It is amazing to me that Brookmeyer is forced to record for a small label when musicians without a trace of his talent record regularly for the major record companies. All I can say to any record company honchos reading this is to go out and buy these albums and look to your conscince. Brrokmeyer might be considerably older than those musicians in terms of age, but he is far younger than them in his ability to make music that is relevant to our time and that people will want to hear for centuries hence. At a time when music schools are turning out truckloads of virtuosos, Brookmeyer is a master of the seemingly lost arts of composing and arranging. Also each musician has plenty of solo space, and like accomplished composers, they rewrite every piece as they improvise.
Every track leaves the listener with a sense of great satisfaction, remembered joy and excitement.
Brookmeyer and Goessens provide clear and articulate leadership for the band. The two-piano experiment was supposed to be just for a couple of songs, but the interplay between Brookmeyer and Evans was so delightful that they decided to make a full album out of it. Brookmeyer brought out the playful side of Evans on the six standards making this straight CD reissue of the original LP a swinging success. Well worth searching for. His greatest gifts, though, are his contributions to orchestral jazz.