This is a swinging west coast jazz album made at a time, 196s, when jazz could still signify various kinds of vice. This was already being taken over by rock and roll but jazz was still adult and criminal as opposed to adolescent and fun-loving.

So who's on this record? Quite a few well known musicians. Mundell Lowe plays guitar, as you'd expect, but only on the A side. The B side belongs to Barry Galbraith.

George Duvivier is on bass and Ed Shaughnessy on drums and you'll also find, among other, Phil Woods on alto, Oliver Nelson on tenor and Carl "Doc" Severinsen and Clark Terry on trumpet.

Also here is the great Eddie Costa on vibes and drums, shortly before his tragic early death in a car crash. This would be one of the last recordings he ever did, perhaps even the last, although I'm not sure about that.

The main title piece is a post-Man with the Golden Arm ensemble piece with horns up front but more intellectual than Elmer Bernstein's powerful, ostinato-driven number. Phil Woods takes a great solo on this and the next track, "Montage", another swinging west coast jazz tune that's more relaxed.

Eddie Costa and Mundell Lowe are both featured in the slow, pretty "The Lost and the Lonely" as well as "East Side Drive", which starts out slow and pensive and them slips into a much faster gear.

The big band swing era is recalled in the pleasant "Coffee, Coffee", which also has a nice guitar solo.

"Lake in the Woods" is a beautiful, romantic tune with an "I Only Have Eyes for You" feel to it while "From Mundy On" is a Mancini-ish cha cha-type piece.

A tone of menace is introduced in the brisk and swinging "The Long Knife" and then things slow way down for the presumable self-explanatory "Blues for a Stripper".

The record ends with "Pattern of Evil", a bluesy tune with a hard-edged swing feel.