AMG Review of In Person

Richard S. Ginell
All Music Guide

A followup to his surprise hit album Jazz Impressions Of Black Orpheus, this is Guaraldi at his most winning, alternating between a straight jazz trio and the fast bossa nova groove of a Latin-ized quintet. Nothing fancy, just irresistible melodic swinging in either format, although it is the bossa treatments that particularly grab the listener's heart and feet. Best in the set are "Outra Vez," where Vince calmly savors Jobim's beguiling harmonies on top of a frantic bossa beat, and Guaraldi's own quirky tune "Freeway;" Mostly recorded in a club setting, this is a defining album for Guaraldi as caught in his natural habitat. This music was reissued on CD in 1997.