Reissued on a few different labels through the years, this modern bop set has long been considered a bit legendary. In 1990, it found a permanent home on CD with the GHB subsidiary Progressive. For this issue, the eight-song set has been expanded to 13.
Hal Stein (on alto and tenor), trumpeter
Warren Fitzgerald and bassist Alphonso Cotton would never rise out of obscurity, but all three show quite a bit of talent and are still active in their fields in the late '90s. Pianist
Bob Dorough and drummer
Paul Motian complete the quintet and are heard at the beginning of their careers. Other than two standards and a ballad medley, the music is primarily original and looked ahead from the vantage point of 1955 while still tied to the bop tradition. Well worth investigating by straight-ahead jazz collectors.