This has always been one of my favorite jazz albums.
It's a concert recording made at Purdue University's Elliott Hall of Music in West Lafayette, Ind., when I was a high school freshman about 20 miles east of there in Delphi.
From the liner notes: "On the night of Saturday, October 10, 1959, more than 12,000 people braved a pouring rainstorm in (West) Lafayette, Indiana, to hear memorable performances by Stan Kenton's Orchestra, June Christy, and the Four Freshmen. Filling the more than 6,000 seats (it was two back-to-back shows) of the vast Music Hall, the audiences were treated to an evening of the finest modern music available anywhere."
Dick Laughlin, my high school band director, introduced me to jazz and to this recording, which was initially released by Capitol as a double album on vinyl. Dick had an impressive - for its time - Fisher stereo sound system and this album was a revelation to me.
I bought my own vinyl copy some years later and picked up the CD version shortly after its released in June, 1991.
I sent it to Judy Thomas in Mount Pleasant, Mich. this week after she bought it for $63.50 at my Amazon.com store.
I'm listening to it on my iPod as I write this and I'm confident Judy will enjoy it as much as I have over the years,
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