CURTIS FULLER — Curtis Fuller with Red Garland (1958-1992) RM | MONO | Masters Of Jazz Series – 51 | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Trombonist Curtis Fuller is featured here in a quintet with altoist Sonny Red, pianist Red Garland, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Louis Hayes, performing a pair of originals, two blues, and a couple of ballad features. Garland is outstanding on "Moonlight Becomes You" (one of his finest recordings), while Fuller does a fine job on "Stormy Weather." This set has a feel of a jam session; the blend between the trombone and the alto is particularly appealing. Despite the overly critical liner notes (written in 1962), this is an excellent hard bop-oriented date. Scott Yanow   Tracklist & Credits :

CURTIS FULLER — New Trombone (1957-1996) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This 1957 date matches Fuller with bluesy, fervent alto sax wailer Sonny Red Kyner. They make both a tight ensemble pair and an excellent contrasting frontline, with Kyner's spewing, flailing delivery featured on such cuts as "Blue Lawson" and "Namely You" operating against Fuller's equally intense, but lighter and smoother trombone lines. With Hank Jones operating as the rhythm section's harmonic link on piano, bassist Doug Watkins and drummer Louis Hayes mesh underneath effectively. These undiluted, straight-ahead bop and blues numbers are still par for the course. Ron Wynn
Tracklist :
1 Vonce #5 7:40
2 Transportation Blues 8:18
3 Blue Lawson 6:51
4 Namely You 9:25
5 What Is This Thing Called Love? 6:30
– BONUS TRACKS –
6 Alicia 5:11
Credits :
Alto Saxophone – Sonny Red Kyner
Bass – Doug Watkins
Drums – Louis Hayes
Engineer [Recording] – Rudy Van Gelder
Piano – Hank Jones
Trombone – Curtis Fuller

DONALD BYRD - "Mustang!" (1966-1997) RM / FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Donald Byrd, a talented hard bop trumpeter during his prime (although rarely reaching the technical heights of Lee Morgan and Freddie Hubbard), performs a varied repertoire on Mustang!. "Dixie Lee" has dated rhythms, and "Mustang" was an attempt to achieve a hit on the level of Morgan's "The Sidewinder." However, Byrd sounds fine on those numbers; he digs into the complex chord changes of "Fly Little Bird Fly," is sensitive on "I Got It Bad," swings on his "I'm So Excited by You," and performs his memorable countermelody to "On the Trail," which had been recorded earlier by several other musicians. Teamed with a typically impressive Blue Note crew (altoist Sonny Red, tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley, pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Walter Booker, and drummer Freddie Waits), Byrd performs high-quality straight-ahead jazz that fits the modern mainstream of the era. by Scott Yanow
Tracklist  :
1 Mustang 8:28
Written-By – Sylvester Kyner
2 Fly Little Bird Fly 5:23
Written-By – Donald Byrd
3 I Got It Bad And That Ain't Good 5:51
Written-By – Ellington, Webster 
4 Dixie Lee 6:40
Written-By – Donald Byrd
5 On The Trail 7:41
Written-By – Ferde Grofe
6 I'm So Excited By You 5:38
Written-By – Donald Byrd
7 Gingerbread Boy 8:38
Written-By – Jimmy Heath
8 I'm So Excited By You (First Version) 7:20
Credits :
Alto Saxophone – Sonny Red (tracks: 1 to 6)
Bass – Walter Booker
Drums – Freddie Waits (tracks: 1 to 6), Joe Chambers (tracks: 7, 8)
Engineer [Recording] – Rudy Van Gelder
Piano – McCoy Tyner
Tenor Saxophone – Hank Mobley (tracks: 1 to 6), Jimmy Heath (tracks: 7, 8)
Trumpet – Donald Byrd

DONALD BYRD - Slow Drag (1967-2002) RVG Edition / FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Slow Drag was one of trumpeter Donald Byrd's final hard bop dates. Teamed with altoist Sonny Red, pianist Cedar Walton, bassist Walter Booker and drummer Billy Higgins (who takes a surprise vocal on the title cut), this quintet outing features originals by Byrd, Walton and Red along with the standards "Secret Love" and "My Ideal." The music in general finds Byrd looking both backwards toward the blues and forwards toward modal music and hints of the avant-garde. A fine effort.  by Scott Yanow

Tracklist :

1 Slow Drag 9:47

Donald Byrd

2 Secret Love 3:58  

Sammy Fain / Paul Francis Webster

 3 Booker's Bossa 6:52  

Walter Booker / Cedar Walton

 4 Jelly Roll 5:21  

Sonny Red Kyner

5 The Loner 6:17  

Ronnie Mathews / Cedar Walton

 6 My Ideal 6:21

Newell Chase / Leo Robin / Richard A. Whiting

Credits :

Alto Saxophone – Sonny Red

Bass – Walter Booker

Drums – Billy Higgins

Piano – Cedar Walton

Trumpet – Donald Byrd

Vocals – Billy Higgins (tracks: 1)