Once he was cut loose from Pacific Jazz and left to fend for himself (mainly) in Europe, there was absolutely no way that Chet could have survived on his royalties alone – 'cause (according to him) there were none. True or not he insisted that the only way to keep his car on the road and support his all-consuming habit was strictly on a cash-in-hand basis for both gigs and records – in many cases one in the same. As this illustrates there was an optimism that permeated his early Pacific Jazz recordings (upon which his reputation was established), while much of his European work frequently had an underlying air of sadness as it exposed a much darker destructive side to his lifestyle. Actually a 10-piece unit, the Big Band LP was convened in 1956, three years after Gerry Mulligan's Tentette 10-incher and just weeks prior to him joining Bud Shank for Johnny Mandel's James Dean Story soundtrack. Very much in the breezy spirit of numerous West Coast recordings of the time, it benefits from watertight arrangements penned by Jimmy Heath (3), Pierre Michelot (3), Phil Urso and Christian Chevalier – two each. Fact: the Michelot and Chevalier charts are reruns of four tunes (‘Mythe’, ‘V-Line’, ‘Not Too Slow’ and ‘Chet’) the two French men had composed for sessions Chet recorded in Paris months before (and included here). In contrast to many location albums Chet made at the time, the Subway set depicts Chet as being very much on the case. No slurred or sloppy playing, in contrast on Kenny Dorham's ‘Down’ Chet is fleet in both ideas and execution even if most tracks are a tad overlong – on average between 16 and 27 minutes a pop. With 10 of the dozen selections attributed to vibesman Wolfgang Lackerschmid, the somewhat faceless fare on Artists Favor wouldn't be out of place in some eastern European Marriott Hotel lobby and perhaps that's why Chet appears disengaged.