European Windows American Jazz Classics ***

First time on CD for a curiosity; the Modern Jazz Quartet's pianist/composer John Lewis's conducting debut and his first recording experiment with a large orchestra. On this very rare late-1950s album with members of the Stuttgart Symphony orchestra and the MJQ's rhythm section, the writing, a mix of Elizabethen pastiche and earnest classical leanings, is cluttered and stolidly played by a presumably under-rehearsed group; it's memorable for the wonderful work of guest soloist Ronnie Ross on baritone. A better mid-1950s joust with classical devices, the bonus album, Lewis's The Modern Jazz Society presents A concert of Contemporary Music, uses a 10-piece group including bassoon and harp. Some outstanding jazzmen, among them JJ Johnson, Stan Getz, Lucky Thompson, Tony Scott and Aaron Sachs, do the solo honours – and music – proud.