Yet, the rest of th.e instrumentals here take us from subtlety to swing as Sherwood and his corps of arrangers create Snuf Stuff, and Suddenly It's Swing, and 356 In the Book, and the directness of that last title indicates how vast Bobby's library was. Notice the power and steady pulse from drummer Johnny Cyr, and at this time the band was loaded with fine soloists like Lucas, also playing alto saxophone, and Skip Layton, whose range on the trombone was unequalled in that era. The band also gave its own interpretation to After Hours, a Sherwood original, which is treated gently and melodically, featuring Haymer again. Blue Lou was even then a standard in every band's book, and here the tempo is way up, but Layton, Haymer, and Sherwood all sandwich in solos.

From another perspective, although the instrumentals captured the attention of the Ii tener's initially, Bobby was always fortunate enough to find and feature marvelous singers like Gail Landis, Jay Johnson, and a group like the Skylarks. Gail does a very sensitive interpretation of Like Someone In Love, and Jay Johnson shows just how well he had mastered his craft at only the age of twenty-one with a beautiful rendition of It's Anybody's Spring. Johnson showed great promise to become a major star, and later on he moved on to Tex Beneke's orchestra (under the name of Glenn Douglas) and then to Stan Kenton; yet, soon after a motorcycle accident cut him down in his mid '20's. The Skylarks are featured on Honolulu Blues, which begins plaintively enough, like water rolling in on a calm day, and the English horn reflects that same mood. Salt Water Cowboy perks things up considerably, initially with its injection of humor, a bit of hokum with a western motif later balanced against a satire on oriental music, even ending with a martial strut as the band finishes its paces. That must have been quite a delight for wartime audiences. There is still more martial music in the score of Joshua Fit De Battle of Jerico, and the Skylarks soar through the new lyrics that make it Bobby Sherwood's battle - and you can be sure he won this one, too.

Finally, it is ironic that fans of the Sherwood band have had to wait until now for the release of this album in this series, for they present the band at its best, playing scores and songs never available before. It's great to have Bobby Sherwood back, at least on records, for with his good taste and major talent he presents music that is fresh in any decade.

Jack McKinney