Arranger
Ernie Wilkins' two Everest LPs, Here Comes the Swingin' Mr. Wilkins and
The Big New Band of the '60s, are reissued in full on this single CD. Recording during 1959-1960,
Wilkins used an overlapping personnel of
Count Basie members (both past and of the time), some of the top jazz-oriented studio players, and various miscellaneous jazz musicians. There is no way that this could have been a full-time big band, not with such soloists as
Duke Ellington's tenor saxophonist
Paul Gonsalves, trumpeters
Clark Terry and
Thad Jones, and the
Basie players, but
Wilkins' swinging arrangements gave his short-lived orchestra its own sound. The weak point to the program is that all of the selections clock in around three minutes apiece, which was unnecessary by the late '50s, resulting in all of the solos being very brief. However, the music is easily enjoyable, making this set recommended to fans of swinging big bands. ~ Scott Yanow