Fresh from the commercial failure of his Innovations in Modern Music Orchestra, Kenton returned to the studio and the road with a new jazz band, featuring some of the top-flight west coast players he had come to know since his last jazz band broke up in 1950. He commissioned music from several arrangers, including Bill Holman, Johnny Richards, Gerry Mulligan, Shorty Rogers, and Bill Russo, and this album was the result. Long regarded as one of the finest Kenton recordings, this studio album captures the energy and fire of one of Kenton's hardest-swinging bands, including soloists like Frank Rosolino, Lee Konitz, Conte Candoli, Maynard Ferguson, and Sal Salvador.
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