This must be the umpteenth reissue of Pepper’s second summit with a Miles Davis’ 1960 rhythm section in recent years. Still, only a churl would complain about the riches this disc contains.

Unlike the earlier and much better-known Meets the Rhythm Section, on which the altoist turned potential disaster into signal triumph, three years later he was ready for the Prince of Darkness' sidemen to do their worst. As a result, the album rarely strikes the sparks of its predecessor. In general, the leader sounds less edgy, and the fact that Wynton Kelly's tight-lined team are underpinned by Jimmy Cobb and not Philly Joe Jones makes this a quite different disc altogether. Add in Conte Candoli's sunny trumpet and you have a record that is very much inside the West Coast style as defined by the history books.

Yet, this being Pepper, there is always something disquieting just beneath the surface. His theme ‘Bijou The Poodle’ has an angularity which hints of an awareness of the contemporary developments of fellow altoists Ornette Coleman and Eric Dolphy. Indeed, it's a composition representing the darker side of the Californian jazz idyll, emotionally presaging the saxophonist's music in the decades to come. Naturally, all hands play exceptionally with the leader even dusting down his tenor for a couple of impromptu blues solos.

It's something of a shame really that AJC have seen fit to pointlessly bulk up the playing time by adding an earlier Pepper date with Bill Perkins which, accomplished as it is, sounds rather reigned in next to the likes of ‘Why Are We Afraid?‘, one of the altoist's finest recorded ballad solos. Three quarters essential then. But… why oh why do we need it reissued again?