Though French audiences of the time were notoriously unreceptive to anything that wasn't traditional jazz, this concert was a wild success. As Charles Delauney commented later, “I have never seen such a communion in Paris between a white band and an audience, almost never between a modern band and a French audience, and hardly ever between any band and any audience." These performances--Mulligan's always successful blend of fresh sounding standards and fine originals--are filled with delightful flowing interplay, wry humor, warm lyricism, charming swing and graceful drive. There's the boiling exuberance of “Limelight," the sly laziness of “Makin' Whoopee," the witty melodic reworking of “Love Me or Leave Me," the smooth merging of solos and group playing on “Lullaby of the Leaves," the caressing warmth of “The Nearness of You"... and catch that appreciatory yell at the start of this ballad. This concert is still, in Mulligan's words, “an electrifying experience."
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