Morgan, Lee: Lee Way (Blue Note Classic) LP

Lee Morgan hadn’t cut a Blue Note session for more than two years when he entered Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs on April 28, 1960 to record Lee-Way. What was produced that day was vintage hard bop of the highest quality with the trumpeter leading a top-flight quintet featuring Jackie McLean on alto saxophone, Bobby Timmons on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Art Blakey on drums. The 4-song set includes Morgan’s hard driving tribute to Blue Note’s founders “The Lion and the Wolff,” McLean’s emphatic “Midtown Blues,” and two pieces by composer Cal Massey: the easy-swinging “These Are Soulful Days” and rousing “Nakatini Suite.”