The Young Art Pepper - With Stan Kenton & Shorty Rogers (1996)

This particular compilation finds both headliners in top early career form: Pepper, lyrical and passionate in his solo work; Rogers, witty and masterful in the way he arrays the forces at his disposal.
The pieces themselves are tightly constructed, the longest clocking in at 5:18, the shortest at 2:15, but it is Rogers' gift as a composer/arranger to make almost every one seem neither a note too long nor a beat too short.
This strikes me as especially true in his sides with Giants.
There is a greater freedom and sense of (for lack of a better term) joy in these smaller ensemble essays than in the professional, note perfect but more regimented treatments offered under Kenton's (reputedly dictatorial) leadership.