UK-based Avid Records’ recent cache of reissues stretches from bop to down home roots and exotic worlds beyond.
Bassist Ahmed Abdul-Malik was best known for his work as a sideman for Thelonious Monk, but he also took some time to release some of his own material that reveals a different side of the bopper. These four albums from 1958-62 
are similar to Yusef Lateef’s Easter Sounds sessions in that they mix music from North Africa with 52nd Street. Malik plays bass and oud with Johnny Griffin and various Middle Eastern musicians for a handful of stretched out Moroccan jams, while a ’59 meeting with boppers Griffin, Lee Morgan, Benny Golson and Jerome Richards conjure up themes from a 
Marrakech market. Tommy Turrentine and Eric Dixon mix blues and Crescent sounds in a ’61 recording, with the most jazz friendly session occurring in 1962 as African drums and bopping horns mix on “Out of Nowhere” and “African Bossa Nova.” Genre defying!
While not a jazz singer, Johnny Cash defined down home blues with his sine qua non voice and delivery. His earliest and most influential albums are presented here, and with Luther Perkins/g, Marshall Grant/b he throws down the gauntlet on visceral pieces like “Cry, Cry, Cry” and “Guess Things Happen That Way.” Sin and salvation are never far away as on “Folsom Prison Blues” or “I was There When it Happened” and he defines stark love songs while descending half a step on each chorus on the harrowing “I Walk The Line.” One of the few with the gift of sounding like he really means what he’s singing, as on “I Still Miss Someone” and “Time Changes Everything” he creates a wave of delivery in which we are still feeling the ripples. Essential Americana.
Pianist Sonny Clark was a vintage bopper who spent most of his time as a sideman for the likes of Grant Green, Buddy DeFranco and the Lighthouse All Stars. These four albums from 1957-62 are all from the Blue Note era with Rudy Van Gelder at the engineering helm. The classic Dial “S” For Sonny includes Hank Mobley/ts, Art Farmer/tp, Curtis Fuller/tb, Wilbur Ware/b and Louis Hayes/dr for snapping takes of “Love Walked In” and “ Sonny’s Mood.” The same year of 1957 has a hip trio session with Paul Chambers/b and Philly Joe Jones as the team snaps through “Two Bass Hit,” “Tadd’s Delight” and “I’ll Remember April.” Next year Jackie McLean and Art Farmer join with the trio for the sizzling Cool Struttin’ session that includes the title track and bouncing “Blue Minor” while 1961’s Leapin’ and Lopin’ includes Charlie Rouse-Ike Quebec/ts, Tommy Turrentine/tp, Butch Warren/b and Billy Higgins/dr for classy hard bop on “Voodoo” and “Midnight Mambo.” A must for hard bop fans.
Still playing well into his 80s, alto saxist Lou Donaldson continues to carry the bebopping torch that is captured on theses ’57-61 Blue Note sessions. With Donald Byrd/tp, Curtis Fuller, Sonny Clark/p, George Joyner/b and Art Taylor/dr, he stretches out on “Sputnik” and “Strollin’ In” while doing his Bird-iest on “Dewey Square” and “Groovin’ High.” Next year’s hip Blues Walk has him with a hip trio supplemented by Ray Barretto’s congas for a sizzling “Move” and title track. In 1961, a January session has him with Baby Face Willette/B3, Grant Green/g and Dave Bailey for some smoky “Cool Blues” and “A Foggy Day” while in April of the same year, he leads a hip quartet through the upbeat blueser “Gravy Train” and goes bel canto on “Polka Dots and Moonbeams.” No fusion, no confusion, as the alto saxist loves to say.
Vibist Dave Pike isn’t very well known these days, but he was associated with Herbie Mann during the early 60s. These sessions from ’61-62 start with a snappy and assertive outing with Barry Harris/p, Reggie Workman/b and Billy Higgins/dr for bop delights such as “Cheryl” and “Hot House.” With Bill Evans on piano, Pike leads a 1962 quartet through a sensuous “Besame Mucho” and delightful “In A Sentimental Mood.” The same year, he goes bossa nova with Clark Terry/fh and Kenny Burrell/g as he covers the Joao Donato songbook and adds marimba to “Sono” and “Serenidade.” A mix of latin and jazz team up at the end of the year with Tommy Flanagan/p, Leo Wright/as, Jimmy Raney/g, George Duvivier-Ahmed Abdul Malik/b, Ray Barretto/cong and William Correo/dr for street fest favorites on “Mambo Bounce” and “My Little Suede Shoes.” Undeservedly overlooked.