From the first appearances in 1958 as a teen-aged prodigy with Dizzy Gillespie’s big band until his violent death in a dingy New York club in 1972, Lee Morgan exerted a powerful influence on the progress of jazz trumpet. His course was not a smooth or consistent one; there were high-water marks, like his 1958-61 stint with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and his full-fledged mid-Sixties hit recording of “The Sidewinder” on Blue Note--but there were also low points. The post-Blakey period during which this album was made for Riverside’s Jazzland label was thought of as a low ebb, but repeated listening has made it clear to many critics that there is a great deal of both strength and imagination in these underrated performances.

with Clifford Jordan, Barry Harris, Bob Cranshaw, Louis Hayes