Jazz goes to... The Dave Pell Octet

Shortly after it was formed in 1953, the Dave Pell Octet won best new combo of the year in polls conducted by Americas Daily News and Mirror newspapers. Six of its eight members were included in Down Beat magazines 1953 poll of the top musicians in the country. Pell and his group flipped fans everywhere they appeared, specializing in Proms and School Dances, and becoming the first name jazz group ever to play for dancing at one of the top Sunset Strip clubs, The Crescendo, and also the Hollywood Palladium.Its jazz was described variously as tasty, sophisticated, subtle, warm, bright, clean, friendly, inventive, happy, and a complete show and concert rolled into one. One successful Octet approach was to have the crowd gather around the bandstand to watch it play a fast jive number featuring the bands excellent soloists.An essential contributing factor in the Octets success was that Pell hired the West Coasts finest arrangers to write the beguilingly melodic and always attractive, danceable band charts; people of the calibre of Marty Paich, Bill Holman, Shorty Rogers, Jack Montrose, Med Flory, John T. Williams. And it was this canny combination of quality and accessibility that really made the Octets name and gave the music its enduring flavour. In Dave's own words: Heres hoping you enjoy our combined dance-and-jazz Campus Hop! *Jordi Pujol*

Dave Pell was a saxophonist who worked in Les Brown's band on the American West Coast from 1947 to 1955. In 1953 he formed his octet, which included some musicians who had played for Les Brown, such as Don Fagerquist and Ray Sims. Dave Pell won considerable popularity by playing in colleges and for high school proms, concentrating on jazz which was suitable for dancing. The music was of high quality, thanks especially to the talented arrangers that Pell employed, including Bill Holman, Marty Paich, Shorty Rogers and Jack Montrose.

The Octet made two LPs called Jazz Goes Dancing, the first in 1956 sub-titled Prom to Prom and the second in 1957 subtitled Campus Hop. They consist of tight, disciplined arrangements which make the most of the eight musicians. Each track contains a good deal of ensemble writing, leaving limited room for jazz solos. What solos there are seldom last for more than 16 bars. Only four of the dozen tracks on the first LP last for longer than three minutes.

One danger of such short, clean arrangements is that they can seem soulless, but that tendency is kept at bay with interesting treatments of the tunes. For instance, "Let's Face the Music and Dance" is taken at an unusually slow tempo, and "Forty-second Street" is updated from its old-fashioned mood to sound like a cool modern arrangement.

Dave Pell himself had a clipped style on the tenor sax, without much vibrato - somewhat similar to the style of altoist Lee Konitz. The trumpeters on both LPs are excellent, with Jack Sheldon particularly notable on "We're in the Money" and "Would You Like to Take a Walk". Med Flory's solos on baritone sax are well worth hearing.

These albums is certainly well-suited to dancing but also to listening, as it is full of musical subtleties. *Tony Augarde (musicweb-international.com)*

Dave Pell Octet

Jazz Goes Dancing

Prom To Prom

The Dave Pell Octet, which made its first recordings in 1953, came out of the Les Brown big band and was the epitome of a swinging, cool-toned, West Coast-style jazz group. Pell's ensemble at the time consisted of the leader on tenor, trumpeter Don Fagerquist (an underrated great), trombonist Ray Sims, baritonist Marty Berman, pianist Arnold Ross, guitarist Tony Rizzi, bassist Bob Bates and drummer Irv Kluger. In order to increase his audience, Pell went out of his way to play for dancing audiences without altering his music much. This long-out-of-print LP is an excellent example of Dave Pell's music of the era, with a dozen songs (two originals and ten vintage standards) whose titles have something to do with college-age people or dancing. Examples include "Young and Healthy", "The Continental", "When I Take My Sugar to Tea" and "Walkin' My Baby Back Home". Worth exploring. *Scott Yanow*

In the space of practically no time at all, the Dave Pell Octet has come to hold an extremely high reputation in the jazz world and, most recently, in the collegiate and high school orbit of dancing. Its jazz has been described variously as tasty, sophisticated, subtle, warm, bright, clean, friendly, inventive and happy. Be that as it may, there is a feeling of rapport here that is missing in so many other groups, and Pell's Octet always keeps everything swinging, whether lightly or from the heels. The cohesion engendered by the Octet is a natural thing indeed, in that three of its members — tenor saxophonist Dave Pell, trumpeter Don Fagerquist and trombonist Ray Sims — for years were stellar members of the fine Les Brown band. The other little Pells — baritone saxophonist Marty Berman, guitarist Tony Rizzi, bassist Bob Bates, pianist Arnold Ross and drummer Irving Kluger — each has his particular claim to fame, especially Rizzi, who is now on Dinah Shore's TV show; Ross, who was at one time Lena Horne's 

accompanist; and Bates, who was a member of the original Dave Brubeck quartet.

As for Dave Pell himself, he has all the qualities necessary for success in the music business. He's both handsome and personable; he has a complete knowledge of his instrument and knows exactly the manner in which he wants his Octet to play and to perform; he's by way of being a nifty guy with a wonderful sense of humor. On top of all this, he also maintains in Hollywood a thriving photography and publicity business. Our Mr. Pell is one for the record!

*Radio Corporation of America (liner notes)*

1 - Look Who's Dancing

(Arthur Schwartz, Dorothy Fields)

2 - East Of The Sun

(Brooks Bowman)

3 - You

(Walter Donaldson, Harold Adamson)

4 - Young And Healthy

(Warren, Dubin)

5 - The Continental

(Herb Magidson, Con Conrad)

6 - Dance For Daddy

(Dave Pell)

7 - When I Take My Sugar To Tea

(Fain, Kahal, Pierre)

8 - If I Had You

(Shapiro, Campbell, Connelly)

9 - Cheek To Cheek

(Irving Berlin)

10 - Let's Face The Music And Dance

(Irving Berlin)

11 - Prom To Prom

(Dave Pell)

12 - Walkin' My Baby Back Home

(Turk, Ahlert)

Don Fagerquist (trumpet), Ray Sims (trombone), 

Dave Pell (tenor sax), Marty Berman (baritone sax),

Arnold Ross (piano), Tony Rizzi (guitar), Bob Bates (bass), Irving Kluger (drums).

Recorded at Radio Recorders, Hollywood, California, May 28 (#1, #4, #10, #12), 

May 31(#2, #5, #7, #8) and June 4 (#3, #6, #9, #11), 1956

✳✳✳

Dave Pell Octet

Jazz Goes Dancing

Campus Hop

Subtitled "Jazz Goes Dancing" (which was the name of an earlier album), this LP (which was last reissued by the Spanish Fresh Sound label) features the Dave Pell Octet playing a dozen songs written by Harry Warren. The danceable music swings and features fine short solos from the members of the octet, which at the time were trumpeter Jack Sheldon, valve trombonist Bob Enevoldsen, Pell on tenor, baritonist Med Flory, pianist Paul Moer, guitarist Tom Tedesco, bassist Buddy Clark and drummer Mel Lewis. The West Coast all-stars perform arrangements by Marty Paich, Bill Holman, Shorty Rogers, Flory and John Williams to such songs as "You're My Everything", "Forty-Second Street", "Lulu's Back In Town" and "I'll String Along With You".

*Scott Yanow*

Listening to the Dave Pell Octet is like hearing music played all over again for the first time. The joyful abandon of the arrangements and the carefree style of the musicians make this a delightful album.

I have heard my music played by the Memphis Five in the beginning of the jazz era and, continuing through the years, by all the great bands up to the present day. Truthfully, I thought that I had heard about everything and that the end had been reached, but Dave Pell proves there is no end. 

I could go on and on singing the praises of these wonderful musicians and orchestrators, but if you just lend an ear you'll see why I heartily recommend this album to the young and the young in heart. *Harry Warren (liner notes)*

1 - Java Junction

(Harry Warren)

2 - You're My Everything

(Warren, Young, Dixon)

3 - Forty-Second Street

(Harry Warren, Al Dubin) 

4 - By The River Saint Marie

(Harry Warren, Edgar Leslie) 

5 - I Know Why And So Do You

(Harry Warren, Mack Gordon)

6 - We're In The Money

(Harry Warren, Al Dubin)

7 - Cheerful Little Earful

(Warren, Gershwin, Rose)

8 - Would You Like To Take A Walk

(Warren, Rose, Dixon)

9 - Lulu's Back In Town

(Harry Warren, Al Dubin)

10 - I'll String Along With You

(Harry Warren, Al Dubin)

11 - Remember Me

(Harry Warren, Al Dubin)

12 - Summer Night

(Harry Warren, Al Dubin)

Jack Sheldon (trumpet), Bob Enevoldsen (valve trombone), 

Dave Pell (tenor sax), Med Flory (baritone sax),

Paul Moer (piano), Tommy Tedesco (guitar), Buddy Clark (bass), Mel Lewis (drums). .

Recorded at Radio Recorders, Hollywood, California, November 12 (#4, #5, #6, #7),

November 14 (#2, #3, #11, #12) and November 27 (#1, #8, #9, #10), 1957

Jack Montrose and Bob Gordon: A perfect pair

Jack Montrose with Bob Gordon

Arranged/Played/Composed By Jack Montrose

The talent of Jack Montrose (1928-2006) was an exceptional one. He proved to be a prolific writer and a lucid player of his own music, as well as of that of others. But two can play the game of jazz, and one recalls most fondly that Jacks main artery of expression was in the recordings in which he joined soul and sound with his friend Bob Gordon. So inextricable was their relationship of minds, horns, being, that death alone could break it. It did, on a tragic Sunday of August 1955, when Bob met eternity head-on in an automobile. For Jack the shock was intense. He later said Bob was more than just an inspiration, he was my other half and together we formed a musical whole.

*Jordi Pujol*

This was Jack Montrose's first album under his own leadership, recorded for Atlantic in 1955. 

If you have been looking for a recording of West Coast jazz that personifies its high point this just could be it. Tenor saxophonist, arranger, composer, Jack Montrose and baritone saxophonist Bob Gordon represent all the best that West Coast jazz had to offer in 1955. Originally released by Atlantic, this Koch recording is a must particularly for any West Coast jazz enthusiast. Jack Montrose was better known as a superb arranger with an affinity for counterpoint and intelligent orchestration. He has never sounded better on tenor or, more at ease than on this recording. Bob Gordon, a veteran baritone saxophonist and gifted soloist with an original voice tragically was killed in an auto acident shortly before this recording was released. Listening to this session you become aware of the affinity between the two horns which is comparable in my opinion, to some of the best created by Mulligan & Baker, Cohn & Sims, Brubeck & Desmond or, Brookmeyer and Terry. Montrose and Gordon were not only musical partners but, the closest of friends. One can only speculate as to the music they might otherwise have gone on to create together. Gordon most certainly was an artist that would have seriously challanged Gerry Mulligan as the dominant voice on the big horn during the period and, perhaps beyond. Recordings by Gordon are few so, this is a welcome re-issue. The ideal rhythm section comprised of pianist, Paul Moer, bassist, Red Mitchell and, drummer, Shelly Manne were a working unit at the legendary Hermosa Beach, CA club, "The Lighthouse" home of the Sunday Jazz sessions hosted by bassist, Howard Rumsey featuring Shorty Rogers; "Giants".

The sound quality is excellent and original detailed liner notes by Montrose are included. I repeat, this recording is a prime example of some of the best West Coast jazz to be heard in 1955. It is still valid today. *amazon.com*

I like to write in a "chamber group" style because of the intimacy. All the parts are transparent. There is nothing superfluous in chamber music, and there can be nothing 

superfluous. 

Just because a group has four or five instruments, that doesn't make it a chamber group. The thing that brings it about is the feeling of the players and the approach to the music. It's a definite feel that grows from learning to love string quartets. A chamber group supplies me with the essential extremes of dynamics, with the necessary mobility and maneuverability. When I was writing for this album, I was definitely thinking in terms of a chamber group. Not one of the instruments was neglected. My object was to utilize each instrument in its own way. By dynamics, I mean the ability to make a decided contrast; the ability to play fast and soft at the same time, for instance. Nothing is covered up.

A lot of the music in this album is, of course, completely improvised. The purpose of the compositions-arrangements was to establish a mood and organize it. The written parts constitute a framework like an organizational skeleton, within which the improvisation takes place. There should be a strong relation between the two. In the writing, I take special precautions to make a soloist play in a certain mood. I'll take measures to see that the soloist plays in this mood, like backgrounds that force the soloist to remain in that mood. In this album I felt that the soloists were always in the mood of the composition. 

lf it's going to be jazz; there has got to be toom for improvisation. It's not a jazz number if there's no improvisation: jazz is improvisation. When I write something, it isn't jazz in itself, it's merely a composition in the jazz idiom. Jazz is jazz because it's completely unpredictable.

For me, form is dominated by content. When I begin working, my materials at hand — melody, beat — begin to dictate a form. I let them develop logically and develop 

their own form.

The players on this album are the players of my choice. They possess the great individuality required to play a continuous solo line, and the necessary insight which allows 

them to play these lines in relation to the other voices and the entire composition. 

Such a player is Paul Moer, whose ability to accompany is equalled by his talent for interpretation and improvisation.

Such a player is Red Mitchell, who by some caprice of fate has chosen to express his melodic conception through the medium of an instrument whose function is basically 

rhythmic.

Such a player is Shelly Manne — Shelly the melodic, Shelly the musical, Shelly the inventive, Shelly the epitome of good taste.

And such a player was Bob Gordon. His feeling was contagious, his sound indomitable, his time impeccable, the beauty and logic of his thought inexplicable. I learned to write through playing, and it was largely through Bob's influence that I learned how to play.

*Jack Montrose (from the liner notes)*

1 - A Little Duet

(Jack Montrose)

2 - April's Fool

(Jack Montrose)

3 - Dot's Groovy

(Jack Montrose)

4 - I'm Gonna Move To The Outskirts Of Town

(Frank Weldon, Andy Razaf)

5 - Cecilia

(Harry Ruby, Dave Dreyer)

6 - The News And The Weather

(Jack Montrose)

7 - When You Wish Upon A Star

(Ned Washington, Leigh Harline)

8 - Have You Met Miss Jones

(Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)

9 - Paradox

(Jack Montrose)

Jack Montrose (tenor sax), Bob Gordon (baritone sax),

Paul Moer (piano), Red Mitchell (bass), Shelly Manne (drums).

Recorded in Hollywood, California, May 11, 1955

Bob Gordon Quintet - Meet Mr. Gordon

Bob Gordon was a fine West Coast bop-oriented baritonist. He played with Shorty Sherock (1946), Alvino Rey’s Orchestra (1948-51) and Billy May (1952) before becoming an in-demand session player for jazz dates with the likes of Shelly Manne, Maynard Ferguson, Chet Baker, Clifford Brown (1954), Shorty Rogers, Tal Farlow and Stan Kenton. While on his way to playing at a Pete Rugolo concert in San Diego, Bob Gordon was killed in a car accident at only 27 years old.

Meet Mr. Gordon, subtitled "Bob Gordon Plays The Compositions And Arrangements Of Jack Montrose", the only album released under his name as a leader, is a brilliant testimony to the baritone sax player who helped define the cool and bouncy West Coast sound.

Composition in jazz music, even in as small a group as is displayed here, plays a very important part in creating the over-all impression the soloist works toward. Bob Gordon chose Jack Montrose to compose the music for this, His firt Pacific Jazz. This choise was a natural one for Bob and Jack have played together frequently in the past and were the guiding force in the experimental rehearsal orchestra which later developed into the Chet Baker Ensemble. This close relashionship combined with Jack's development as a tenor soloist of importance made it apparent that an album combining both talents would be fruitful.*(Liner notes)*

Those who follow the works and ways of the younger West Coast musicians are in for a musica experience of the first order in this collection of Jack Montrose compositions and arrangements, as played by the Bob Gordon Quintet. The playful, neatly turned counterpoint of Gordon's bold, clean style is heard on originals such as "Meet Mr. Gordon" and "For Sue". As well as other jazz albums have been going recently, this, too, should strike pay dirt with many modern collectors.

*Billboard, August 7, 1954*

Side 1

01 - Meet Mr. Gordon

(Montrose)

02 - Two Can Play (Modus Operandi)

(Montrose)

03 - What A Difference A Day Makes

(Grever, Adams)

04 - Onion Bottom

(Montrose)

Side 2

05 - Tea For Two

(Youmans, Caesar)

06 - Two Can Play

(Montrose)

07 - For Sue

(Montrose)

08 - Love Is Here To Stay

(G. and I. Gershwin)

Bob Gordon (baritone sax), Jack Montrose (tenor sax), Paul Moer (piano), Joe Mondragon (bass), Billy Schneider (drums).

Recorded at Radio Recorders Studio, Hollywood, May 6 (#1, #2, #4, #5), and May 27 (#3, #6, #7, #8), 1954.

Jack Montrose - Jack Montrose Sextet

There have lately been a good many bosomy sermons —now that the apologists have done their work— within and without the music about jazz, the art. Few of these hosannas, however, ever point out this fact: Jazz is alwaysan art form; but it is only an art when it recreates, in whatever mode, its chosen materials into fresh, higher superstructures that give the listener a kind of surprised emotional elevation, sustenance, and release-akin, in a sense, to the purge and exhilaration of Greek tragedy. The jazz artist who achieves this connection with his listener must, perforce, be more than just a professional. And as an artist he must, of course, also be an individualist,even an iconiclast —great jazz being, it would seem, a remarkable working union of iconoclasts— or else he would simply be a skillful reshader or copyist.

Modern jazz, however, has, in addition to a general lack of oomph, few individualists among its members. Individuality, like the tortoise, takes time and courage. But there has recently appeared in the modern jazz world a powerful and almost Victorian workship of "progress" as a virtue in itself. Thus a competent musician, to be "progressive", often handily copies what seems progressive in the work of a slightly more mature musician. This is easy, and at the same time, stylish. Real progress in jazz, though, can take place only when a musician has full knowlwdge of who and what have come before in his medium and has decided, beneath his own sun, that he is ready to try and forge a new branch on his tree-a condition of patience and work that few modern jazzmen have the endurane and imagination for.

One modern jazzman who is worth quietly watching and studying, is Jack Montrose, a serious, single-minded and unhurried twenty-six-year-old composer, arranger, and tenor saxophonist. Montrose is representative of the new school of West Coast modern jazzmen —the shiny silver fish od contemporary jazz— in that he combines these capacities to a professional and perhaps even higher degree.

One of the balancing weights on Montrose, The instrumentalist, has been his close association in the past few years with the late Bob Gordon (Bob was killed in a automobile accident Sunday, August 28, 1955, in Los angeles), who handles the baritone saxophone here, and who is also twenty-six. Gordon is a hot, heady baritone saxophonist, a quality which has probably watered down Montrose's tendency toward over-intellectualization in his playing.

Montrose has arranged all of the eight tunes here, five of which are his originals. Listen for the brightness and humor of "Listen, Hear" and "Some Good Fun Blues", where, with "Credo" there are excellent demostrations of Montrose's fluid, ensemble work. Listen for de solos on "Bewitched Bothered And Bewildered" by Gordon and Candoli, and the touching, hard-pressing tenor saxophone statement by Montrose on "Pretty". Here is individuality, skill, and honesty. Because few jazz students have yet learned how to listen to modern jazz, there is little successful modern jazz. This album, then, is a chance for as much earnest study and awareness from the listener as Montrose has put into it. *Whitney Balliett (liner notes)*

Improvisation is of prime importance. Everything I write is a framework for jazz. In my compositions, I want the jazz musician to improvise within the framework that I have constructed for him. In order to do this successfully, I have to write a complete structure conceived of from beggining to end with these musicians in mind; the way they play, the way they sound. I take all this into consideration when I write a jazz composition. My objective is to create a complete structure that enables the jazz musician to play compatibly with my composition. My object as composer is to organiza the perceptions of the jazz musicians involved.

Bob Gordon was an inspiration to every jazz musician or aspirant who ever heard him play or was, perhaps, fortunate enough to share the bandstand with him; fortunate enough to partake of the fire that roared and the sparks that flew and the proclamations of the Gods that sounded when he put his big horn to his lips and made the world abound with life and zest and unbounded love. For the world was a better place to live in when he played and perhaps this singular ability to make it so was in itself his greatest gift.

For me Bob Gordon was more than just as inspiration he was my other half and together we formed a musical whole. Our partnership has not ended, however, for his part is indelibly stamped upon my soul and then task is mine to carry on. For we understood one another and agreed completely. I am fortunate to have loved and been loved in return by one such Bob Gordon. I also realize that the companionship and artistic rapport which we enjoyed were of such a nature as is not commonly experienced. I am fortunate and a better man for having known and loved Bob Gordon.

*Jack Montrose (liner notes)*

Side 1

1 - Listen, Hear

(Jack Montrose)

2 - Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered

(Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)

3 - Some Good Fun Blues

(Jack Montrose)

4 - Fools Rush In

(Rube Bloom, Johnny Mercer)

Side 2

5 - Speakeasy

(Jack Montrose)

6 - Credo

(Jack Montrose)

7 - Pretty

(Jack Montrose)

8 - That Old Feeling

(Sammy Fain, Lew Brown)

Jack Montrose (tenor sax), Conte Candoli (trumpet), Bob Gordon (baritone sax), Paul Moer (piano), Ralph Pena (bass), Shelly Manne (drums).

Recorded in Los Angeles, California, June 24 (#1, #2, #6, #7) and July 6 (#3, #4, #5, #8), 1955.

Billy Usselton Sextet - Complete Recordings

Billy Usselton (1926-1994), was a modern, controlled, articulate, swinging tenor man, full of fresh ideas and surprises and rhythm and good taste. These recordings are the only ones he did as featured soloist of his own group.

George T. Simon wrote: This is jazz of pure sound and free spirit. The arrangements are bright and imaginative. They make elegant use of counterpoint and of the unusual sound afforded by the addition of bass clarinet to the leading tenor sax and trombone and by the piano, too. *Jordi Pujol*

This artist, proficient on enough reed instruments to fill the trunk of a midsize car, appeared on nearly 100 different recording sessions between 1946 and 1978, including every Coral or Capitol record cut by Les Brown's bands since 1954. Usselton went professional while still in high school, after lightweight bandleader Bubbles Becker heard the young man blowing at a local nightclub jam session. Following his stint with the Becker band, Usselton played with Sonny Dunham for several years, then joined trumpeter Ray Anthony for a pair of two-year stretches from 1948 through 1949 and 1951 through 1952. In between, Usselton brought his tenor, clarinet, and oboe chops to the Tommy Dorsey band to close out the '40s.

In the early '50s, Usselton and the fine trombonist Bill Harris started their own band, based out of Florida. Usselton would eventually record only one album under his own name, quite accurately entitled His First Album and released in 1957 on the jazz-savvy Kapp imprint. In 1954 he joined Brown, with whom he was affiliated for most of the balance of his career, with the Brown band's busy schedule including tours of Europe, Africa, and the Far East. The group's vocalist, Lauri Johnson, became Usselton's bride in 1958, obviously ignoring the potential for dementia in even a part-time oboe player. In his younger years with Anthony, the reed player's features included numbers such as "Idaho". Although the later years with Brown could hardly be considered rich in jazz content, Usselton remained a swinger to the end with a particular fondness for the playing of Stan Getz. If this ever became a problem with Brown, he never indicated it; there are no reports of the bandleader ordering Usselton to "Getz out of here". *Eugene Chadbourne*

Billy Usselton Sextet

Complete Recordings

1 - Tangerine

(V. Schertzinger, J. Mercer)

2 - Delilah

(Horatio Nicholls)

3 - Sweet Sue

(W. J. Harris, V. Young)

4 - Dinah

(S. M. Lewis, J.Young, H. Akst)

5 - Coquette

(G. Kahn, J. Green, C. Lombardo)

6 - Georgia On My Mind

(H. Carmichael, S. Gorrell)

7 - Miss Annabelle Lee

(S. Clare, L. Pollack)

8 - Liza

(G. and I. Gerswin, G. Kahn)

9 - Cleone

(Alyson Skypp Hoyland)

10 - Jill

(Billy Usselton)

11 - Margot

(R. Webb, R. Carter)

12 - Smokey

(M. Flory, B. Usselton)

13 - There Will Never Be Another You

(H. Warren, M. Gordon)

14 - Blooz

(Paul Moer)

15 - Angel

(S. Rogers, S. Robbins)

16 - In From Somewhere

(Wes Hensel)

#1 to #12:

(Originally "His First Album" [Kapp (KL-1051)])

#1 to #4:

Billy Usselton (tenor sax), Bob Burgess (trombone), Abe Aaron (bass clarinet), Paul Moer (piano), Mel Pollan (bass), Lloyd Morales (drums).

Recorded in Hollywood, June 22, 1956.

#5 to #8:

Billy Usselton (tenor sax), Bob Burgess (trombone), Abe Aaron (bass clarinet), Paul Moer (piano), Buddy Clark (bass), Frank Capp (drums).

Recorded in Hollywood, July 13, 1956.

#9 to #12:

Billy Usselton (tenor sax), Bob Burgess (trombone), Abe Aaron (bass clarinet), Paul Moer (piano), Buddy Clark (bass), Larry Bunker (drums).

Recorded in Hollywood, July 17, 1956.

#13 to #16:

(Originally as part of "Modern Jazz Gallery" [Kapp (KXL 5001)])

Billy Usselton (tenor sax), Bob Burgess (trombone), Abe Aaron (bass clarinet), Paul Moer (piano), Buddy Clark (bass), Mel Lewis (drums).

Recorded in Hollywood, October 17, 1956.