Down Beat : 01/25/1956
Nat Hentoff : 4 stars

This is Moody‘s most pleasurable LP yet for Prestige. His colleagues are Dave Burns, trumpet; William Shepherd, trombone; Pee Wee Moore, baritone; Jimmy Boyd, piano; John Latham, bass; Clarence Johnston, drums, and Eddie Jefferson on the one ingenious vocal, a verbalization of a long set of choruses by Bird, called here Disappointed.

It’s that vocal and the generally relaxed, cohesive feel of the proceedings that raaise the rating by one. Otherwise, the playing is good but hardly startling. There are able solos by Burns, Shepherd (of whom I’d like to hear more,) Boyd and Moore. Moody plays with increased authority on tenor, but this one alto track, And You Called My Name, is the weakest on the date. The set is recommended for kicks and for the Jefferson vocal. Just barely four. Well recorded.

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Liner Notes by Ira Gitler

When there used to be big bands there were oftentimes small bands featured as units within the bands, recording on their own or just plain blowing together whenever they had the chance after the gig.

In Benny Goodman‘s band there was the sextet. Woody Herman has always had the Woodchoppers in one form or another. In the case of Basie, the Kansas City Seven would group together for recordings, and the various Ellington units are well remembered for their many fine efforts in the same medium.

Usually when a band breaks up or has a wholesale shift in personnel, the groups within the band never stay together. One exception is Johnny Hodges who has had many other Ellington alumni in his band including Lawrence Brown and Al Sears. What brought all this to mind was the listing of the names of the men in James Moody‘s band. Both Dave Burns and William Shepherd were Moody’s mates in Dizzy Gillespie‘s greatest band. Not only have they stayed together but they have kept some of their background intact.

One of the legacies inherited from Diz’ organization is that big band sound and feeling. Although there are four horns they sound like more horns. The happy vitality that was in evidence in Diz’ band, with Moody and Milt Jackson foot racing from the Down Beat awning to the corner of 52nd & 6th, or the saxophone quintet blowing uproariously between sets in the club’s upstairs, is here in essence if not in actuality. We called this set Hi Fi Party because everyone had such a ball making it. The prime example of this is Disappointed where the “Silence-On the Air” goes unobserved.

Moody, the leader, has got the best band of his career now. Ralph Gleason in the San Francisco Chronicle described it as “one of the best small groups in the country, a tightly knit yet loosely swinging unit” when he reviewed the band’s last LP (198). The arrangements always have a unity of feeling to them because during the solo portions, effective backgrounds are constantly preserving the continuity.

The three main soloists are Moody with his exciting drive and soulful ballads, Dave Burns playing a sparkling horn with touches of his old boss Diz and of Clifford Brown incorporated into his own style and “Shep” Shepherd who shows an allegiance to Kai Winding.

There Will Never Be Another You is a song which lends itself equally well to a ballad tempo or a brisk pace as it is taken here. Dave Burns and Moody are featured. Jimmy Boyd has a short stint.

Hard To Get is a new ballad by Jack Segal which serves as Moody’s vehicle throughout.

Disappointed, as noted before, was recorded with the “Silence” disregarded. The boys in the band shout encouragement to the soloists who are Pee Wee Moore, Shepherd, Burns, and Moody. Then Eddie Jefferson comes in with Bird’s solo from JATP and turns it into an amusingly sad story.

Big Ben is by Philadelphia tenorman Benny Golson. Many of you will remember Benny in Tadd Dameron‘s Study In Dameronia (LP 159). After short stints by Dave Burns and Shepherd, Moody solos at length.

Show Eyes, by John Acea, a very fine pianist and arranger, was named thusly because it is extremely reminiscent of the music that a band playing a theatre engagement might blow behind a tap dancer. Solos are by Pee Wee, Dave and Moody.

Little John written by bassist John Lathan features Dave, Moody and the composer.

And You Called My Name, a ballad contribution by Benny Golson shows Moody off in his only alto appearance of the set.

Little Ricky is another from the pen of John Acea. The beautifully haunting theme is carried by Dave Burns. He, Jimmy Boyd and Moody then solo.

So “fall in” or “fall up,” what you will, for the party is in full swing. As the batboy said to the umpire after the batter had fouled off sixteen consecutive pitches, “Have a ball.”