Maybe the first-ever collection to bring together the work of the great Red Saunders – a jazz drummer and a seminal figure on the Chicago music scene of the postwar years – a player who not only helped bridge the worlds of jazz and R&B, but who also was the leader of the house band at the legendary Club DeLisa – also known as the initial launching pad for the Sun Ra Arkestra! Red's music is nothing like Ra's – but it does show a similar Chicago ear for new ideas and musical combinations – as Saunders is working here in modes that are way more than the bebop promised by the title – which might be thought of more as an indicator of the modern sensibilities of Saunders. Performances are from a variety of rare 78s – a format in which most of Red's music was issued – and are filled with overlooked players who include Sonny Cohn on trumpet, Earl Washington and Porter Derico on piano, Leon Washington on tenor, McKinley Easton on baritone, Porter Kilbert and Nat Jones on alto, Ike Perkins on guitar, and John Avant and Harlan Floyd on trombones. There's a bit of vocals on the set – from a young Joe Williams, plus
Bunky Redding and Buster Bennett – on titles that include "Red The Bebop Guy", "Memories Of You", "Hallelujah", "Card Playing Blues", "DDD", "Ridin Boogie", "Synthesis", "Jitterbuggin", "Legs Getting Bigger & Bigger", "Week Day Blues", "Hey Bartender", "Boot Em Up", "Sugar Bounce", "Lyin Girl Blues", and "Blow Mr Low Blow" – and a number of tracks were arranged by Sonny "Sun Ra" Blount!