William Russo has been almost an avatar, a reincarnation of Stan Kenton in his ability to make present-day players achieve the impact, emit the musical voltage that characterized Kenton's band in its greatest years. But if you listen to the original recordings of Russo's great scores for Kenton, the qualities of lyricism, transparency, fluency, and subtle personal expression are present in those performances as mush as or more than the traditional Kentonian storm and stress.

In this album of Kenton and Russo/Kenton classics, recorded live in Chicago's leading jazz venue, Joe Segal's Jazz Showcase, the vagaries and vicissitudes that attend live-performance recording have converged to bring out the lyrical, transparent, personal side of Russo's music. The power swells and lightning flashes of his writing are there, too, but sensitive sound mixing by producer Scott Hall has caught this music's more elusive qualities with rare consistency.