Lee Morgan - Leeway (Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series 180g LP)

Lee Morgan - Leeway | Vinyl LP - Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series, all-analog 180g reissue (Kevin Gray mastering)

Lee Morgan was barely into his twenties when he cut Leeway in the spring of 1960, already a star of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and one of the most exciting trumpeters in jazz. This is a blowing session in the best sense, four long tracks that give everyone room to stretch out. Morgan brought in his Messengers bandleader Blakey on drums, the alto saxophonist Jackie McLean, the soulful, gospel-steeped pianist Bobby Timmons and Paul Chambers on bass. Two of the tunes come from the composer Cal Massey, a bluesy "These Are Soulful Days" and the "Nakatini Suite", McLean contributes "Midtown Blues", and Morgan's own "The Lion And The Wolff" is a nod to Blue Note's founders, Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff. It is hard bop with the handbrake off, Blakey pushing hard from behind while Morgan and McLean trade long, bluesy solos.

Morgan would go on to cut some of the best-loved records of the era, above all the hit "The Sidewinder", before he was shot and killed at a New York club in 1972, only thirty-three. Leeway comes from earlier and looser days, when he was simply one of the hottest young players in the music.

This is the Blue Note Classic Vinyl edition, the label's all-analog reissue line, mastered by Kevin Gray straight from the original tapes and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal.