Previously, a double-LP was released of the Clifford Brown/Max Roach Quintet live from Chicago's Bee Hive, dating from late 1955. It was historically important because it had Sonny Rollins sitting in with the band for the first time, a short time before he succeeded Harold Land as the quintet's tenor saxophonist; unfortunately it was erratically recorded. However that has nothing to do with this two-CD set, much of which was recorded June 30, 1955. The recording quality is better than expected, trumpeter Clifford Brown is in brilliant form, tenorman Harold Land is at the top of his game, and there are many fine spots for pianist Richie Powell. All of that music was previously unreleased and it includes a nearly 22-minute version of "After You've Gone" (which was not otherwise recorded by the group) and a 15-minute "Blues" among its highlights. In addition, the final five selections on this two-fer are from a live set in New York from February 1956. That set, which has Sonny Rollins on tenor, was previously released, but just on an Elektra/Musician LP in the '80s. Once again the recording quality is decent and Brownie sounds wonderful. Clifford Brown has a right to feel excited about this significant release. ~ Scott Yanow

Forgotten Streets of St. Petersburg came out in 2005 as a celebration of TriO's 20th anniversary, but the music was actually recorded in late 1998. Tuvan singer Sainkho Namtchylak had collaborated with this horn trio back in the late '80s (their work together and apart is documented on the box set Golden Years of the Soviet New Jazz, Vol. 3). This performance thus marked a reunion of sorts. There is only one recording date given, but the album seems to be pieced together from various performances: acoustics change drastically from one short track to the next, and so do the sound quality and the tape hiss levels. Some pieces, which seem to have been recorded in a church, have terrible sound, despite the obvious quality of the music -- they even begin and end with the distinct sounds of someone manning the tape recorder. Therefore, this album is clearly for the fans. That being said, there is some thrilling music to be heard. With her voice, Sainkho can match any of TriO's many horns. They interact on a deeply moving level, especially when playing dirges like the title track. TriO also get a few jazzier tunes and Sainkho throws in a few solo throat singing pieces that make it definitely worthwhile to overlook the audio shortcomings ("Seven Corners, Wind" is stellar). This is a strange release coming from Leo, a label usually paying a lot of attention to sound quality. With its abrupt (accidental?) tape edits, Forgotten Streets of St. Petersburg sounds more like a collection of archival recordings (or even bootlegs) from the early '80s than something recorded in 1998. ~ Fran‡ois Couture