Vinyl LP pressing. Reissue. Recorded in NYC in 1958 and originally released in 1959 as The Cecil Taylor Quintet - Hard Driving Jazz this is in fact the only existing document of the meeting between John Coltrane and Cecil Taylor. Even if caught at an early stage in their career the two masters show great personality and deep respect for each other while trumpeter Kenny Dorham sticks more to his familiar bop idiom. Cordially backed up by Chuck Israel on bass and Louis Hayes, Coltrane swings madly on Taylor's dissonant comping producing a rare, fascinating friction between two worlds. A must for every Coltrane maniac out there.
Vinyl LP pressing. Recorded live by Rudy Van Gelder, this is one of a pair of Eric Dolphy's albums documenting the 1961 historical residency at the Five Spot, New York's major temple of the early avant-garde. This is timeless music performed by one of the essential line-ups in modern jazz. A marvelous quintet featuring the great Booker Little on trumpet and the amazing rhythm section of Mal Waldron on piano, Richard Davis on double bass, and Ed Blackwell on drums plus, of course, master Eric Dolphy on alto saxophone, bass clarinet, and flute.
Vinyl LP pressing. Reissue, originally released in 1960. In 1959, at the time of this recording session, Yusef Lateef was already approaching a new and more open form of jazz. A sophisticated, spiritual yet urban music form informed by non-western languages and cultures. Cry! - Tender is a deeply inventive, mostly contemplative album inspired by an original cosmopolitan vision of jazz and based on masterful playing from a bunch of solid jazz musicians including among others: Wilbur Harden - flugelhorn; Hugh Lawson - piano; Herman Wright - bass; and Oliver Jackson - drums, percussion. All under the direction of master of ceremonies Yusef Lateef on tenor sax, flute, and oboe.
Vinyl LP pressing. Hank Mobley with Donald Byrd and Lee Morgan, also known as Hank Mobley Sextet, is an album by American jazz saxophonist Hank Mobley recorded on November 25, 1956 and released on Blue Note the following year. The sextet features trumpeters Donald Byrd and Lee Morgan, backed by rhythm section Horace Silver, Paul Chambers, and Charli Persip.
Vinyl LP pressing. Reissue, originally recorded and released in 1957. One of Charles Mingus's lesser-known sessions. Here the master was at the head of an awesome band including some of his regular sidemen. Features Jimmy Knepper (trombone), Shafi Hadi (alto saxophone, tenor saxophone), and Dannie Richmond (drums), along with nothing but Bill Evans on piano. This is dense, lyrical, and very stimulating music deeply rooted in the bop tradition yet with an open ear to other sound territories.
