This CD reissue, Town Talk, pairs Ken Woodman's only two albums, That's Nice and The Kenny Woodman Sound, on one CD, and embellishes it with historical liner notes. It's a peculiar combination of old-fashioned jazz, martial brass and drums, and Swinging London pop-jazz. On 1966's That's Nice, a big arsenal was assembled to produce this slightly bombastic sound, including two saxes, two trombones, three trumpets, two guitars, drums, and bass, with Kenny Salmon's Hammond organ the instrument most responsible for giving it any pop/rock crossover feel it possessed. Woodman also covered a few then-recent rock hits on the LP, including "Day Tripper," the Sorrows' "Take a Heart," Neil Christian's "That's Nice," Sandie Shaw's "Long Live Love," and Chris Andrews' "Yesterday Man" (the last three of which he'd arranged in their original incarnations). "That's Nice" and "Take a Heart" were written by Miki Dallon, the house producer and songwriter for the independent Strike label that issued this LP, so it was no surprise that another Dallon composition, "Cheat and Lie," landed on the album too. Woodman's covers of rock songs were a little corny and contrived, and actually, the highlights of the record came from outside that repertoire. His own "Mexican Flyer" was the definite highlight, with a sinister and snazzy spy thriller bent, and some of that suspenseful atmosphere spilled over to the bluesier buildup in "Twelve By Two." It was the far more determinedly peppy "Town Talk," however, that would become the most famous cut via its use as a theme on British radio, and that song did have some fairly uninhibited brass soloing, along with a forceful Hammond organ. The Kenny Woodman Sound, from 1969, was issued only in Germany and Italy, and was less worthwhile than That's Nice. The covers of recent pop-rock hits this time around included the Move's "The Fire Brigade," Manfred Mann's "Mighty Quinn," Cliff Richard's "Congratulations," Petula Clark's "Kiss Me Goodbye," Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich's "The Legend of Xanadu," and (most surprisingly) the Flower Pot Men's "A Walk in the Sky," which hadn't been a hit anywhere but in Holland. These versions were trifling interpretations of pop-rock for a different, tamer audience, and were sometimes downright excruciating, as in the flatulent trad jazz arrangement of "Congratulations." The ensemble did hit some okay go-go jazz-soul- brass-Hammond organ grooves from time to time, particularly with the Woodman original "Grilled Soul and Custard." But then you had to put up with his "March of the Two Left Feet," which, as the title signifies, gave full vent to his fetish for military rhythms. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide