Innovative pianist and organist Milt Buckner originated the "locked hands" technique which lends this album its title. His method of playing has been emulated by his and future generations, from George Shearing to Red Garland to Oscar Peterson and beyond. Locked Hands, the second of the trio albums Buckner recorded for German label MPS, was released in 1968 and showcases the keyboardist playing four pieces on piano and four on organ.

"Joe Pass looks like somebody’s uncle and plays guitar like nobody’s business." So said New York Magazine about the man considered to be one of the greatest jazz guitarists of the 20th century. Pass’s masterful melodic counterpoint and quicksilver improvisational style flow throughout “Intercontinental”. Deftly accompanied by German bass virtuoso Eberhard Weber and English drummer Kenny Clare, the music runs the gamut of genres – a meditative Jobim bossa nova, a lusciously relaxed version of the jazz standard, “Stompin’ at the Savoy”, a blues-drenched rendition of the Bobby Gentry pop classic, “Ode to Belly Joe”, and a display of dynamically controlled guitar pyrotechnics on the exhilarating “I Love You”.

Jamaican-born pianist Monty Alexander is a sophisticated, prolific performer with an urbane, swinging style informed by the bop tradition, as well as the reggae and Caribbean folk he grew up with. He is in top form in this 1974 studio session made for MPS, joined by guitarist Ernest Ranglin, bassist Eberhard Weber, and drummer Kenny Clare.

Not every musician can pull off a program in front of an audience that ranges through a wide variety of jazz styles, but Monty Alexander does so, even within the opener, "On Green Dolphin Street." Starting this familiar standard in a bop mode, he detours into boogie-woogie until guitarist Ernest Ranglin takes over. His lovely improvised introduction to "Emily" gives way to a much slower than typical arrangement, which emphasizes the beauty of Henry Mancini's original conception, though with a few changes incorporated by the leader…

"Joe Pass looks like somebody’s uncle and plays guitar like nobody’s business." So said New York Magazine about the man considered to be one of the greatest jazz guitarists of the 20th century. Pass’s masterful melodic counterpoint and quicksilver improvisational style flow throughout “Intercontinental”. Deftly accompanied by German bass virtuoso Eberhard Weber and English drummer Kenny Clare, the music runs the gamut of genres – a meditative Jobim bossa nova, a lusciously relaxed version of the jazz standard, “Stompin’ at the Savoy”, a blues-drenched rendition of the Bobby Gentry pop classic, “Ode to Belly Joe”, and a display of dynamically controlled guitar pyrotechnics on the exhilarating “I Love You”.

Jamaican guitarist Ernest Ranglin’s work with reggae legends Bob Marley and Jimmy Cliff and long association with internationally acclaimed Jamaican jazz pianist Monty Alexander, ranks Ranglin among the major figures in West Indian music.

Innovative pianist and organist Milt Buckner originated the "locked hands" technique, a method of playing that was emulated by his and future generations, from George Shearing to Red Garland to Oscar Peterson and beyond. More Chords, released in 1969, is the third of the trio albums Buckner recorded for German label MPS and features Buckner with bassist Jimmy Woode, a Duke Ellington alumnus, as well as British drummer Kenny Clare, who played with Aretha Franklin and Tony Bennett.