The Dave Pell Octet was one of the great cool jazz bands of the mid- to late '50s. This fairly rare LP found
Pell altering the personnel greatly, with
Pell and pianist/arranger
Marty Paich being the only holdovers. In addition, the arrangements of
Paich,
Bill Holman,
Paul Moer (who, like trombonist
Ray Sims, is a substitute on three songs), and
Jack Montrose are opened up, and the musicians take much longer solos than on
Pell's earlier albums. With trumpeter
Jack Sheldon often starring and there being some excellent spots for baritonist
Pepper Adams, this is a rather different album by the Dave Pell Octet, a bit harder-charging and more hard bop-oriented while still retaining the identity of the original group. Worth searching for. ~ Scott Yanow