The naming of this CD's a bit unusual – as it's issued under the name of trumpeter Jack Sheldon, who's only featured on 3 of its 22 tracks – but that's hardly a problem for us, as the bulk of the work features arrangements by the great John Graas! The first 11 tracks on the set from a 1956 Decca session by The Westlake College Quintet, a hipper group than you'd expect – especially since they're all college kids! John Graas found these guys playing at Westlake College, and he rightly thought they had a sound that was well worth recording for Decca – not surprising, since these guys have a similar chamber modern groove to some of Graas' own work for the label. The ensemble features tenor, trombone, bass, drums, and piano, the last of which is played by Dick Grove, probably the only player in the group who went onto become a more famous name. The titles include a lot of Graas originals – including "Ghost Talk", "Westlake Bounce", "Theme", "Mood", and "La Paz". Next up are the Sheldon tracks – 3 titles from the West Coast All Star Ninet album International Premier In Jazz – led by Sheldon, and featuring Graas, Art Pepper,
Buddy Collette, Bill Perkins, and Larry Bunker – all working through a 3-part suite entitled "Jazz Chaconne No 1". Last up are 8 tunes from a 1953 album for Kapp – entitled French Horn Jazz – and featuring John Graas alternating between an octet that features Jimmy Giuffre, Shorty Rogers, Shelly Manne and Bud Shank, and a quintet with Jack Montrose, Gerald Wiggins, Walter Clark, and Larry Bunker. Tunes on that set include "Lady Like", "Egypt", "Argyles", "Blue Haze", "Pyramid", "6/
4 Trend", "Not Exactly", "Cordova", "Be My Guest", "Frappe", "Bananera", and "Sequence".
(Out of print.)