Beautiful hardbop from Boston – and one of the first-ever albums recorded by trumpeter Donald Byrd as a leader! The set was originally done for the obscure Transition label – also home to inventive early recordings by Sun Ra and Cecil Taylor – and as with those records, there's a very special sort of sound going on here – as the date's a quartet outing, with a very unusual group – with Ray Santisi on piano, Doug Watkins on bass, and Jim Zitano on bass – all giving Byrd plenty of room to solo in the lead. The record features a very different side than some of Donald's other early two-leader sessions (such as the dates with Pepper Adams) – especially as he blows with a warmth and moodiness that we don't normally hear from him at this point – sounding fantastic on titles that include "Little Rock Getaway", "If I Love Again", "What's New", and "Stella By Starlight". CD

3 rare hardbop sides – issued together as one great 2 CD set! The album features work from 3 records first issued by the short-lived Transition label from Boston – Byrd's Eye View and Byrd Blows On Beacon Hill, both by Donald Byrd (in case you couldn't guess!), and Watkins At Large, one of the few albums ever issued by hardbop bassist Doug Watkins. The feel of the material is great – totally on a par with the Blue Note hardbop work of the late 50s, and featuring many players in common with those recordings – Hank Mobley, Horace Silver, Art Blakey, Duke Jordan, and Art Taylor. The 2CD set features 17 tracks on all, and it's the first time the material's been made available to the US market at an affordable price! Titles include "Return To Paradise", "El Sino", "Doug's Blues", "Crazy Rhythm", "If I Love Again", "What's New", "More Of The Same", and "Phinupi". CD

A heck of a rare slice of Donald Byrd's career – a rare "with strings" session, recorded in 1957, but never issued until a brief 1982 LP on Discovery! The set also marks a rare early large set of arrangements by Clare Fischer – who backs up Byrd's shimmering trumpet lines with some great strings on the album – making for a moody session that's also got some nice modernist touches underneath. Given Byrd's Parisian recordings, and his work for a variety of labels at the time (this one was supposedly done for Warner Brothers), it's interesting to hear his more open style before it was clamped into the tighter Blue Note groove of the 60s. Titles include "Varmeland", "Lazy Afternoon", "Moon Mist", "I'm A Fool To Want You", "Dearly Beloved", and "September Afternoon". Added to this session is a slightly unusual choice – a much harder-edged quartet session from 1956 – Byrd Blows On Beacon Hill. The hard-to-find recording was originally cut for the obscure Transition label, and features a very different side than some of Byrd's other early two-leader sessions – especially as he blows with a warmth and moodiness that we don't normally hear from him at this point. The rest of the group includes Ray Santisi piano, Doug Watkins bass, and Jim Zitano drums – and titles include "Little Rock Getaway", "If I Love Again", "What's New", and "Stella By Starlight". CD

Beautiful hardbop from Boston – and one of the first-ever albums recorded by trumpeter Donald Byrd as a leader! The set was originally done for the obscure Transition label – also home to inventive early recordings by Sun Ra and Cecil Taylor – and as with those records, there's a very special sort of sound going on here – as the date's a quartet outing, with a very unusual group – with Ray Santisi on piano, Doug Watkins on bass, and Jim Zitano on bass – all giving Byrd plenty of room to solo in the lead. The record features a very different side than some of Donald's other early two-leader sessions (such as the dates with Pepper Adams) – especially as he blows with a warmth and moodiness that we don't normally hear from him at this point – sounding fantastic on titles that include "Little Rock Getaway", "If I Love Again", "What's New", and "Stella By Starlight". CD

A great set of Sonny Rollins Road Show material – recorded in Japan and NYC in the fall of 2010 – the latter from the Sonny Rollins @80 Concert at The Beacon Theatre! The set is bookended by the Japanese recordings – a nearly 15 minute "They Say It's Wonderful" live in Sapporo with Rollins backed by Russell Malone, Bob Cranshaw, Kobie Watkins and Sammy Figueroa. "St Thomas" features that line up in Tokyo a week later. The Beacon Theatre players include Ornette Coleman on "In A Sentimental Mood", Christian McBride on "Sonnymoon For Two and Roy Hargrove on "I Can't Get Started". CD

Steve Davis definitely gets it done with this sweet little set – just the kind of record that enforces all the love we've had for his talents over the years! Davis' sound on trombone is totally tops – tight, yet with a soulful flourish that really takes off on his solos – a sort of boldness that's more than enough to inspire the players in his group, as does his set of well-penned original compositions for the set! Davis never lets us down, and this album's the kind of soulful swinger that will have us checking him out for years to come – a set that features Josh Bruneau on trumpet, Mike DiRubbo on alto, Larry Willis on piano, Nat Reeves on bass, and Billy Williams on drums – and tunes that include "Getting It Done", "Steppin Easy", "Alike", "The Beacon", and "Wishes". CD