Duke Jordan established his credentials as pianist during 1947-48 when he was Charlie Parker's pianist. His composing skills did not emerge until the arrival of hard bop in the mid fifties. Flight To Jordan, recorded on August 4, 1960 was his first full album as a leader and features the distinctive frontline of Stanley Turrentine and Dizzy Reece.

There was something special about this Swiss festival: it highlighted amateurs, in this case those who honor jazz in the word’s Latin sense (amator) - they played for the love of the music. On the original LP, the title of the album is printed as "20. Internationales Jubiläums Jazz Festival Zurich" on front cover, "Jazz Festival In Zurich" on spine and "Zurich Jazz Festival 1970" on center labels.

Unlike many other American expatriates living in Europe, tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon always managed to play and record with the top musicians while overseas. This excellent sextet session (with trombonist Slide Hampton, trumpeter Dizzy Reece, pianist Kenny Drew, bassist Niels Pedersen and drummer Art Taylor) finds him exploring three Slide Hampton compositions and a trio of standard ballads. The other soloists are fine but Gordon easily dominates the set, playing his brand of hard-driving bop.

Maybe not exactly the first Dizzy that comes to mind when discussing jazz, this Jamaican-born, British-raised trumpeter overcame whatever burdens that nickname may have wrought to become a highly respected player in the New York scene. He enhanced that rep by recording some truly excellent albums for the Savoy, Blue Note and Prestige labels among others. His robust and passionate playing styles always seemed to inspire other musicians in his company. The contributions of the esteemed trio invited; pianist Walter Bishop, Jr., bassist Doug Watkins and drummer Art Taylor unilaterally match the front man's fire and bold approach to each tune.

Maybe not exactly the first Dizzy that comes to mind when discussing jazz, this Jamaican-born, British-raised trumpeter overcame whatever burdens that nickname may have wrought to become a highly respected player in the New York scene. He enhanced that rep by recording some truly excellent albums for the Savoy, Blue Note and Prestige labels among others. His robust and passionate playing styles always seemed to inspire other musicians in his company. The contributions of the esteemed trio invited; pianist Walter Bishop, Jr., bassist Doug Watkins and drummer Art Taylor unilaterally match the front man's fire and bold approach to each tune.

Star Bright is an album by Jamaican-born jazz trumpeter Dizzy Reece, featuring performances recorded in 1959 shortly after his move to New York City and released on the Blue Note label. So far, it has been released on CD only in Japan…