There have been any number of boxed compilations of 'Trad Greats' and 'Trad Favourites' but this collection attempts to put the story of one of the UK's longest lasting musical genres into context. A 'three-CDs-for-the-price-of-one' collection with a detailed 40 page booklet it traces the development of Trad Jazz from its pioneering days in the early 1950s through its burgeoning popularity during the 1950s to its peak in the 1960s before falling away under the pop music onslaught that was The Beatles. It didn't spring from nowhere and there are tracks from the 1930s showing early interest from dance band musicians particularly George Chisholm, Sid Phillips and Nat Gonella who all recorded in each decade. By the 1960s Trad Jazz records were to be found in the charts, but, as well as including the 'big three', Ball, Barber and Bilk, this collection looks at the lesser known national and regional band who were integral to the growth in popularity of the music. There are 73 tracks many of them very rare and about a third previously unissued.