Here’s a new arrival which falls into the ”been searching for it forever” category. Recorded in 1961 and released that year. A trio session with the wonderful cast of Jaki, Ron Carter and Roy Haynes. A progressive trio display with musical chameleon Byard showing his sublime ability to incorporate different styles of jazz into his very own concoction when playing the keys. An eclectic player that for me is one the most interesting pianists in jazz and thus one of my favorites.
An interesting thing about this album is that it contains the first ever recorded cover of Coltrane’s ”Giant Steps”. As for favorite tunes I guess I can mention the medley ”Bess You Is My Woman”/”It Ain’t Necessarily So” from Gershwin’s opera ”Porgy And Bess” and the following Byard original ”To My Wife”. Another great one is ”Garnerin’ A Bit”, a tribute to Erroll Garner.