Makin' It + Take Your Pick (2 LPs on 1 CD)

Duetting beautifully in a variety of settings, West Coast based guitarists John Pisano and Billy Bean display their versatility on Makin It and Take Your Pick , two late-1950s albums they made for Decca s Mood Jazz in Hi-Fi series. Both albums were marked by some excellent supporting groups and a well-balanced, expertly played set of tunes with a predominantly jazz feeling. Standards like Ill Wind are coloured by the pastel shades of arranger Fred Katz; others, such as Linger Awhile and Little Old Lady, by the brassily forthright hand of arranger Calvin Jackson. But they also include simple blowing things like Pixie and Billy s Beanery, featuring the flowing vibes of Gene Estes, or The Song Is You, in which Pisano and Bean mesh with inventive fluency over the bass support of Hal Gaylor. Bill Potts, the talented Washington, D.C. arranger / composer, contributes three tunes, including the remarkable Pottsville U.S.A.. The sole departure from the jazz approach is Pastorale, by Fred Katz, a study in neo-modern, moody impressionism, where the musical values stressed are collective rather than individual.