A deluxe three-disc set summing up
Otis' pre-Hand Jive days as an R&B bandleader of some renown who employed various singers on a number of singles for the Savoy label. The recording debuts of
the Robins,
Little Esther Phillips, Mel Walker, guitarist
Pete Lewis, and
Linda Hopkins are all here, and you hear how
Otis kept his ear to the ground, changing and moving to keep pace with a big-band scene that was slowly dying out, while making some marvelous DIY records along the way. Incredible notes from
Billy Vera make this a box set well worth having in the collection. ~ Cub Koda