Pettiford is almost forgotten these days, despite being a huge influence on the next generation of bassists such as Paul Chambers and Ron Carter, so this collection of Sudwestfunk radio recordings is welcome. His US work as a leader was sparse (two great big-band albums notwithstanding) but this album adds to his output from the two-year stay in Europe that preceded his untimely death in 1960. There's good playing from him and from some of the locals such as guitarist Zoller and reedmen Kuhn and Koller, but only the slow ‘Sophisticated Lady” has fellow expatriate Lucky Thompson. Although he was a pioneer of jazz cello, Oscar uses it on a single track (the second version of ‘All The Things You Are’) and, while there's an uncredited bassline behind him, it's surely too early for live playing to pre-recorded backgrounds – the general comments in the notes offer no information on this. Most of these sessions are rather laid-back, with either no percussion or very unobtrusive drumming. On the five earliest tracks that terminate the programme, Kenny Clarke (with whom Pettiford had just toured Europe in the ‘Jazz FromCarnegie Hall’ package) provides some welcome dynamism, but two of these feature the unwieldy front-line of Koller and three baritonists!