An excellent document of an under-recorded part of Buddy Rich's career – a late 50s group that featured Sonny Criss on alto sax! The quintet is an especially sharp ensemble – graced not only with well-blown solos from Criss, done in the best sharp-edged mode of his Imperial years, but also with great piano from Kenny Drew, and trombone by Ole Hansen, a player we know little about, but who we've heard rumored to actually be Melba Liston! The set's got a similar feel to Sonny's album At The Crossroads – which was also recorded with Hansen – although this session is recorded live at Birdland, as part of a well-done radio broadcast in 1958. One track features a guest appearance by the Dave Lambert Singers on "Every Day" – and other tracks include "Four", "If I Were A Bell", "In A Prescribed Manner", "Our Delight", and "The Cinch". CD