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Ellis Marsalis, Alvin Batiste, Harold Battiste & Ed Blackwell, with the addition of bass players, formed the New Orleans based "American Jazz Quintet" when not playing Dixieland. They were a well honed bebop and modern jazz quintet that created a unique brand of modern jazz in the Crescent City during the 1950's. Few recordings of the group were made so this release is both rare and as can be judged from the music, quite exciting. Recorded in stereo in 1959 at Cosimo's Recording Studio, this CD presents the first of two sessions produced by Bumps Blackwell for Andex, but never released until now.