Watkins At Large, Doug Watkins,  Tuesday, 10 October 2006 200g Classic Records reissue of Transition trp20, a wonderful hard-bop recording, in glorious mono. One of the warmest, clearest LPs I've heard. Not perfect, Hank Mobley's sax sits a bit far back in the mix at times IMHO, but overall, just spectacular sounding. Add Donald Byrd, Kenny Burrell, Art Taylor, Duke Pearson, and you have a great lineup and great music.

Side one starts off with Phil T. McNasty's Blues, a slower, bluesy number. More Of The Same moves uptempo with nice solos from Mobley and Byrd. Panonica ends side one, and is a short, sweet ballad kicked off by Duke Jordan's piano followed by DB soloing. Lovely, lyrical stuff. Watkins and AT join in, followed by a beautiful Jordan riff. Byrd finishes off the tune.

Side two starts with Return To Paradise, a mid-tempo stroll starting off with KB and DB, followed by a Mobley solo. KB turns in a fast but fluid solo, and he finishes up with DB backed by Watkins. Phinupi follows, and goes uptempo, a nice romp led off by Mobley. Watkins drives KB hard during his portion of the song. Great stuff.

Wonderful LP, excellent packaging, superior sound. Can't miss IMHO. Can't compare it to an original, btw, since the LP is pretty rare, but the sound is so good and the pressing so quiet, I don't feel I'm missing a thing. Highly recommended for jazz lovers.