Smoke Session

A Blowin' Session is one of the greatest hard bop jam sessions ever recorded; it is filled with infectious passion and camaraderie. It's also the only time tenor saxophonists Johnny Griffin and John Coltrane would play together on record. Initially Coltrane wasn't scheduled to be on this date, but Griffin saw him on his way to Rudy Van Gelder's studio and asked him to join the remaining musicians, third tenor Hank Mobley, trumpeter Lee Morgan, pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Art Blakey. These musicians were all associates within the same East Coast hard bop scene of the time; they came from the Jazz Messengers and Miles Davis' quintet, and many had played with Dizzy Gillespie's big band…

Three albums and out, Patto (named after vocalist Mike Patto) were highly regarded on the British rock scene in the '70s. The key point of the band was probably the superb guitar work of the eminently flexible Ollie Halsall, a performer whose session work was highly prized, even though the guitarist seemed hesitant to step into the spotlight. Patto performed a stately mix of jazz-rock with a little bit of blues. Following the breakup of the band, Halsall moved on to play with Tempest while Patto joined Spooky Tooth for Mirror. Patto and Halsall came back together in Boxer in 1975, though Halsall remained for only a single album, with Patto remaining the sole founding member by the following album. Patto died in 1979 of throat cancer.

Heres the third album from this incredibly talented ska/reggae/soul band. Somehow they got a lot better since their 2006 album. Its a great record to put on for a smoke session. Pick it up for 15 songs in a sweet digipack.