To celebrate his 50th anniversary as a bandleader,
Les Brown recorded what would be his only American record of the 1980s. This CD, which has 16 selections, mostly sticks to veteran standards, although fortunately there are no remakes of earlier hits or any attempts at outright nostalgia. Among the main soloists during the instrumental set are trumpeter
Don Rader, trombonist
Andy Martin. and guitarist
Mundell Lowe.
Jack Sperling drives the band on drums and two of
Brown's earliest players (bass trombonist Stumpy Brown and baritonist Butch Stone) were still playing their parts, although neither gets to solo or sing. This is a decent set that makes one wish that
Les Brown had recorded more jazz during the past 30 years. ~ Scott Yanow