Lee Morgan: Lee-Way (Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series) [BLUE NOTE]

Why you'll love it

Kevin Gray mastered this all-analog 180g reissue from the original tapes. Four long tracks give a stellar quintet room to stretch, including Morgan's tribute to Blue Note founders Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff, "The Lion And The Wolff."

This edition

• Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series
• 180g vinyl
• All-analog mastering by Kevin Gray
• Pressed in Germany
• Stereo mix

About the album

Lee Morgan was all of 21 when he cut Lee-Way, and already a regular in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, which explains who he called for the drum chair. With the boss behind the kit and two Messengers colleagues in the rhythm section, the session has the easy, locked-in feel of a working band.

The quintet met at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in Englewood Cliffs on April 28, 1960, with Jackie McLean on alto, Bobby Timmons on piano and Paul Chambers on bass. Cal Massey wrote "These Are Soulful Days" and "Nakatini Suite," McLean brought "Midtown Blues," and the playing is what AllMusic's Scott Yanow calls hard bop with a strong dose of soul. Morgan's tone is bright and cocky, McLean answers with a tart edge, and Timmons keeps the gospel feel simmering underneath.

Morgan, Chambers and Timmons all appear by courtesy of other labels, Vee-Jay and Riverside, so this was a session that took some paperwork. Worth every form, in our view.

Also at Kops: more Lee Morgan on vinyl · browse Classic Jazz

Tracklist

Listen

On Blue Note (cat# 7806987), a reissue of the 1961 album.