Vinyl only / Original artwork / 430mcn paper / 2 different part prints / Front side only handily plasticization / Garrod & Lofthouse Flipback sleeve / Hand-glued / 30x30 cm insert with extensive liner notes printed on 350 gram Bindacot Monolucido / Printed on acid free paper and with food based inks.

The original idea for the New Jazz Orchestra arose in the autumn of 1963 out of an excited late night discussion about big bands between Clive Burrows and Les Carter. The exchange nished with the resolution to establish a big band and the NJO made their debut at The Green Man pub in south east London in December 1963, originally billed as The Bird/Burrows Big Band. Ian Bird left the band in 1964, and they brie y called themselves The Neoteric Jazz Orchestra before settling for the rather less arcane sounding New Jazz Orchestra.

Western Reunion was the sound of a band nding its way, and the bulk of the material is provided by big name American composers. There are credible covers of well-known tracks like Milestones, Big P, So What and the Gerry Mulligan penned title track – but overall, except for Ardley's Shades of Blue, the album does not especially stand out and does not convey or even particularly hint at the distinctive sound that the follow-up would so impressively announce. Recorded three years later, Le Dejeuner Sur L'Herbe was released on the iconic American Verve label, a rst for a British jazz group, and the whole feel was very different to their previous effort.

The range, invention and depth evident on Le Dejeuner Sur L'Herbe outstrips most large ensemble jazz albums of the time; at times muscular and powerful, at others delicate and sensitive, the interplay of the musicians, arrangements and compositions make for a stand-out recording that bristles with con dence and energy.

A1. Le Déjeuner Sur L'Herbe
A2. Naïma
A3. Angle
A4. Ballad
B1. Dusk Fire
B2. Nardis
B3. Study
B4. Rebirth