*The Six "*Tasty (Hammer); As Far As We're Concerned iWilber, Glaze)); Shifty (Truitt): Serenata Anderson); Pink Ice (Wilber) ; strange Diet Potts) ; Old Folks (Hills, Robinson); • Itchy Fingers (Hammer) ; Two Kinds Of Blues (Wilber) (London 12 in. LP LTZ-N15042-37s. (lid.)

Bob Wilber (saxes); Johnny Glasel (tpt); Sonny Truitt (tmb); Bob Hammer (pno)•' Bill Britt° (bass); Eddie Phyfe (des). July, 1955. U.S.A. (Am. Bethlehem.)

"The Six" is the title given to a co-operative unit of jazzmen working on America's East Coast. The kind of music they play covers nearly all the various styles ofjazz played to-day, literally Front Dirieland To Bebop (to use the title of a Lucky Thompson record). Individually the musicians have worked with all sorts of bands ; Bob Wilber has worked with Sidney Bechet, while Sonny Truitt has recorded with Miles Davis. The result is jazz which is hard to classify (which, I gather, is the aim of "The Six "), although it is mostly more " modern " than "ancient ".

Some of the tunes are as up-to-date as you could wish for ; these include Shifty by trombonist Truitt and Strange Diet, written by Bill Potts of the Willis Conover "House of Sounds" band in Washington.

Johnny Glasel is an adaptable trumpeter generally in the Ruby Braff vein, while Wilber's tenor playing ( Old Folks is his particular feature) is best described as a modern version of Eddie Miller's style. The final Two Kinds Of Blues is an attempt to show off both the old and the new jazz styles. Personally I prefer " The Six's" interpretation of the older style, which they seem to play with a more natural relaxation.

E.J.