Excellent 50s work from pianist Billy Taylor – a record that has him stepping out with even more command of the keys than his earlier sides for Prestige and Roost! The format here is simple, but also simply amazing – as Billy works through familiar tunes with a highly rhythmic agenda – expanding them beautifully with help from bassist Earl May and drummer Ed Thigpen – the latter of whom really adds a crackling finish to the record, and matches Taylor wonderfully in the way that he blends rhythm and melody in the same motion! Most titles on the set are standards, and include "Round Midnight", "The More I See You", "Will You Still Be Mine", and "There's A Small Hotel" – but the album also features 2 great originals by Taylor – "Sounds In The Night" and "Titoro" – both longer tracks with an almost Jamal-like conception! LP, Vinyl record album

Some of the best work ever from pianist Billy Taylor – and some of the earliest too! Taylor's 50s trio with Earl May and Percy Brice is augmented here by conga work by the great Candido – and this addition brings a lot of fire to the group, giving Taylor's normally safe style a harder percussive edge – one that really makes the whole set groove nicely! Proof of this can be found in the album's classic reading of "Mambo Inn", one of those Latin piano tunes that's been a jazz dance classic for years – and other tracks are great too, and include "Love For Sale", "A Live One", "Bit Of Bedlam", "Declivity", and "Different Bells". CD

Mellow and wonderful work from Billy Taylor – caught here in a setting that feels much more relaxed and unrestrained than some of his other 50s outings! The group's his classic trio with Percy Brice on drums and Earl May on bass – and Billy's incredibly inventive on the keys, working through a long original entitled "Midnight Piano", as well as great readings of "The London House", "Love Is Here To Stay", "Stella By Starlight", and "Gone With The Wind". LP, Vinyl record album

A great early session from Chicago trumpeter Ira Sullivan – a very strong player who came out strongly in the late 50s as one of the big jazz hopefuls from the Windy City. This set has Ira backed by the Billy Taylor Trio – presented by Billy on ABC, where the Taylor trio was recording at the time. Tracks have a nice open-ended feel, and a lot more drive than Billy's own work at the time, and the best numbers feel like they were recorded for a Prestige blowing session. Titles include "Strolling", "Leslie's Gauge", "You Don't Know What Love Is", and "So In Love". LP, Vinyl record album

It might not be the frolic that the title implies, but that's a plus – because this a straight-up solid early album from Taylor – recorded in tight trio format, with that no-nonsense soulful approach that made him a star player from the start! The group features the great (and underrated) Earl May on bass and Kenny Dennis on drums – both of whom help Taylor work some simple magic that flowers wonderfully as the album moves on. There's a tight, sharp, in the pocket groove here that makes Taylor a key precursor for other piano talents to come in the 60s – and titles include "When Lights Are Low", "At Long Last Love", "Poinciana", "Blue Moon", "One For Fun", and "A Little Southside Soul". LP, Vinyl record album

A pretty great trio date from Billy Taylor – and somewhat overlooked, too! The group features Henry Grimes on bass and Ray Mosca on drums – and the set captures Billy in a perfect spot between his early work for Prestige, and some of his 60s mainstream material – heard here in a mode that's still got some nice soul jazz grit in the grooves. Titles include "Soul Sister", "Biddy's Beat", "La Petite Mambo", "Cu Blu", and "Warm Blue Stream". LP, Vinyl record album

Early work by Billy Taylor – cut at the height of his 50s popularity, with his famous trio of Percy Brice on drums and Earl May on bass. The title gives it all away – as Taylor plays soulful renditions of standards like "But Not For Me", "Cheek To Cheek", "It's Too Late Now", "All The Things You Are", and "More Than You Know". Not groundbreaking, but pleasant enough! LP, Vinyl record album

A really great album from Billy Taylor – way fresher than most of his other records of the time, especially his trio work! The main reason for this is Oliver Nelson – who crafts some incredibly soulful backings for Billy on the album's tracks, twisting through soul jazz big band numbers, easily grooving mellow tracks, all in the style of some of his best backing work for other players of the time. Billy's freed up to let himself groove around the tracks with an easy floating tone – almost like Ahmad Jamal or Ramsey Lewis on some of their sessions with Richard Evans. Titles include "You Tempt Me", "Don't Ever Say We're Through", "Love For Sale", "Miss Fine", "A Secret", "My Romance", and "Midnight Piano". LP, Vinyl record album

An early classic from pianist Billy Taylor featuring his classic 50s trio with bassist Earl May and drummer Percy Brice! The tracks are mostly short and simple, and done in Taylor's warmly rhythmical approach to the keys – a groove that was clearly informed by the hardbop of the time, but which laid back in a much more soulful formation. The set features dozen tracks in all, including "Blue Cloud", "It's A Grand Night For Swinging", "Purple Mood", "A Bientot", "Early Bird", "Day Dreaming", "Radioactivity", "Long Tom", and "Daddy O". LP, Vinyl record album

A great record – or half-great, as the case may be! One part of this album features Billy with his standard trio of Earl May and Percy Brice, playing mellow piano trio versions of tracks that include "Tune For Tex", "Goodbye", "Biddy's Beat", and "Eddie's Theme". Those cuts are fine, but the real strength of the album lies on the last 4 cuts – all killer Latin jazz numbers cut with a rhythm section that includes Machito, Jose Mangual, Charlie Smith, and Uba Nieto. The added conga, bongos, and timbales really make the tracks groove – and you'll find yourself coming back to "I Love To Mambo", "Mambo Azul", "Early Morning Mambo", and "Candido" more than you will the rest of the record. CD

Rockabilly legend Billy Joy definitely rocks – hardly a household name in the 50s, but a killer figure in the rock and roll underground – and one whose fame has just grown more and more over the years! The package is a beautifully-done tribute to Benny's genius – and presents the most hard-rocking of his important 50s recordings, as well as a host of unreleased tracks from later demos too! Joy's guitar work alone is amazing, but when it's coupled with the kickass rhythms of the tunes, the music really takes off to a whole new level – burning with the power you'd expect from the classic Johnny Burnette Trio – and that's before Benny's gritty vocals even come into play! CD features 30 tracks in all – including some lost recordings from the 70s – titles that include "Rollin To The Juke Box Rock", "Dark Angel", "Miss Bobby Sox", "Little Red Book", "Button Nose", "Come Back", "Wild Wild Lover", "In Study Hall", "Crash The Party (unedited)", "Spin The Bottle (Nashville demo)", "Big John Taylor", "High High School Baby", and "Nosey Nosey Neighbors". CD

Features a sweet trio with Gene Krupa on drums and Charlie Ventura on tenor – with only piano, and no other instrumentation! The Stuff Smith group features Billy Taylor on piano. LP, Vinyl record album

A great document of an early all-star jazz concert – recorded at Town Hall by a young Bob Shad – who's clearly working here in the same live territory as producer Norman Granz! There's a great sense of variety going on here – and the record's maybe worth it alone for an excellent performance by a trio with Gene Krupa on drums and Charlie Ventura on tenor – with only piano, and no other instrumentation – a great mode for both players! The album also features work from a quintet led by pianist Teddy Wilson with Flip Phillips on tenor – on the tune "Sweet & Lovely"; a trio with Billy Taylor on piano and Stuff Smith on violin, on "Perdido"; a fantastic duet between Don Byas' tenor and Slam Stewart's bass on "I Got Rhythm"; and a Red Norvo group with Shorty Rogers on trumpet and Flip Phillips on tenor, on the tunes "The Man I Love" and "One Note Jive". LP, Vinyl record album

A trio of excellent albums from master drummer Tony Williams – all brought together in a single package! Believe It is crackling funky fusion from Tony Williams' "new" version of his classic Lifetime group – a quartet that featured some smoking guitar work by jazz rock legend Allan Holdsworth! The sound on the set is very full-on and jamming – fuzzed-out guitars taking over most of the tracks, and Tony jumping into the fray with some really frenetic work on drums – miles away from his earlier jazz work in the 60s, and really taking off with the best sort of rock/jazz fusion energy! Titles include "Snake Oil", "Fred", "Proto Cosmos", "Red Alert", and "Mr Spock". On Million Dollar Legs, Tony Williams is a million miles from his work with the Miles Davis Quintet on this record – grooving in a heavy rock/fusion mode with his New Lifetime group that includes Allan Holdsworth on guitar, Tony Newton on bass and vocals, and Alan Pasqua on keyboards! The tracks have a post Jeff Beck kind of approach – lots of heavy riffing in a way that does create a bit of funk at the right moments, almost in the Alphonze Mouzon/Tommy Bolin mode – and Williams' drums are right at home in the setting, and somehow filled with as much imagination and creativity as before! Titles include "Sweet Revenge", "Inspirations Of Love", "Lady Jade", "What You Do To Me", and "Joy Filled Summer". Joy Of Flying is a key record in the evolution of Tony Williams as a drummer – and kind of a powerful summation of all the changes he'd made in the 70s – before a return to straighter jazz in the next decade! Williams' drumming here is incredibly fierce at points – almost at a Billy Cobham level – but he also shows the sensitivity to deeper sounds that he first brought into play during the 60s – and manages to mix an ear for fusion modes with some freer elements too – thanks to help from a lineup of players that includes Herbie Hancock and Brian Auger on keyboards, Cecil Taylor on piano, Jan Hammer on Fender Rhodes, Stanley Clarke on bass, Ton Scott on lyricon, and Ronnie Montrose on guitar. Titles include "Tony", "Coming Back Home", "Morgan's Motion", "Eris", "Open Fire", and "Hittin On 6". Great CD reissue – full notes, and a 20 page booklet with the usual Reel Music attention to detail! CD