This is the kind of reissue that will delight jazz enthusiasts and discographical anoraks alike. Montgomery's participation in [West] German radio network NDR's ‘Jazz Workshop’ series in spring 1965 is well known to the fans of the guitarist via various bootleg issues, as indeed is the ‘bonus’ Blu-Ray footage documenting a ‘rehearsal’ by the same group.

On this multimedia release, however, NDR have themselves gone back to the original tapes and in turn created what surely has to be the definitive incarnation of this music.

This is Montgomery of the same vintage of the sublime Smokin' at the Half Note, playing at the peak of his inventive powers and seemingly relishing every moment as if already knowing his talent was shortly to be engulfed by a wave of string sections, ‘pop’ covers and A&R-prompted bids for wider commercial success. If that weren't enough, the unusual setting, which juxtaposes the headliner against a sax-heavy line-up which might be dubbed the Anglo-Continental All Stars, gives even the most familiar of material a novel spin. The first half of the audio disc is pretty much Montgomery's show as he weaves magical new spells around such classics as ‘West Coast Blues’, ‘Four and Six’ and his own long-metre recasting of ‘Here's That Rainy Day’. After that the saxes wade in to electrifying effect, Griffin with his mix of blues and bop, Scott leathery-toned and tight-lined, Ross lyrical and incisive by turns. Only Koller sounds a little mannered.

The rhythm section, combining the quirks of Solal and the hyperactive snare commentary of Stephenson, swings like the clappers too.

Those who took part in NDR's Jazz Workshop' programmes often remarked on how a whole week of rehearsals, broadcast and televised appearances enabled them to truly relax into the moment of the music. Unfortunately, the Blu-Ray footage (which has done the rounds on YouTube in the recent past) shows Ronnie Ross a shade too ‘relaxed’, if the reader gets my drift. That said, this is but a small blemish on a release that is as welcome as it is hard swinging. Gorgeous stuff. Go buy!