Larry Young's third and final Prestige recording (reissued in the OJC series on CD) concludes his early period; he would next record as a leader two and a half years later on Blue Note, by which time his style would be much more original. For his 1962 outing, Young is joined by the obscure tenor Bill Leslie, guitarist Thornel Schwartz and drummer Jimmie Smith for some original blues and two standards ("I Found a New Baby" and "Sweet Lorraine"). Nothing all that substantial occurs, but fans of Jimmy Smith will enjoy the similar style that Larry Young had at the time.
Larry Young, one of the most significant jazz organists to emerge after the rise of Jimmy Smith, is heard on this limited-edition six-CD set at the peak of his creativity. Formerly available as nine LPs, the set includes the original Larry Young albums Into Somethin', Unity, Of Love and Peace, Contrasts, Heaven on Earth, and Mother Ship, while drawing from the compilations 40 Years of Jazz, The History of Blue Note (Dutch), The World of Jazz Organ (Japanese), and The Blue Note 50th Anniversary Collection Volume Two: The Jazz Message, and also including guitarist Grant Green's Talkin' About, Street of Dreams, and I Want to Hold Your Hand. Young was still very much under Smith's influence on the first four sessions released as Talkin' About, Into Somethin', Street of Dreams, and I Want to Hold Your Hand (all featuring a trio with Green and drummer Elvin Jones plus guests Sam Rivers or Hank Mobley on tenor and vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson).
Much of Larry Coryell's work is as difficult to find as it is to categorize – the man seemed to have spent the late '70s and early '80s making albums for anyone who could come up with a microphone and a tape recorder. That said, it's surprising how high the quality level is on most of these releases. Bolero/Scheherazade is one of the most difficult, as it seems to have been released only in Germany and Japan. The album's obscurity may have something to do with the fact that it is confusingly named; Larry Coryell released an album two years before called Bolero, which has nothing to do with this CD. The "Bolero" on that album was a short, improvised piece composed by Coryell, while the one featured here is a reworking of the classic by Maurice Ravel.