One of the premier drummers, and inventors as well, of hard bop drummers is without a doubt Philly Joe Jones, who made his name with Miles Davis, but is also featured on innumerable sessions in the 1950s-60s. This single disc includes a previously unreleased gig from 1961 at Birdland with Jones’ working team of Mike Downs/ct, Bill Barron/ts, Walter Davis Jr/p and Spansky DeBrest/b, with the team tearing into “Two Bass Hit”, Downs searing on a hard hitting “Max Is Making Wax” and Jones riding the whip on “Salt Peanuts”. The same band, with Paul Chambers instea of DeBrest, is caught in the studio in 1960 for better fidelity, and in a kinetic mood on the aforementioned tunes, as well as a cruising read of “ Dear Old Stockholm” and festive “That’s Earl, Brother”. Barron took his Sonny Rollins pills for the sessions, and Downs is bright and sharp as an Italian suit throughout. Of course, with Jones at the helm, there’s always avalanche warnings, as he rumbles and tumbles on a Richter Scale of 6.4 and above. Whew!