Buddy DeFranco deserves a lot more recognition than he has had over the years for his sterling work in keeping the clarinet a creative force in jazz during a time when it was largely forsaken for the saxophone. Nonetheless, this 2-CD set is slightly mis-titled. Although, like his contemporary Tony Scott, DeFranco was heralded as a clarinet-bebopper, in Buddy’s case his playing was firmly rooted in swing, and the earlier sides here from the late 1940s, with the Basie Octet and with his own groups, find him working in a style not far removed from that of Goodman or Shaw, though with the occasional bebop harmony or rhythmic flurry inserted, as in the clarinet solo in Basie’s ‘Golden Bullet’.

There’s a sumptuous slow swing reading of ‘Body and Soul’ from these early times and then, suddenly, in 1952, propelled by Kenny Drew and Art Taylor, the DeFranco quartet launches into a spirited, incisive version of ‘Lady Be Good’ that is all bebop – timing, phrasing and rhythm. A nimble, complex reading of ‘Carioca’ with Blakey on drums from the same year is another highlight. From then on the set really takes off, and there’s a treat with Sonny Clark replacing Drew on his own ‘Cable Car’. The sides with Oscar Peterson’s quartet are accomplished and polished, but here they serve as a curtain-raiser for the two selections from the Quartet with DeFranco and Art Tatum. These (‘A Foggy Day’ and ‘Makin’ Whoopee’) are worth the price of the set on their own.