Here are three of Kenton’s Concerts in Miniature by probably his orchestra’s best-ever line-up, star-studded throughout, and part of what is a seemingly endless series of short broadcasts. Taken from appearances at respectively Coney Island, a Canadian Air Force base and then the Civic Opera House in Chicago, the compilation’s 22 tracks, in sometimes muddy sound, provide plenty of spots for such assertive stars as Rosolino, Konitz, Candoli and the newly-recruited Sims, with Levey kicking things along in fine style. Kenton’s own spoken intros are lengthy and informative, as when he introduces ‘Jack’ Sims at some length, for his fluently-taken ballad feature ‘It’s The Talk Of The Town’. His later announcements mostly stress the contributions of Bill Russo, who also speaks, and the majority of the arrangements heard here are his, every soloist identified, the results typified by Konitz’s pristine-sounding exploration on Russo’s composition ‘My Lady’ or trombonist Burgess on ‘Over The Rainbow’. Still, the chance to hear guitarist Salvador, vocalist Connor, Rosolino (marvellous on ‘I Got It Bad’), Sims, Konitz and Candoli in these varied situations, balancing Bill Holman’s straightahead style with Russo’s sometimes turgid but often brilliant Innovations in Modern Music is too good to miss out on. Kenton had intentions that transcended the big-band conventions of the day but he still allowed the ‘guys’ their head on the final ‘Boo Boo Be Doop’ by Holman. A time warp maybe, but great to have.