Howard McGhee Quintet - The Return Of Howard McGhee (1956/2014) [Hi-Res]

"Another beauty produced by Creed Taylor..."
-JazzWax

"...made a name for himself in jazz as a bravura soloist...McGhee had the big, brassy tone and expansive melodic imagination of the great swing-era trumpeters."
-New York Times

Bebop pioneer Howard McGhee was in and out of prison on drug charges for a good part of the 1950s, so there isn't much on record representing that decade. In fact he hadn't been near the studio in two years prior to this 1955 release, hence the title. He was anything but rusty, though: McGhee sounds re-energized here, possibly due to the inspiring presence of session musicians like Sahib Shihab on baritone and alto sax and Duke Jordan on piano.

"...if McGhee had been clean and on the scene the entire decade, he might have been as innovative and as well known as Miles Davis."
-JazzWax