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

Buddy Rich is definitely wailing on this one – an open-ended all-star set that features work from Ben Webster on tenor, Sonny Criss on alto, Harry Edison and Joe Newman on trumpets, Oscar Peterson on piano, and Freddie Greene on guitar! The album features 4 long tracks – all in the best Verve relaxed jam session mode, with plenty of room for solos –and titles include "The Monster", "Sunday", "Smooth One", and "Broadway". LP, Vinyl record album