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Originally issued on three 10-inch LPs, these albums feature three outstanding but underrated jazz guitarists: Lou Mecca, Bill de Arango and Chuck Wayne.
Crisp, inventive and fleet-fingered, Mecca found his own voice from his main inspiration, Tal Farlow, whom he replaced in the Gil Mellé Quartet. Lous classical guitar sound is complemented in this 1954 Blue Note recording by fine vibist Jack Hitchcock, bassist Vinnie Burke and drummer Jimmy Campbell.
De Arango, among the first of the modern jazz guitarists in 52nd Streets heyday, hadnt recorded for a while when he made his album for EmArcy in 1954. His full sound, great swing and consistently imaginative power were in the Charlie Christian tradition, but, as this date proves, he was also very individual…

In the early 1970s the island of Jamaica, and in particular its reggae musicians, developed a love affair with small Japanese motor bikes. Honda bikes were eulogised in Big Youth’s ‘S90 Skank’ and Dillinger’s ‘CB200’, whilst their rival was lauded on Shorty The President’s ‘Yamaha Skank’, to name the most obvious examples. The plot of the film ‘Rockers’ revolved around how transformative a motorbike could be, providing a livelihood whilst projecting an image of success in the ghetto. Vivian ‘Yabby You’ Jackson had been fiercely independent as a singer and producer, and the success of his early self-pressed productions, mostly on the Prophets or Vivian Jackson labels, had given him a sense of hard earned autonomy.

This 1959 concert in Paris by Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers has been sporadically available on various labels, but this reissue in Verve's Jazz in Paris series is the best sounding and best packaged of the lot. Blakey's group of this period (Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter, Jymie Merritt, and Walter Davis, Jr.) is in great form during an extended workout of Morgan's intense blues "The Midget," and Dizzy Gillespie's timeless "A Night in Tunisia" is kicked off by Blakey's an electrifying solo. But it is the addition of some special guests for the first two numbers that proves to be extra special. Bud Powell, sitting in for Davis, and French saxophonist Barney Wilen, on alto rather than his normal tenor sax, are both added to the band for inspired versions of Powell's "Dance of the Infidels" and "Bouncing with Bud." Morgan's trumpet playing is outstanding throughout the concert. This is one of the essential live dates in Art Blakey's rather extensive discography.