Herbie Mann - The Best of Herbie Mann (1970) [Reissue 1990]

It is probably true that no single LP could definitively sum up all of the directions that Herbie Mann explored in the swingin' '60s, but this one -- part of a sprawling 1970 Atlantic Jazz Anthology series and transferred intact onto CD -- could have done a more thorough job. There are only six selections on Best of Herbie Mann, two of which are "Comin' Home Baby." Three of the tracks deal with various manifestations of R&B, of which "Memphis Underground" is the most obvious and most subtly percolating choice, and the remaining track is a murky cover of a movie tune, "A Man and a Woman" with Tamiko Jones on vocals. The timing -- about 33 minutes -- was short for an LP and it is downright stingy for a CD, given the volume and variety of Mann's Atlantic sessions. Still -- the music is pretty good; there just should have been more of it.