The great little (now-defunct) Joyce Record Publications produced a series of albums in the 1970s of rare, little-known sessions that somehow found their way onto two-track tape. This is one of them. It came about because on July 30, 1949, Charlie Barnet was performing at the Rendezvous Ballroom in Balboa, California, and Woody Herman was performing down the coast a bit at a club in Oceanside. On this night, they got together at the Rendezvous for a "Battle of the Bands," with Stan Kenton acting as referee. Maynard was in the Barnet band that night. The result is a memorable recording, with Barnet's band playing Bop City, Ill Wind, Bebop Spoken Here, and Claude Reigns, Herman's band playing 5 tunes of their own, and the two bands combined playing More Moon. If you're a serious Maynard Ferguson collector, this LP is a MUST for your collection.
John Himes