Broadcast on 06-Jul-2009

This wonderful short-lived band only made one domestically produced record.A few bootlegs exist and one rare recording made in Japan,featuring tunes from "West Side Story" are the only documentation of this group. At the time the late alto saxophone master, Charlie Mariano (1923-2009) was married to Toshiko Akiyoshi and they formed this creative quartet with the late Gene Cherico on bass and a young Eddie Marshall on drums. The album was issued on the very short-lived Candid label and was done on December 5,1960. Two Charlie Mariano compositions are featured and two by Ms. Akiyoshi-Mariano and one arrangement of an old spiritual (Deep River) by Mr. Mariano. The recording is a beautiful and passionate statement by this great little band. The only small drawback is the tinny piano that Toshiko has to work with but as usual she makes the most of it.