Ray Nance's surprisingly subtle violin. Swing era conventions depart with Maynard Ferguson's ‘Short Wave’, tuba-bound and high-flown, the maestro's trumpet like a dog-catcher's whistle before the chunkier sounds of Sun Ra's ‘Transition’, bells and all. So, in a nutshell, all (big band) life is here, from the dance-oriented tempos of the 1920s and 30s through to the concert showpieces of the 1960s, with every kind of ensemble on tap. It's good to dip into and wholly valuable as a guide to the timeless lure of these bulky ensembles. Point to note: the track labelled as ‘Swingin’ on a Teagarden Gate' by JT's 1939 big band is in fact ‘Jack Hits The Road’ by Bud Freeman's Famous Chicagoans from a year later.