Five new rs a treat. Louis Hayes’ band featured giants Nat Adderley/tp, Barry Harris/p, Yusef Lateef/ts-fl and Sam Jones/b for an adventurous hard bopping affair. Lateef’s “Hazing” is filled with rich sounds, while Barry Harris’ “I Need You” and “Back Yard” 
snap with lyricism. Art Taylor’s 1960 Blue Note debut had the hard bopper in solid company with Carlos Valdes/perc, Wynton Kelly/p, Paul Chambers/b, Stanley Turrentine/ts and Dave Burns/tp, with the leader snappy and happy as he’s 
featured “Cookoo and Fungi” while “Syeeda’s Song Flute” is a gorgeously breezy tune, with Valdes’ percussion on “Epistrophy” adding a percolating texture to the classic. Elvin Jones’ 1962 first album as a leader takes him on a more traditional path than his days with John Coltrane. He teams up with family members Thad/tp and Hank/p along with Frank Foster/ts, Frank Wess/ts-fl and Art Davis/b for easy swing pieces like “Pretty Brown” and “Lady Luck” while Jones is understatedly dashing as he does a return to “You Are Too Beautiful” with Foster and Wess replacing Coltrane and Johnny Hartman. Wonderful moments.
Pianist/arranger George Russell released some of the most adventurous albums in the 1960s, mixing elements of jazz, classical and beyond. His 1961 Jazz in the Space Age is a stratospheric delight, with band members including Bill Evans and Paul Bley simultaneously at piano along with Ernie Royal/as, Hal McKusick/as, Bob Brookmeyer/tb and Charlie Persip/dr. The pieces include a mix of Asia and mystery on “Waltz From Outer Space” with a melding of totally free improve with a dash of structure on “The Lydiot” and “Chromatic Universe.” From the same year he releases another album with a sextet that includes Carla Bley and Dave Baker doing some intriguing reads of Clifford Brown’s “Sandu” and Miles Davis’ “Tune Up.” His 1960 Stratusphunk has Russell with students from his Lenox School of Jazz, which included baker, dave Young/ts, Chuck Israels/b and Joe Hunt/dr with the team sizzling on the rebopping arrangement of “New Donna” and the creative title track. His Stratus Seekers from 1962 includes Steve Swallow/b and the wild Don Ellis/tp for some wild and bright tunes such as “The Stratus Seekers” and the braggin’ in brass “Stereophrenic.” A real white knuckler!
Vocalist Della Reese’s early albums are featured on this 2 disc set. Her The Story of The Blues has her introducing and describing each pieces such as “Good Morning Blues,” “St. James Infirmary” and “Sent For You Yesterday.” 1962’s Classic Della has her in a complete 180 degree turn, singing out melodies by long hair artists Tchaikovsky on “Story of a Starry Night’ and Debussy during “My Reverie.” Della by Starlight from 1960 has her in a nightclub mood as she delivers sultry standards like “That Old Feeling” and “He Was Good to Me.” Best of the lot is the 1959 What Do You Know About Love which has Ms. Reese backed by strings and is haunting on “You Better Go Now” and “When I Fall In Love” while getting rich and bluesy on “I Got It Bad.” Earth tones.
Country singer Jim Reeves had one of the most relaxed and mellifluous voices in the world. Is vocal balm is akin to Stan Getz’s tenor sax; you can never have enough of it, no matter the setting. While his career was cut short by an untimely death, he was fortunately not under-recorded. His 1959 Songs to Warm Your Heart mixes homespun religion on “May the Good Lord Bless You…” and “Satan Can’t Hold Me” with forlorn love during “Am I Losing You” and “Just Call Me Lonesome.” Next year’s The Intimate…has him backed by strings and the Anita Kerr Singers delivering the big hit “I’m Getting’ Better” along with pop pieces like “Room Full of Roses” and the lonely “Oh, How I Miss You Tonight.” The following year had him telling stories like “The Gun,” “The Farmer and the Lord” and Edgar Poe’s haunting “Annabel Lee” and the same year had him with an album with a collection of big hits including “Welcome to My World” and “Have You Ever Been Lonely (Have You Ever Been Blue).” A balm to the ears.
Bo Diddley has been unfortunately been overlooked as one of the fathers of rock. His first five albums are arguably stronger than the first ones produced by Little Richard, Chuck Berry or even Elvis. His 1958 eponymous debut in 1958 is an absolute classic, with 28 minutes of riveting excitement on pieces like “Bo Diddley,” “Hey! Bo Diddley” and “I’m A Man.” The followups Go Bo Diddley and Have Guitar, Will Travel from the next year included the torrid “Don’t Let It Go” while his guitar work shreds on “Bo’s Guitar” and the grooves wail during “Oh Yea,” “Dearest Darling” “and “You Don’t Love Me.” “Mona (I Need You Baby)” and “Cops and Roberbs” became a hit for the Rolling Stones, while Diddley’s own versions make the covers pale in comparison. The next year’s Gunslinger has the grunge classic “Road Runner” and “Craw Dad” with some rough and ready vocals, while instrumentals like “Scuttle Bug” will have you running for cover. Finally …Lover from 1961 has some wild stories by Bo on “Bo Diddley is Loose” and “Not Guilty” while milking his sui generis groove for all it’s worth on “Bo Diddley Is A Lover.” Who let him out of the cage?!?