Two trumpets, and plenty of soul – one of those wonderful late 50s Prestige Records blowing sessions that really let individual players have lots of the right sort of space to find their own voice alongside each other! Byrd and Farmer are both young here, and mighty sharp in their sounds – already quite distinct from each other in phrasing, and a great choice as soloists to illuminate in a setting like this. The rest of the group features Jackie McLean on alto – getting in some great solos too – plus Barry Harris on piano, Doug Watkins on bass, and the great Art Taylor on drums. Byrd's bite is a great counterpart to the lyricism of Farmer – and titles include "Contour", "Round Midnight", "The Third", and "Dig". CD

An excellent follow-up to the legendary Two Trumpets session on Prestige – and even rarer than that one! The lineup features Farmer, Byrd, and Sulieman on the horns in the title – with hip rhythm from Hod O'Brien on piano, Addison Farmer on bass, and Ed Thigpen on drums. Titles include "Diffusion Of Beauty", "You Gotta Dig It To Dig It", "Who's Who", and "Palm Court Alley". CD

Great later issue of two classic Prestige hardbop albums from the 50s! First up is Two Trumpets – one of those wonderful late 50s Prestige Records blowing sessions that really let individual players have lots of the right sort of space to find their own voice alongside each other! Byrd and Farmer are both young here, and mighty sharp in their sounds – already quite distinct from each other in phrasing, and a great choice as soloists to illuminate in a setting like this. The rest of the group features Jackie McLean on alto – getting in some great solos too – plus Barry Harris on piano, Doug Watkins on bass, and the great Art Taylor on drums. Byrd's bite is a great counterpart to the lyricism of Farmer – and titles include "Contour", "Round Midnight", "The Third", and "Dig". Next is Three Trumpets – an excellent follow-up to the legendary Two Trumpets session on Prestige – and even rarer than that one! The lineup features Farmer, Byrd, and Idrees Sulieman on the horns in the title – with hip rhythm from Hod O'Brien on piano, Addison Farmer on bass, and Ed Thigpen on drums. Titles include "Diffusion Of Beauty", "You Gotta Dig It To Dig It", "Who's Who", and "Palm Court Alley". LP, Vinyl record album

Seminal early work from Art Farmer – and one of the first full albums to capture his brilliance! The record has Farmer playing in a quintet, with able accompaniment from Gigi Gryce, a young newcomer at this point, with a post-bop complication to his style that was not to dissimilar from Farmer's. Gryce's mode is perhaps a bit more academic than Farmer's, but Art's lyricism offsets that tendency nicely, and the pair work together in a mode that's every bit as pleasing as Gigi's work with Donald Byrd. The set features some great tracks in sort of an exoticist hardbop mode – and titles include "Satellite", "Shabozz", "Sans Souci", and "Evening In Casablanca". CD

Rare work from the team of Gigi Gryce and Donald Byrd – material recorded during their Jazz Lab sessions for Columbia Records in the 50s, but unissued at the time! The duo are pure genius together – able to open up with all the modern jazz currents that altoist Gryce was bringing to his writing and arranging, yet still swing with all the sense of soul that you'd know from later work from the famous trumpeter Byrd! The blend is great – kind of like all the best 50s modern jazz ideas rolled into one – a record with plenty of new ideas, but a rock-solid swing to match the best on Blue Note or Prestige – driven strongly by the rhythm trio of Hank Jones on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Art Taylor on drums. Gryce is especially nice – maybe a bit more biting than on some of his earlier records with Art Farmer, and a hell of a soloist throughout. Titles include "Exhibit A", "Capri", "Splittin", "Byrd In Hand", "Ergo The Blues", and "Passade". LP, Vinyl record album

Seminal early work from Art Farmer – and one of the first full albums to capture his brilliance! The record has Farmer playing in a quintet, with able accompaniment from Gigi Gryce, a young newcomer at this point, with a post-bop complication to his style that was not to dissimilar from Farmer's. Gryce's mode is perhaps a bit more academic than Farmer's, but Art's lyricism offsets that tendency nicely, and the pair work together in a mode that's every bit as pleasing as Gigi's work with Donald Byrd. The set features some great tracks in sort of an exoticist hardbop mode – and titles include "Satellite", "Shabozz", "Sans Souci", and "Evening In Casablanca". CD

Seminal early work from Art Farmer – and one of the first full albums to capture his brilliance! The record has Farmer playing in a quintet, with able accompaniment from Gigi Gryce, a young newcomer at this point, with a post-bop complication to his style that was not to dissimilar from Farmer's. Gryce's mode is perhaps a bit more academic than Farmer's, but Art's lyricism offsets that tendency nicely, and the pair work together in a mode that's every bit as pleasing as Gigi's work with Donald Byrd. The set features some great tracks in sort of an exoticist hardbop mode – and titles include "Satellite", "Shabozz", "Sans Souci", and "Evening In Casablanca". LP, Vinyl record album

Seminal modern jazz from Art Farmer & Gigi Gryce – a pair of records the players recorded together on Prestige Records in the mid 50s! First up is When Farmer Met Gryce – one of Art Farmer's pivotal mid 50s sides – recorded in the company of altoist Gigi Gryce, a great player and a budding young arranger who helped Farmer really formulate the best side of his sound! The tracks are lyrically modern – but still have a nice dose of soul in them – a wonderful blend that really sets the stage for the move that Art was making away from earlier trumpeters in jazz – into that hip territory that was neither too cool, nor too overblown – and which would almost be known as "Farmer-like" in years to come! The album features Gryce and Farmer in 2 different groups – one with Horace Silver on piano, Percy Heath on bass, and Kenny Clarke on drums – the other with Freddie Redd on piano, Addison Farmer on bass, and Art Taylor on drums. Titles include "Social Call", "Capri", "Deltitnu", "Stupendous Lee", and "Blue Concept". Art Farmer Quintet has Farmer playing in a quintet (natch!), with able accompaniment from Gigi Gryce, a young newcomer at this point, with a post-bop complication to his style that was not to dissimilar from Farmer's. Gryce's mode is perhaps a bit more academic than Farmer's, but Art's lyricism offsets that tendency nicely, and the pair work together in a mode that's every bit as pleasing as Gigi's work with Donald Byrd. The set features some great tracks in sort of an exoticist hardbop mode – and titles include "Satellite", "Shabozz", "Sans Souci", and "Evening In Casablanca". CD

An amazing collection – especially since Clifford Brown died before giving the world that many key records – which makes these French sessions from 1953 a very important part of his catalog! The set captures Brownie at his modern best – really making the move past straighter bop, into sparkling chromatic territory – mostly with alto sax genius Gigi Gryce at his side! Gryce first chose Clifford Brown as his main foil in trumpet/alto arrangements – before having to move on to Art Farmer, and then later Donald Byrd – and the sessions here feature groups with either Brown or Gryce as the leader, plus a few quartet sessions with just Brown – with Henri Renaud on piano. CD

8 tracks that do a pretty darn good job of summing up the genius of pianist Sonny Clark during his years at the Blue Note label! The recordings feature Clark in the company of some fierce hardbop groups – with players that include John Coltrane, Hank Mobley, Paul Chambers, Donald Byrd, and Art Farmer. Titles include "Junka", "Cool Struttin", "Dial S For Sonny", "Shoutin On A Riff", and "Sonny's Crib". CD

Rare material from John Coltrane – tracks that were done for Bethlehem Records at a time when he was just rising up as a leader, and still contributed work as a sideman! The album features Trane playing tenor on only four of the album's eight tracks – making it kind of surprising that they used his name in the title – but the album is a lesser-known batch of large group recordings that offer an interesting early chapter in his career! The main force behind the album is arranger Harry Tubbs – possibly not a name that's as sexy as John Coltrane, hence the billing – but a worthy leader for the date, given the quality of the music. Many of the other players here are small combo heroes who can also shine brightly in bigger groups – such as Donald Byrd and Art Farmer on trumpets, Kenny Burrell on guitar, Al Cohn on baritone sax, Eddie Costa on piano and vibes, and Oscar Pettiford on bass – plus Rolf Kuhn, making an early American appearance on clarinet. Coltrane gets in some nice, but short moments on the date – but the bigger charm is the full ensemble work – on titles that include "She Didn't Say Yes", "Turtle Walk", "At Home With The Blues", "Seabreeze", and "Love & The Weather". CD

The complete work of pianist Sonny Clark as a leader for the Blue Note label – masterful material that really helped define the sound of the hardbop generation, and records that are still classics and still filled with fantastic energy after all these many years! In some way, Sonny Clark was the perfect figure to help Blue Note step into this generation – both a modernist and a soulful player, a strong group leader and an intimate soloist in a trio setting – clearly the lynchpin of the new energy during Blue Note's explosion in the LP generation – as you'll hear on classic albums that include Dial S For Sonny, Sonny's Crib, Sonny Clark Trio, Cool Struttin, Leapin & Lopin, Sonny Clark Quintets, Blues In The Night, My Conception, and the Art Of The Trio! Some of these albums were recorded in the late 50s, but only issued years later – and the package also includes all the bonus material that was added to later CD versions as well. Players include John Coltrane, Clifford Jordan, Charlie Rouse, and Hank Mobley on tenors – plus Art Farmer and Donald Byrd on trumpets, Curtis Fuller on trombone, Jackie McLean on alto, and Kenny Burrell on guitar – top-shelf Blue Note Groups on every record – and the set features 61 tracks in all, and the usual Mosaic booklet of notes! CD

Hard-swingin tracks from Ernie Wilkins – one of the most soulful arrangers of his time, working here in a wonderful all-star session from the 50s! The album's definitely got the "top brass" promised in the title – a lineup that features Donald Byrd, Ray Copeland, Idrees Sulieman, and Joe Wilder on trumpets – all working at a level that allows plenty of space for well-blown solos, but tied up in tighter ensemble formation overall – all with that Wilkins sense of swing that really set Ernie apart at the time. Rhythm is from a trip that includes Hank Jones on piano, Wendell Marshall on bass, and Kelly Clarke on drums – and titles include "58 Market Street", "Trick Or Treat", "Speedway", "Dot's What", "Top Brass", "Imagination", and "Willow Weep For Me". Also features the album Trumpets All Out – an all-trumpet affair, one that features 5 different players on the instrument – Art Farmer, Emmet Berry, Charlie Shavers, Ernie Royal, and Harold Baker – supported by spare rhythm from the trio of Don Abney on piano, Wendell Marshall on bass, and Bobby Donaldson on drums. There's a definite swing-based approach here – different than usual for some of Farmer's outings of the time – but the differences between the players are nicely pronounced, and the amazing thing about the album is how it manages to pack so much solo energy in such a relatively small space, in a way that still lets you hear the different voices clearly. Titles include "She's Just My Size", "Five Cats Swingin", "Blues In 6/4", "Trumpets All Out", and "Low Life". LP, Vinyl record album

Ahhhh . . . The Jam Session years of Gene Ammons! This album was one of a number that Jug cut for Prestige during the mid 50s, all excellent examples of how perfectly the label's "blowing session" style could work when it wanted to. The set takes Ammons' tenor, and groups it with an all-star cast that includes Art Farmer and Donald Byrd on trumpets, Jackie McLean on alto, Mal Waldron on piano, Doug Watkins on bass, and Art Taylor on drums. All the horn players are given free reign to solo – and as most of the tracks go on and on and on, they really get room to open up, blowing with the kind of competitive creativity you'd hear in a live set at the same time. Includes three long tracks: "Not Really The Blues", "Jammin With Gene", and "We'll Be Together Again". CD

Rare material from John Coltrane – tracks that were done for Bethlehem Records at a time when he was just rising up as a leader, and still contributed work as a sideman! The album features Trane playing tenor on only four of the album's eight tracks – making it kind of surprising that they used his name in the title – but the album is a lesser-known batch of large group recordings that offer an interesting early chapter in his career! The main force behind the album is arranger Harry Tubbs – possibly not a name that's as sexy as John Coltrane, hence the billing – but a worthy leader for the date, given the quality of the music. Many of the other players here are small combo heroes who can also shine brightly in bigger groups – such as Donald Byrd and Art Farmer on trumpets, Kenny Burrell on guitar, Al Cohn on baritone sax, Eddie Costa on piano and vibes, and Oscar Pettiford on bass – plus Rolf Kuhn, making an early American appearance on clarinet. Coltrane gets in some nice, but short moments on the date – but the bigger charm is the full ensemble work – on titles that include "She Didn't Say Yes", "Turtle Walk", "At Home With The Blues", "Seabreeze", and "Love & The Weather". LP, Vinyl record album