Woody Shaw Quintet - At Onkel PÖ's Carnegie Hall, Hamburg 1979 (2019)

Hard bop at its best! Here it comes: the next thrilling memory of a musician whom the world of jazz must never forget - despite his early death in 1989 at the age of only 44. After the earlier release of a concert given by the quintet of trumpeter Woody Shaw in 1982 at Onkel Pö's Carnegie Hall in Hamburg, we are now turning back the clock back another three years for this release.

Both concert recordings, the one from 1982 as well as this earlier one - which is at the centre of our attention right now - showcase the trumpeter Shaw at the pinnacle of his musical development; maybe this is even more obvious in this earlier recording. The trumpet is swirling, flickering and it is rousing, delicate and virtuosic - conscious of tradition and modernity.

Personnel: Woody Shaw (trumpet, flugelhorn), Carter Jefferson (soprano and tenor saxophone), Onaje Allan Gumbs (piano), Stafford James (bass), Victor Lewis (drums)

Available as a 2CD jewelcase in a slipcase with a 12-page booklet or as a 2LP set on heavyweight 180g vinyl in a gatefold sleeve.