Jazz at Monterey in Bloomington, MN

Virgil Gonsalves
, a long-forgotten but talented baritone/saxophonist, led three record dates in the 1950s of which this
V.S.O.P
. reissue LP was the final one. The first side, which includes such songs as
"Stablemates,"
"A Sunday Kind of Love"
and one of the earliest "cover" versions of
John Coltrane
's
"Moment's Notice,"
features a 13-piece big band (five trumpets, five saxes and a three-piece rhythm section) filled with mostly obscure players; the exceptions are altoist
Leo Wright
, pianist
Junior Mance
and bassist
Eddie Kahn
. The flip side has a
hard bop
-oriented sextet featuring
Gonsalves
, trumpeter
Mike Downs
and tenor-saxophonist
Dan Patiris
as the main soloists. This is an LP that should delight collectors who enjoy discovering "new" talent, for the musicians' lack of name recognition does not hide their impressive talent. ~ Scott Yanow