John Coltrane - Blue Train

The tenor sax giant had signed with another label when he embarked on this one-off date for Blue Note, an excursion that paid off with an enduring modern jazz masterpiece. Boasting volley after volley of smart soloing and intuitively swinging rhythm work, Blue Train is a joy, from the coolly precise ensemble entry on the opening title piece through the set's balance of elegant hard bop conversations and smooth downshifts into ballads. John Coltrane wrote four originals for the date, all of them now regarded as standards, and assembled a rhythm section including pianist Kenny Drew, Miles Davis's rhythm section of bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Philly Joe Jones, and trumpeter Lee Morgan and trombonist Curtis Fuller, both recent Blue Note recruits. Coltrane's signature sound, now fully developed but still hewing more to familiar blues and chromatic harmonies than his later modalities, is confident and expansive, and his partners respond vividly throughout. --Sam Sutherland

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Hank Mobley - Workout

Review by Scott Yanow

This is one of the best-known Hank Mobley recordings, and for good reason. Although none of his four originals ("Workout," "Uh Huh," "Smokin'," "Greasin' Easy") caught on, the fine saxophonist is in top form. He jams on the four tunes, plus "The Best Things in Life Are Free," with an all-star quintet of young modernists -- guitarist Grant Green, pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Philly Joe Jones -- and shows that he was a much stronger player than his then-current boss Miles Davis seemed to think. This recommended CD reissue adds a version of "Three Coins in the Fountain" from the same date, originally released on Another Workout, to the original LP program.

Sonny Clark - Cool Struttin'

1957 was a busy year for the pianist Sonny Clark. Aside from Cool Struttin', he also released six other LPs on Blue Note. His astounding output, however, was cut short due to his premature death in 1963. The highlight of Clark's prolific period must be Cool Struttin', a session featuring a virtual who's who of Blue Note's then-rising young crop of hard-bop stars. The recording opens with the aptly named title cut, as Clark's jaunty, forward-leaning piano drives the tune with crisp precision. The rest of the disc (this edition contains the Rodgers and Hart tune "Lover," which did not appear on the original release) is a sterling example of late-50s, finger-poppin' bop with the likes of trumpeter Art Farmer, saxophonist Jackie McClean, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Philly Joe Jones stretching out and digging in. --S. Duda

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Philly Joe Jones - Showcase

This is a particularly interesting hard bop-oriented set led by drummer Philly Joe Jones. Most unusual is "Gwen," a Jones ballad that has the leader on both piano and (via overdubbing) drums in a trio with bassist Jimmy Garrison. Otherwise, trumpeter Blue Mitchell, trombonist Julian Priester, tenor saxophonist Bill Barron, either Dolo Coker or Sonny Clark on piano, Garrison, and Jones form a sextet that performs modern tunes by Barron, Priester, and Jones, in addition to "I'll Never Be the Same" and Philly Joe's feature on "Gone" (based on the Miles Davis/Gil Evans interpretation of "Porgy and Bess").

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