The Complete Recordings 1954-62

Dizzy Reece was that rare beast in the 1950s - a London-based jazz musician who gained an international reputation. The trumpet player counted Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins and Art Blakey among his many American admirers and through the tireless promulgation of A&R man Tony Hall eventually landed a record contract with the prestigious Blue Note label. In 1959, after carving a controversial reputation on the London scene, he abandoned the UK for New York City, the very heart of the modern jazz scene. Featuring the contents of no less than six original LPs, various EP releases and tracks released on multi-artist compilations, this 5-CD set tells the whole story, including every recording Reece made under his own name between 1954 and 1962, on both sides of the Atlantic, together with performances made in collaboration with the great multi-instrumentalist Victor Feldman and as a member of the New Jazz Group. The leader’s distinctive playing and composing – mixing early elements of exotic world music and pure Hard Bop - are complemented by a whole phalanx of modern jazz talent including saxophonists Hank Mobley, Joe Farrell, Tubby Hayes and Ronnie Scott, fellow trumpeter Donald Byrd, pianist Wynton Kelly and the legendary drummers Art Taylor and Phil Seamen. This release also features a comprehensive booklet essay by noted jazz saxophonist and writer Simon Spillett.