The modern touch indeed! You can't get any more classic Benny Golson than this – a sublime late 50s album that features Benny with a sextet, working out amazing versions of the sorts of material that set him apart from every other jazz arranger of the time! The tracks here are complicated, yet have a rootsy soulfulness that makes them instantly compelling – and Benny's tone on tenor sax is sharp and angular, yet also has a raspiness that gives it a degree of honesty you wouldn't expect from a budding young modernist. The rest of the players – Max Roach, Paul Chambers, Wynton Kelly, JJ Johnson, and Kenny Dorham – are equally great, too – and amidst Benny's arrangements, they come together as if they'd been playing in this format for years! Titles include "Out Of The Past", "Venetian Breeze", "Reunion", "Hymn To The Orient", and "Blues On Down". LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible, and oft-overlooked album from the great Benny Golson – and one of the few early albums that really point the way to his huge run of work for decades to come! The style here is a bit looser, and more open than some of Golson's previous albums – less of a focus on arrangements, and more on the spontaneous interplay between his tenor and the crack rhythm section – which features Wynton Kelly on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Jimmy Cobb on drums – a dream lineup who really make the record sparkle. But the real star of the show is Golson – who's hitting this raspy, soulful tone he never had before – much freer of soul jazz formalities, and with a modern edge that's wonderful – as you'll hear on titles that include "Alone Together", "Turning Point", "Stella By Starlight", and "Dear Kathy". LP, Vinyl record album

Mid 50s recordings with Dizzy's big bands, with sidemen that include Quincy Jones, JJ Johnson, Hank Mobley, Lucky Thompson, Lee Morgan, Benny Golson, Wynton Kelly, Billy Mitchell, Candido, Al Grey, and many more. LP, Vinyl record album

Early work by Abbey – recorded in a mode that's straighter than she'd sound a few years later – less angry, more like other jazz vocalists of the time, but still with that unmistakable Abbey Lincoln quality in the voice! The arrangements on the set are by Benny Golson – using that light angular edge that always makes his work such a great fit for a hip singer – and other players on the set include Kenny Dorham, Curtis Fuller, Jerome Richardson, Wynton Kelly, and Sahib Shihab. Titles include "I Am In Love", "An Occasional Man", "Out Of The Past", "Love", "Little Niles", "Exactly Like You", and "Just For Me". (Vocalists, Jazz) LP, Vinyl record album

One of the hardest to find of the early Lee Morgan albums on Blue Note – and a very lyrical batch of hardbop tracks, played with a slightly exotic flair! Morgan's group on the date features melodic modernists Benny Golson on tenor and Gigi Gryce on alto sax – both of whom push Morgan past his youthful bop approach into more sensitive areas – especially Golson, who wrote and arranged the tunes on the date with a sublime mix of hardbop and deeper musical ideals! Rhythm is from the trio of Wynton Kelly on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Charlie Persip on drums – and titles include a great reading of Golson's "I Remember Clifford", plus four other originals by Benny – "Hasaan's Dream", "Domingo", "Mesabi Chant", and "Tip Toeing". LP, Vinyl record album

Compilation of recordings from the late 40s through the early 50s, with sidemen including George Kelly, Ike Isaacs, Red Prysock, Benny Golson, and Freddie Red. LP, Vinyl record album