This three-CD set reissues arranger Johnny Richards' Capitol and Roulette albums that originally were called Wide Range, Experiments in Sound, The Rites of Diablo, My Fair Lady, and Aqui Se Habla Espanol, the great majority of his recordings as a leader. In addition, Richards' portion of the album Annotations of the Muses plus a few unreleased selections are included. Johnny Richards, who is most famous for his association with Stan Kenton, was an inventive writer who starting in 1957 and had a band of his own. The music on this three-fer includes the adventurous three-part third stream piece "Annotations of the Muses," a set of Richards' adaptations of themes from My Fair Lady, a few Afro-Cuban projects, some relatively straight-ahead but complex jazz, and Richards' hit "Young at Heart." There are many short solos from the top-notch sidemen, but it's Johnny Richards' writing that makes this set quite definitive and memorable.
