I’ve been grooving to Rashaan Roland Kirk’s 1961 recording We Free Kings, which I nabbed from the local public library. I’d heard of Kirk for a long time, but I’d never heard any of his stuff. He’s a good player on every sort of sax and also on the flute. We Free Kings is a fun record, with lots of blues and soul influences along with the Bebop and Hard Bop you’d expect from the time period. If you never liked jazz, this disc might do it for you.
Another library find: Pianist Oscar Peterson’s 1999 reissue disc Oscar Peterson Plays the Duke Ellington Songbook combines two earlier (1953 and 1959) releases of Ellington standards. The tracks from the earlier recording, with Barney Kessel (or here) on guitar, are particularly worthy of attention. Peterson and bassist Ray Brown swing hard. Peterson plays with precision and obvious–but not ostentatious–mastery