Fats Navarro & Tadd Dameron - Good Bait

A compelling double-LP Blue Note collection from saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist Sam Rivers, bringing together two previously unreleased sessions recorded at Rudy Van Gelder's legendary Englewood Cliffs studio in 1966 and 1967. Released in 1975 as part of The Blue Note Re-Issue Series, Involution sits at the adventurous intersection of post-bop and avant-garde jazz.

The first session features a remarkable sextet with Donald Byrd, James Spaulding, Julian Priester, Cecil McBee and Steve Ellington, performing Rivers compositions including “Precis,” “Paean,” “Effusive Melange,” “Involution,” “Afflatus” and “Helix.” The second features Rivers alongside the Andrew Hill Quartet, with Walter Booker and J.C. Moses, performing Hill compositions including “Violence,” “Pain,” “Illusion,” “Hope,” “Lust” and “Desire.”

Presented in a distinctive gatefold package with extensive liner notes and photography, this is an especially interesting Blue Note release: rather than a conventional reissue, it gave these two 1960s sessions their first commercial release.