Ken Colyer’s Jazzmen • Live at Manchester Free Trade Hall 1959

One of the best known of the British traditional jazz musicians is the late Ken Colyer (1928-1988), and interest in his recorded output has not lagged in the 32 years since his death. Now we have another previously unreleased recording of a Colyer performance, which should gladden the hearts of the Colyer faithful. Not all of the recordings issued since Colyer’s death have been of premium quality (Colyer himself would probably have nixed many from their being issued), but this one, a concert given in Manchester in 1959, falls outside that pale; as Ray Foxley says in his album notes: “It contains some of the best Colyer I have heard for many a year ….” So there is much cause for rejoicing—a new issue and one of some merit. And the cherry on the top is that the personnel on this disc comprise what is often referred to as the “Colyer classic band.” None of the tunes on the play list will be strangers to Colyer fans, but as is always the case, the treatment each gets is unique to that performance, making for a memorable listening experience. The interplay between the horns when a band is engaged in collective improvisation is one which affords the devotee of the New Orleans Revival style immense satisfaction, and such is the case here where most of the tracks feature polyphonic interaction. The pattern is immediately established in the first track, “Sweet Fields,” as