A leaderless sextet jams on four of pianist Mal Waldron's originals. The performances range from eight to 12 minutes apiece. The all-star lineup - trumpeter Thad Jones, Frank Wess on tenor and flute, guitarist Kenny Burrell, Waldron, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Art Taylor - is in fine form on the straight-ahead material. Bop fans will want to pick this up.

Back in the late 1960s, Solid State put out four LPs in their series Jazz for a Sunday Afternoon. The five titles with Dizzy Gillespie have been more recently reissued on a two-CD Blue Note set titled Live at the Village Vanguard. Laserlight improves upon the packaging by including two additional titles (from Vol. 3) on their first two CDs; unfortunately, the two lengthy songs ("Satin Doll" and "Straight No Chaser") from a Harry "Sweets" Edison date that comprised Vol. 4 remain out of print. The first disc of this three-CD set has a very interesting, if sometimes erratic date matching Gillespie with violinist Ray Nance (sometimes replaced by trombonist Garnett Brown), baritonist Pepper Adams, pianist Chick Corea, bassist Richard Davis, and either Mel Lewis or Elvin Jones on drums. Nance's violin playing is adventurous and eccentric, and there are some loose moments, but Dizzy holds the music together and Pepper Adams is in top form.

Though still a member of the Count Basie band, Thad Jones began to make his mark as a forward-thinking bop trumpeter and writer with recordings such as these from 1956 and 1957. Like its companion release, The Jones Boys, the performances are from a gathering of the leader's namesakes and members of the Basie band. The Detroit connection is also represented by pianist Tommy Flanagan and bassist Doug Watkins, along with Thad and his brother Elvin (on drums for four tracks). The music is cool, swinging bop that has affinities with the transitional sounds of Jones' contemporaries Miles Davis and Clifford Brown. The Basie influence is evident in the insistent, economic pulse of the rhythm section. The young leader's tart, inviting sound finds good company in the energetic, swinging, imaginative work of saxophonists Frank Foster and Frank Wess (who switches to flute for a track)…

In 1956, trumpeter Thad Jones was making his way forward as a leader and apart from his important role with the Count Basie Orchestra, having recorded for the Charles Mingus owned "Debut" and Period labels. But this release for Blue Note most firmly established him as one of the premier musicians and composers in modern jazz; it's titled "Magnificent" for many great reasons. There are several precedents set here; the initial foray out of Detroit for the young pianist and fellow Michiganian Barry Harris, the identifying of a personalized small group, as well as individual sound of Jones, and his ability to easily bring great jazz icons together as a team. With Detroit's Billy Mitchell on tenor sax, Percy Heath's bass, and stellar drummer Max Roach, this quintet makes truly great jazz music together…

For his first session as a leader for Blue Note, trumpeter Thad Jones ran through five songs with a small group which also included fellow Detroiters pianist Tommy Flanagan and guitarist Kenny Burrell as well as part-time Detroiter tenor saxophonist Billy Mitchell. Jones' time with Debut certainly broke him in, and he is thoroughly professional on this record. Compared to its predecessor, The Fabulous Thad Jones, and its successor, The Magnificent Thad Jones, Detroit-New York Junction pales slightly, but it's nevertheless an excellent set of driving hard bop.