Genius early work from the legendary Thad Jones – one of his greatest albums ever, and a sublime tribute to his talents on the trumpet! Jones has a groove here that definitely fits in nicely with the title – some of the more contemplative, expressive modes of his native Detroit scene – honed with a bit more of the sharpness that New York players were bringing to hardbop at the
time! Jones' trumpet is warmly lyrical, but never in a sleepy, or too-easy sort of way – and the group here has plenty of nice edges, thanks to killer tenor sax from the under-rated Billy Mitchell, guitar from Kenny Burrell, piano from Tommy Flanagan, bass from Oscar Pettiford, and drums from Shadow Wilson. There's a tremendous balance between gentleness and depth going on here – and the album has an unbounded sense of creativity that easily makes it one of the most sparkling Blue Note sides from the
time! Titles include "Little Girl Blue", "Blue Room", "Tar Riff", "Zec", and "Scratch".
(Please note: This is a special edition of the album produced by Time Life in Spain. The music is the same, but the cover art is slightly different.)