Milt Hinton needs no introduction: having started with Cab Calloway’s great band of the 1930s, Milt added his personal touch to a wide variety of musical units, both large and small, and recorded with just about every name in the field. Here he has the first four tracks, all arrangements (plus one original) by Al Cohn.

The next four feature Wendell Marshall, who was Duke Ellington’s bassist for quite some time, but also enjoyed a long and successful career afterwards. His technique is amazingly varied, his tone firm and flexible; he was, in short, one of the versatile players who helped the instrument reach its current, exalted position. The arrangements are by Billy Byers, while Marshall penned the original.

The last four tracks are by Wyatt “Bull” Ruther, with arrangements and the one original by Manny Albam. Ruther debuted with the Dave Brubeck quartet, then joined the Erroll Garner trio, and then the Chico Hamilton and George Shearing groups, among many others. No matter what musical thought, he always kept a clear head and a straight course —he is, like both Hinton and Marshall, in there to stay, plucking a fantastic variety of notes from what is often seemingly thin air, offering the most vital proof of the instrument’s place in the jazz family. Record and sleeve, OBI and insert are great