Kai Winding - trombone; J.J. Johnson - trombone; Dict Katz - piano; Wyatt Reuther - bass; Jo Jones - drums
George Wein loves a good jam session. And from the very beginning of the Newport Jazz Festival, the piano playing impresario has endeavored to put together all-star aggregations for loose, spirited interplay on the bandstand, often with himself in the middle of the proceedings. For the Sunday evening program on July 17, 1955, Wein arranged for a whole slew of jazz giants of the day to participate in series of jams with revolving personnel. While the rhythm tandem of bassist Wyatt Reuther and former Basie drummer Jo Jones remained the same through all of these jams, various individual soloists were showcased from piece to piece, eventually culminating in a whirlwind jam with all the participants from the different aggregations on stage at the same time for a rousing finale.
Trombonists and frequent collaborators Kai Winding and J.J. Johnson got together here for a rousing rendition of the Cole Porter tune "It's All Right With Me" (from the Broadway musical Can Can). With swinging support from the stellar rhythm section of pianist Dick Katz, bassist Wyatt Reuther and drummer Jo Jones, Winding (the former Stan Kenton trombonist) and Johnson (the acknowledged king of bebop trombone who by this time had recorded and gigged with the likes of Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins and Bud Powell) exchanged chorus after chorus on this spirited jamming vehicle, recreating their potent chemistry from their acclaimed 1955 Bethlehem album Nuf Said, which was released just a few months prior to this appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival. As critic Jack Tracy wrote in his Down Beat review of their July 17 set: "It was a smooth, skilled, professional performance." (Milkowski)