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A great little record from Arthur Blythe – mostly straight ahead, but pretty darn freewheeling too – thanks to a selection of long tracks that really let him open up on alto sax! The setting is a quartet – nicely put-together with John Hicks on piano, Cecil McBee on bass, and Bobby Battle on drums – a rhythm trio who do equally well on the album's spiritual tracks and its more soulful groovers. The performance was recorded live, but with a nice degree of intimacy, especially on Blythe's horn – and titles include "Hip Dripper", "Naima's Love Song", "As Of Yet", "Blue Blues", "Break Tune", and "Elaborations".

A quadruple-header of a set – four great albums together in one cool box! First up is the first album from the great Special Edition group of drummer Jack DeJohnette – a wickedly sharp record that's as equally tight on the reeds as it is on the drums! The album features brilliant work on tenor and bass clarinet from David Murray, and equally nice alto from Arthur Blythe – both criss-crossing and soaring out effortlessly in each others' company – amidst complex rhythmic impulses from DeJohnette on drums, and both bass and cello from Peter Warren. Jack also plays a bit of piano and melodica as well – and titles include "One For Eric", "Zoot Suite", "Central Park West", "India", and "Journey To The Twin Planet". On Tin Can Alley, the great Chico Freeman really shines with drummer Jack DeJohnette – lending his tenor, flute, and bass clarinet to the album – and helping make it a really reed-heavy affair! John Purcell's also in the frontline with Chico – playing alto, baritone, and flute – and in addition to Peter Warren's bass and cello, the album Jack DeJohnette also plays drums, congas, piano, and organ too! The range of instrumentation almost echoes some Chicago AACM roots at times – but with that tighter focus that musicians like Jack were bringing to their work at ECM – and titles include "Riff Raff", "The Gri Gri Man", "I Know", and "Pastel Rhapsody". Inflation Blues is a record that bristles with energy right from the start – spurred on by the creative rhythms that have always made Jack DeJohnette one of the most inventive drummers of his time! The group features a triple-threat lineup with Baikida Carroll on trumpet, Chico Freeman on tenor and soprano sax, and John Purcell on alto, baritone, flute, and clarinet – especially nice at points when the reedmen shift and turn with sharp edges learned from the earlier avant years, yet given a nice focus here under DeJohnette's leadership. Jack penned all original tunes for the set, and there's a depth to his writing that really marks a move forward – possibly some of his richest musical statements on record ever! Titles include "Ebony", "Inflation Blues", "Slowdown", and "The Islands". Album Album is a record that really dives deep with a rich mix of creative rhythms and inventive horn lines! The album still has Jack staying true to his more avant roots – working with tenor from David Murray, alto and soprano sax from John Purcell, baritone and tuba from Howard Johnson, and bass from Rufus Reid – a lineup that's a bit bigger than on other Special Edition albums, and which is used to fill in even more colors and deeper elements than before. Some of the tunes are wonderfully vivid in approach – and titles include "Festival", "Third World Anthem", "Zoot Suite", "Ahmad The Terrible", and "New Orleans Strut".

Chico Hamilton in the 70s just can't miss – he's really changed loads from his mellow 50s work in LA, and has a tendency to go for a hard grooving sound – but also one that's slightly left of center than the work of most other 70s jazz drummers – and we mean that in a good way! This cooking set for Blue Note is a great example of that offbeat approach – a tight set of fusion tracks with a warm finish and an edgey approach to the rhythms – awash with some really compelling numbers that will have you hunting down the rest of Chico's work from the decade! The group's got a great mix of acoustic and electric musicians – including Steve Turre on electric bass, Arthur Blythe on alto, Rodney Jones on guitar, and Abdullah on congas – and titles include the massive groover "Abdullah's Delight", plus the cuts "Ode to Miles", "Sex Is A Cymbal", "Mr Sweets", "First Light", and "Adair".

One more amazing chapter in the mighty development of drummer Chico Hamilton – a killer 70s session for Blue Note – and a record that goes way beyond his earlier experiments of the 50s, modal grooves of the 60s, and funk work for the Flying Dutchman label! The style here is fusion, but way fresher than the usual type – neither jamming rock-styled, nor mellow and smooth – and instead always tickled by Hamilton's sense of a unique rhythm, and his continued great ear for inventive use of reeds – in this case handled by Arthur Blythe on alto and Arnie Lawrence on soprano and tenor sax. The set's also got Steve Turre on bass and trombone, and both Barry Finnerty and Joe Beck on electric guitars – but the real genius is Chico himself, who handled arrangements and wrote most of the album's great tracks. Titles include the exotic number "Abdullah & Abraham" – plus "Andy's Walk", "Peregrinations", "It's About That Time", "Sweet Dreams", "On & Off", "Little Lisa", and "Space For Stacy".

Shaw and Braxton are an unlikely pair of fronliners – as one's got a soulful modal style, and the other's a colder modernist – but they work surprisingly well together on this album, which mixes players throughout the album, by adding in Muhal Richard Abrams, Cecil McBee, Arthur Blythe, and Joe Chambers. Titles include "Diversion Two", "Song Of Songs", "Iron Man", and a haunting version of "Jitterbug Waltz".

Not classic Chico – but a pretty darn nice album of fusion tracks, very much in the spirit of other Mercury jazz work from the 1976/1977 generation! The tracks have a nice riffing groove to them – with fast tight drums from Chico, souflul sax work by Arthur Blythe and Gary Gordon, and even some vocals on the "Theme From Big Blue Marble", a version of the old kid's show theme that really sounds a heck of a lot better than we remember! Other tracks include "The Baron", "We Make Music", "Forked Tongue", "Outrageous", and "Catwalk".

Arista Freedom release of 2 different sessions by Julius Hemphill – one from 1975, with Arthur Blythe, Hamiet Bluiett, and Abdul Wadud; the other from 1972, with Bluiett, Wadud, and Baikida Carroll. The 1972 session's a bit more interesting, and was recorded in St. Louis by Oliver Sain (of all people!). It's one long track entitled "The Hard Blues", and has an excellent mix of styles, emotions, and voices – with all the players getting in some beautiful solo moments. The 1975 session's not too bad either, but it's just a little too self-consciously out, and lacks the warmth of the other piece.

A bold odyssey from Steve Reid – his Odyssey Of The Oblong Square – a jawdropping session recorded in 1977 for a NYC radio show that's as rhythmically feverish and avant garde funky as the legendary drummer's other underground soul jazz classics of the 70s! If anything, the percussion is even more outstanding on Odyssey as it is on the great Nova and Rhythmatism sets for Mustevic – with Reid leading the charge on drums, and most of the other players contributing percussion on one way or another, for an all around frenetic sound, that's still unwaveringly in a groove. Mohammad Abdullah is on congas, ballophone and African percussion, with Ahmed Abdullah on trumpet, Arthur Blythe and Charles Tyler on alto sax – the horns all really kill on this set – and David Wertman keeping an unpredicable acoustic bass groove. Includes 4 long pieces, including the 3 part "Odyssey Sweet", "Odyssey Theme", "Deacon's Son" and "Ginsamseng" – all Reid originals. Amazing!

A pretty great session – if only for the work of the sax players! The "stablemates" on the session are a host of older spiritual and soul jazz players – including Nathan Davis, Sam Rivers, Chico Freeman, and Arthur Blythe – alternating solos and coming together in some angular ensemble parts that really sound wonderful. The "Stablemates" reference is well chosen, as there's a lot of Benny Golson influences on the album – especially in the rhythm section of Don Pullen, Santi Debriano, and Idris Muhammad, who groove together with the crackling tightness that Golson would have used on a classic early 60s album, keeping the pace with a soulful swing, so that the horn players can cut loose in some modernist inflections. Titles include "Walkin", "I Remember Eric Dolphy", "Stolen Moments", "Linden Boulevard", and "Stablemates".