Gerry Mulligan"s Concert Jazz Big Band was in the early stages of development when this performance was taped, but Swiss Radio Days nevertheless captures a budding orchestra that is far from ungainly. The baritone-sax great put together the 13-man ensemble earlier in 1960, having set aside the quartet and sextet formats he"d explored with great success in the 1950s. Constructing the group around longtime foil Bob Brookmeyer"s trombone, Zoot Sims"s fervent tenor, and Mel Lewis"s driving drums, the 33-year-old Mulligan came up with an ambitious, agile, and adept outfit that was forceful yet dexterous. Mixing originals with selections culled from Johnny Mandel, Johnny Green, Ben Webster, and Duke Ellington, the bandleader"s program showcases his cast more as a cohesive unit than as a forum for showy solos. --Steven Stolder