Living Era proudly presents a posthumous portrait of sweet bandleader Richard Himber, a fixture at various New York hotels and over the airwaves during the '30s. This excellent compilation rescues from obscurity 27 recordings cut between 1933 and 1941 for the Vocalion, "Victor" and Decca labels. Himber played the violin; his orchestra contained a striking number of talented musicians, some of them destined for careers as leaders in their own right. Familiar names include trumpeters Bunny Berigan and Blue Barron, clarinetists Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw, trombonists Jerry Colonna and Tommy Dorsey and vibraphonist Adrian Rollini. Vocalists heard on this collection are Joey Nash, Stuart Allen, Libby Holman and Mary Martin. This was a sweet band with moderate jazz overtones. Highlights include lovely renditions of Duke Ellington's "Sophisticated Lady" and "Prelude to a Kiss"; and most intriguingly a theme by Polish composer Ignaz Paderewski, reworked by Raymond Scott and retitled "Minuet in Jazz." Living Era has given the world a delightful tribute to a relatively overlooked master of pleasantly polite musical entertainment.