Pianist Herb Pilhofer was born in Nurenberg, Germany, in 1931. He was not overly interested in music until he began studying piano at the age of seventeen. After WWII, he was introduced to jazz by the American soldiers who stayed in Germany, and decided to form his own group and play for the Army Special Service and the USO in Europe.

He traveled to the United States in 1954, where he learned arranging and orchestration from Bill Russo. Not wanting to waste time, that same year Pilhofer organized his octet, choosing from some of the best musicians the Twin City jazz scene had to offer. For him, it became a kind of workshop to test his own compositions. His album debut was "Jazz from the North Coast, Volume 2," recorded in 1956. Much of his writing and sound of Herb Pilhofer's octet walked the groove between the endeavors of the Dave Pell and Shorty Rogers groups, which were so in vogue at the time.

—Jordi Pujol (From the inside liner notes of FSRCD 1064)