No one, however, can duplicate Russell’snendearingly off-center conception.nHis own exposition of “I’d Climb thenHighest Mountain” in Over the Rainbown(Xanadu 192) is a prime example ofnRussell at his unclassifiable best. Thenodd biplay between Russell and drummernGeorge Wettling in this 1958 datenmakes the album worthwhile. Russellnand seminal tenor-saxophone stylistnColeman Hawkins played together inn1929 in a legendary recording of “If InCould Be With You One Hour Tonight”nby the Mound City Blue Blowers. Inn1961 they did another version that includedndrummer Jo Jones, trumpeternEmmett Berry, bassist Milt Hinton, pianistnNat Pierce, and valve trombonist BobnBrookmeyer. Reissued 3S Jazz Reunionn(Jazzman 5042), the date is timeless.nBoth Russell and Hawkins played withngreat power.nDutch Treat (Xanadu 198) is a collectionnof Hawkins recordings madenfrom 1936 to 1938, when he was takingnEurope by storm. Except for the Americannpianist Freddy Johnson, Hawkins’sncompanions in these rare items arenbarely adequate. But his own playing hasnheat, headlong motion, and a compellingnmajesty that send him soaring over allnobstacles. This album is essential to anynserious Hawkins collection.nOkehjazz (Columbia EG 37315) isnnot the best possible sampling of thatnlamented label’s jazz output, and it isnoverweighted with Amett Cobb’s tenornsaxophone exercises. Nonetheless it isngood to have Cobb’s 1950 “SmoothnSailin'” available again, and a surprise tonbe reminded that Johnny Grifiin oncenplayed baritone sax in Cobb’s band.nGrifiin, on his customary tenor sax, isnfeatured as leader in four small-bandnpieces from 1954; his full-bodied soundnand aggressive style were fiilly formed atnage 26. Pianist Ahmad Jamal’s advancednharmonies and subtle uses of silencenmake his debut 1951 recordings remarkablynundated. Mary Ann McCall’s singingnholds up well in four 1947 selectionsnfeaturing an all-star band arranged byn46inChronicles of CulturenRalph Bums. Organist Wild Bill Davis isnpure concentrated energy with his trio,nparticularly in his celebrated arrangementnof “April in Paris,” which was laternexpanded by Count Basic’s band andnmade an enormous hit.n1952 saw Basle’s fiiU reentry into thenbig-band business after a two-year retrenchment.nParadise Squat (Verve VEn2-2542) contains 29 pieces recordednthat year. This band was preparation fornthe Basle juggernaut of the mid-50’s. Butnthe music is not mere preamble. Thenpeerless rhythm section and the famousnBasic riffe continue the old Kansas Cityntradition. Basie Reunion (PrestigenP-24109) is a reissue of 1957 and ’58nsessions with eight veterans of variousneditions of the band, plus the ubiquitousnNat Pierce, long an effective Basie surrogatenin projects of this kind. The aU-timenchampionship Basie rhythm section ofnguitarist Freddie Greene, drummer JonJones, and bassist Walter Page is on thenfirst disc. Eddie Jones, Basic’s bedrocknbassist of the 50’s, is on the second. Thenswing is frresistible.nThe Cool RageXVerve VE 2-2544)npresents the passionate tenor saxophonenof Illinois Jacquet in several early-1950’snsettings. The collection includes his collaborationsnwith Count Basie, of whosenoccasional Fats Waller-like organ worknthese are among the best examples.nSeven Come Eleven (Columbia FCnnn38265) is tided after Benny Goodman’snfamous riff tune coauthored in the earlyn1940’s with guitarist Charlie Christian.nIn these 1975 recordings the guitar worknis by George Benson, a musical descendantnof Christian. Benson, of course, wasna remarkable jazz soloist long before henhit the pop charts as a singer. Goodmannis excellent in all settings on the album.nWith the group that includes Benson, henis inspfrM.nThelonious Monk—Live at The JazznWorkshop (Columbia C2-38269) is annhour-and-a-quarter of the pianist and hisnfinest quartet in previously unissuedn1964 performances taped at the SannFrancisco Club, which has long sincendisappeared. Monk, do^edly publicizednby the popular press as wefrd and farnout, embodied the jazz tradition and expressednit uncompromisingly with witnand a stunning musicianship that wasnunconcerned with convention. The truenvalue of his music is only now, morenthan a year after his death, beginning tonbe appreciated beyond the jazz community.nThese pieces, typical of his music innthe mid-60’s, are beautiful, deep, surprising.nThe 1965 version of the MilesnDavis Quintet’s Live at The PluggednNickel (Columbia C2-38266), previouslynavailable only on Japan’s CBS/Sony label,ncaught the trumpeter’s band on a nightnwhen he was playing with raw emotion.nThe heat of Davis’s mood was caught byntenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter, whonresponded by taking outrageous chancesnand creating solos that rose like greatnjagged mountains from the noisy Chicagonclub surroundings.nQuite apart from the jazz tradition,nyet inescapably related to it, singerguitarist-harmonicist-kazooistnJessenFuller’s San Francisco Bay Blues (GoodnTime Jazz S10051) has been reissued.n”The amazing one man band,” as the latenLester Koenig called Fuller, comes roaringnand prancing out of the past with hisngalvanizing amalgam of folk music andnblues. San Francisco Bay Blues is anninfectious piece of music; making itnavailable again is a public service. Dn