A beautiful illustration of the deep talents of Anthony Ortega – a player who still sounds as creative and inventive this late in his career as he did way back in the 50s and 60s! The bulk of the CD features Ortega in two settings – one, a batch of studio duets with bassist Kash Killion; the other a series of live solo performances, recorded in Paris by a video camera! The Killion duets have a wonderfully warm, round sound – acoustic bass set up next to Ortega's alto and flute, with a carefully structured approach that's extremely thoughtful, and almost poetic. The live solos have a much rougher sound – partly from the starkness of the video recording, but also because they represent Oretga taking it much more off the cuff – just spinning things out on alto sax with a sound that's a fair bit like the old days. And to cap things off – speaking of the old days – the CD closes with one more duet from the 60s – a track that has Ortega and bassist Chuck Domanico playing together from an older Revelation session, appearing here for the first time ever! That track is a long version of "Ornithology", and other titles include "Ask Me Now", "Jupiter", "Blue Monk", "I'll Remember April", "Now's The Time", and "Open Spaces". CD

A nice album compiling of some of the less-collected work by Clifford Brown – 1953 recordings done in Europe for the Metronome and Vogue labels, recorded with a great larger group. Sides feature Brown working with Quincy Jones, Gigi Gryce, Anthony Ortega, Juimmy Cleveland, and others alongside Parisian and European players that include Henri Renaud and Pierre Michelot. The set features "Brown Skins", "Keeping Up With Jonesy", "Bum's Rush", "Chez Moi", "All Weird" and "No Start No End". CD

A nice album compiling of some of the less-collected work by Clifford Brown – 1953 recordings done in Europe for the Metronome and Vogue labels, recorded with a great larger group. Sides feature Brown working with Quincy Jones, Gigi Gryce, Anthony Ortega, Juimmy Cleveland, and others alongside Parisian and European players that include Henri Renaud and Pierre Michelot. The set features 9 tracks in all – with a couple of multiple takes, and titles include "Brownskins", "Keeping Up With Jonesy", "Bum's Rush", "Chez Moi", "All Weird" and "No Start No End". CD

An amazing album by the great lost altoist Jimmy Woods! Woods is a key part of the LA postwar jazz scene – with an alto style that's a link between Ornette's modernist tone and the more inside playing of other LA boppers. In a way, he's sort of a soul jazz Anthony Ortega – with the same sort of high track record on albums, keen talent for writing, and a unique vision that's barely gotten any exposure over the years. Here, he's working with a crack group that features Carmell Jones on trumpet, Harold Land on tenor, and a young Andrew Hill (billed as Andrew Hille!) on piano. All tunes are originals by Woods, this record displays his unique, introspective sensiblity in both his performance, and compostion. Titles include "Conflict", "Coming Home", "Apart Together", and "Aim". CD