Bob Brookmeyer - The Brookmeyer Bands: Early Years 1954-56 - Bob Brookmeyer, born in 1929, was a jazz trombonist, a renowned exponent of the valve trombone, who came to the fore during the 1950s with the Claude Thornhill Orchestra and in the Stan Getz group, before starting his career leading his own bands, as well as playing with the likes of Gerry Mulligan, Clark Terry and others. His compositional style drew on contemporary classical writing, incorporating atonality, chromatic harmony and other techniques to develop distinctive themes and structures. This 32-track 2-CD set comprises the titles from several of his early albums, on which he is leader, co-leader or featured perfomer. They comprise "Teddy Charles New Direction Quartet feat. Bob Brookmeyer" on Prestige (later released on the Prestige LP "The Dual Role Of Bob Brookmeyer"), "Bob Brookmeyer Featuring Al Cohn" on Storyville, "The Bob Brookmeyer Quartet" on Pacific Jazz, "Bob Brookmeyer Plays Bob Brookmeyer" on Clef and "The Bob Brookmeyer Quintet" on Prestige (also part of "The Dual Role Of Bob Brookmeyer"). It features performances with Teddy Charles, Teddy Kotick, Ed Shaughnessy, Al Cohn, John Williams, Bill Anthony, Frank Isola, Henri Renaud, Jimmy Gourley, Red Mitchell, Jimmy Rowles, Buddy Clark, Mel Lewis and Jimmy Raney. Capturing him in the early years of his career, it's an enlightening introduction his music and an enjoyable showcase for distinctive style of playing and composing.