If hard bop and beyond is your thing, keep an eye out for Woody Shaw: Live Volume Two (High Note 7089; 58:46). The first half of this 1977 date features Woody Shaw’s quintet with trombonist Steve Turre, pianist Larry Willis, bassist Stafford James and drummer Victor Lewis working out on “Rahsaan’s Run” and “What Is This Thing Called Love?” Both uptempo burners find Shaw and Turre spinning long lines and exchanging phrases with energy and articulation. The last two numbers are extended pieces with the same rhythm section and saxophonist Carter Jefferson replacing Turre. The late Jefferson is one of the great, if underrecognized, tenor-saxophone heroes, and his blistering solo on “Isabel the Liberator” is a stunning example of an in-and-out-of-tempo, post-Coltrane wail.
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