Mosaic Select

 Bobby Hutcherson, one of the greatest vibists in jazz, had been a member of the Blue Note family since 1963 and he was one of the last artists to leave the label before it shut down in 1980. The '70s was a rough decade for pure jazz; funk and fusion had taken over the jazz market. The five albums in this collection, recorded between 1974 and 1977, were among the overlooked victims of that era. Each is a straight-ahead, small-group studio session and each contains a superb cast and excellent, varied compositions.

Cirrus features Bobby's working band of Woody Shaw, Bill Henderson, Ray Drummond and Larry Hancock with the saxophones of Harold Land and Manny Boyd added. It includes the first recording of Shaw's jazz standard Rosewood. Inner Glow, not released until 5 years later and even then only in Japan, features a three-horn front line with Harold Land, Oscar Brashear and Thurman Green.

Waiting, The View From The Inside and Knucklebean, all among Bobby's best work, revolve around his working band of the time: saxophonist Manny Boyd, bassist James Leary and drummer Eddie Marshall. George Cables or Larry Nash complete the group on piano and Freddie Hubbard is added as guest on Knucklebean. This band had developed an extraordinary empathy during its time and the musicians execute the exceptional material, most from Hutcherson and Leary, with ease, invention and enthusiasm. Added to the Waiting album is a tune from the session that was previously only issued on a Dutch compilation in 1979.

These superb albums received shockingly little notice and quickly sank from sight. As a result of their obscurity, they have not been issued on LP or CD until now.