Jack Sheldon - The Quartet and the Quintet (1998)

There is a lot of music on this 1998 CD which has trumpeter Jack Sheldon's first two LP's as a leader plus three selections originally put out on various samplers. Although not as distinctive a soloist as he would become, at this early stage Sheldon was already a technically skilled and creative bop soloist. Sheldon is well-featured on three songs in a quintet with altoist Joe Maini, on eight numbers with a quartet that co-stars pianist Walter Norris and on the remaining eight tunes in a quintet with tenor-saxophonist Zoot Sims and pianist Norris. The music is purely straightahead and fairly spontaneous yet generally concise and serves as an excellent example of both early Jack Sheldon and mid-50's L.A. bop.