Boyd Raeburn was a tenor and bass saxophonist and innovative bandleader who led one of the most adventurous and forward-looking big bands of the late ‘40s. Starting his career playing in and then leading commercial dance orchestras during the ‘30s, he moved towards jazz during the early ‘40s. He embraced the outlook, styles and techniques of bebop and incorporated them in arrangements for his orchestra, hiring modernist arrangers such as Dizzy Gillespie, George Handy and Johnny Mandel. Gillespie played with his band for a while, and his band made the first recording of Dizzy’s composition “Night In Tunisia”. Other important and emerging artists of the era, like Roy Eldridge, Shelly Manne and Buddy DeFranco also passed through his ranks during that time. His most important and most highly regarded recordings were done in this period of a few years during the late ‘40s represented here – the band’s specialist approach did not bring wide commercial success. This 46-track collection comprises selections from most of the key recording sessions he did, along with some ‘live’ club and radio recordings, and provides an entertaining insight into the work of an artist and bandleader who has not been accorded the recognition that his bold approach deserved.
