For Max Roach the sudden death of trumpet icon Clifford Brown and piano prodigy Richie Powell in a 1956 Pennsylvania motorway pileup was a particularly savage blow, for it wiped out the finest group he would ever lead. This live concert from Switzerland presents one of the better ensembles the great drummer put together in the years immediately after that tragedy, a pianoless quintet starring trombonist Julian Priester and the Turrentine brothers on tenor sax and trumpet. Trumpeter Tommy failed to achieve his brother's widespread acclaim, yet his work here is equally impressive, both solo and in leading the arrangements and riffs that frame the pieces and fill the gaps a pianist would normally take. The arranger is uncredited but bassist Will Lee, is known to have provided at least one of the them. Priester does very well, especially on the uptempo numbers that trombonists tend to avoid, but Stanley Turrentine emerges as the most compelling soloist, presenting many of the soulful touches and phrases that would later become familiar in his Blue Note heyday.

Behind them the ever-dependable Roach maintains a chattering percussive support that keeps the group's momentum intense at all times. Few drummers were as technically clean as Max, whose every fill is wonderfully precise. His extended solo on ‘Night in Tunisia’ is a brilliant reminder of the many pet phrases of his that have since entered every modern drummer's lexicon. One gripe: the playing time of just over 50 minutes is a tad ungenerous, particularly as the second half of the concert fills another album.