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Incredible! If you've ever wondered why people think Sonny Rollins is so great, you owe it to yourself to own this album, because it's one that stands as one of the best 5 that Rollins ever cut, and because it features him playing in a stripped-down raw setting that lets his full solo talent come to the forefront. The material was all recorded in 1957 as part of his famous Village Vanguard session for Blue Note, but it was unreleased until 1975, when Blue Note put out this double LP set of the tracks with great notes by Bob Blumenthal. Every cut's a winner, and Rollins plays in two different trio settings – one with Donald Bailey and Pete La Roca, the other with Wilbur Ware and Elvin Jones. It's all great, and will make you a fan of his for life!

A landmark set for Blue Note – one that features Freddie Hubbard working in raw, firey, freewheeling territory – given space that few other players at the label were getting at the time! The two volume set features tracks recorded live at Club La Marchal in Brooklyn – and have Hubbard working with a completely hip group that features Lee Morgan, James Spaulding, Harold Mabern, Larry Ridley, Pete La Roca, and Big Black on conga. The sound is incredible – a full on burner that easily earns the "cookers" status of the title – and which sounds quite different from most other live jazz albums of the time! Each side of the album features one long track – and this 2CD set features both volumes, with 4 extended titles that include – "Pensativa", "Walkin", "Jodo", and "Breaking Point".

A rare session as a leader from trumpeter Johnny Coles – a player who cut some great work in the groups of James Moody and Gil Evans, but who shines even more brightly on this classic Blue Note album! Coles really has an ear for finding the hippest side of his instrument – and he blows with a style that's unlike anyone else we can think of – and certainly far from the mellower tones of his previous leader set for Columbia. This album's got a great mix of hardbop and modern ideas – right up there with the best Blue Note had to offer at the time – and the group's filled with equally hip players who include Joe Henderson on tenor, Leo Wright on alto and flute, Duke Pearson on piano, Bob Cranshaw on bass, and either Pete LaRoca or Walter Perkins on drums. Titles include "Heavy Legs", "Hobo Joe", "Jano", and "Little Johnny C". Very hip, very hard, and very swingin!

A sublime little set – one of Art Farmer's seminal quartet recordings from the mid 60s, and a blend of modern lyricism with an ease and economy that's hardly ever been matched again! There's a careful, measured style here that's really tremendous – one that's never too sleepy or lazy with its approach, and which almost seems to carry on the modes of expression first begun by Jimmy Giuffre in the 50s – although in completely different ways! The group features Pete LaRoca on drums, Steve Kuhn on piano, and Steve Swallow on bass – but it's Art's effortless trumpet solos that really make the album sparkle, as they drift over the top of the album's hip original tunes, written by Carla Bley and LaRoca. Titles include "Ad Infinitum", "Petite Bell", "Tears", and "One For Majid".

A fantastic sextet session recorded in 1961, shortly before Booker Little's death – and filled with all the promise and power he ever packed into his playing! There's a sharp, angular groove to many of the numbers here – that mix of modern and hardbop that was cresting best in the early 60s Blue Note generation – and which echoes some of the work that Little had done with Max Roach in the years before this date. The lineup's filled with great players to help Book realize his strongest musical vision – Julian Priester on trombone, George Coleman on tenor, Don Friedman on piano, Reggie Workman on bass, and Pete LaRoca on drums – and although the set's issued on the sometimes-staid Bethlehem label, it's got all the sharper edges of an early 60s date on a label like Impulse or Candid! Titles include "Matilde", "Booker's Blues", "Forward Flight", and "Victory and Sorrow". CD features two bonus tracks – alternate versions of "Looking Ahead".

A wonderfully moody session from Helen Merrill – and an obscure one too! The album was recorded in New York in 1965 – with pianist Dick Katz leading an off-beat group that featured Thad Jones on cornet, Jim Hall on guitar, Ron Carter on bass, and Pete LaRoca on drums – a combo that has equal talents for modern moments and more sensitive moods. The groove is much more fragmented than on some of Helen's earlier records for Mercury – with a jagged edge that works perfectly with her strangely detached style of presenting a lyric – a way of looking at familiar tunes almost from the outside, in ways that really come up with something new. Titles include "Baltimore Oriole", "Here's That Rainy Day", "Day Dream", "The Winter Of My Discontent", "What Is This Thing Called Love", and "Deep In A Dream".

One of Joe Henderson's first true moments of greatness – a landmark session recorded with a quintet that includes Kenny Dorham on trumpet, McCoy Tyner on piano, Butch Warren on bass, and Pete LaRoca on drums! LaRoca's very free on the drum kit, and gives the set a rhythmic looseness that's a bit of a hint at some of Joe's 70's recordings – and that style's even further supported by Tyner's long flowing lines on piano, and Dorham's sparkling work on the trumpet! Includes the classic reading of Kenny's "Blue Bossa", plus the titles "Recorda-Me", "Jinrikishna", "La Mesha", and "Homestretch".

One of Joe Henderson's first true moments of greatness – a landmark session recorded with a quintet that includes Kenny Dorham on trumpet, McCoy Tyner on piano, Butch Warren on bass, and Pete LaRoca on drums! LaRoca's very free on the drum kit, and gives the set a rhythmic looseness that's a bit of a hint at some of Joe's 70's recordings – and that style's even further supported by Tyner's long flowing lines on piano, and Dorham's sparkling work on the trumpet! Includes the classic reading of Kenny's "Blue Bossa", plus the titles "Recorda-Me", "Jinrikishna", "La Mesha", and "Homestretch".

A fantastic sextet session recorded in 1961, shortly before Booker Little's death – and filled with all the promise and power he ever packed into his playing! There's a sharp, angular groove to many of the numbers here – that mix of modern and hardbop that was cresting best in the early 60s Blue Note generation – and which echoes some of the work that Little had done with Max Roach in the years before this date. The lineup's filled with great players to help Book realize his strongest musical vision – Julian Priester on trombone, George Coleman on tenor, Don Friedman on piano, Reggie Workman on bass, and Pete LaRoca on drums – and although the set's issued on the sometimes-staid Bethlehem label, it's got all the sharper edges of an early 60s date on a label like Impulse or Candid! Titles include "Matilde", "Booker's Blues", "Forward Flight", and "Victory and Sorrow".