Harold Land - The Early Albums (2020)

American hard bop and post-bop tenor saxophonist, Harold Land developed his playing style with the Max Roach/Clifford Brown band into a personal, modern style; often rivalling Clifford Brown's instrumental ability with his own inventive and whimsical solos. His tone was strong and emotional, yet hinted at a certain introspective fragility. Land had an inimitably dark tone within the hard-bop and modal jazz paradigms. Over time this would contrast more and more with the brighter tonalities of John Coltrane-influenced saxophonists, although Land started to implement Coltrane's musical innovations. Land's dire, brooding tenor sound began somewhere between rhythm and blues and Coleman Hawkins, and after the early 1960s owed more and more to Coltrane's harmonies, phrasing and experiments with modalism. This 4CD collection brings together eight of Harold Land's very finest albums, all released between 1954 and 1963 - the period during which this incredible musician, band leader and composer was at his absolute musical peak. Still criminally underrated and little known outside jazz circles, this compilation hopefully goes some way in reversing this trend, as it acts as both a fine introduction for beginners to his music and a perfect reminder of this great musician's sound for the rest of us.