Dave Brubeck was one of the highly–influential pioneers of the west coast “cool school” of modern jazz musicians, developing a strand of music which was different from the more frenetic approach of the New York-based bebop movement, initially appealing to sophisticated college audiences and the clubs in San Francisco. He is famous, of course, for his landmark “Time Out” and “Time Further Out” albums of 1959 and 1960 with his famous Quartet, but he had made his first recordings more than a decade earlier, before that group had evolved. This excellent-value-50-track 2-CD set comprises recordings which he made for the newly-established San Francisco label owned by Max and Sol Weiss, with Brubeck also an early investor, initially devoted to releasing Brubeck’s recordings, although other artists were soon signed. The collection comprises recordings Brubeck made over the next couple of years which were released on Fantasy singles, with performances in various formats – solo, Trio, Quartet and Octet. The repertoire primarily comprises interpretations of Great American Songbook standards, which were the stock-in-trade of modern jazz musicians of the era. The groups feature some notable musicians, including bassists Ron Crotty, Jack Weeks, Fred Dutton and Wyatt Ruther, drummers Cal Tjader, Herb Barman and Lloyd Davis, saxophonists Paul Desmond (a member of his later Quartet), Dave Van Kriedt and others. It offers a fascinating insight into Brubeck’s music as he refined and developed the style which evolved into his famous quartet.