Despite the youthful appearance of the participants and their period clothing styles, the music comes up fresh and powerful. On the surface, it's all post-Coltrane with the classic quartet informing the rhythm-section and, because that influence was still being assimilated by the horns, the challenge of combining it with some free-er ensembles lights a fire under the proceedings. This was also the period when Europe's state and regional stations saw themselves as under an obligation to feature new jazz on television (hence the DVD), and it was Germany's NDR series that invited Surman to bring three tunes and his choice of London musicians and that added the two Austrians, who each brought a tune. There's nothing comparable in Surman's recorded output so, whether or not you have vivid memories of his own octet at the time, this easily recommends itself. Now, I wonder if someone can find the BBC Radio 2 session by Kenny Wheeler, broadcast in June 1969, which also included Surman?