AFTER HOURS AT MINTON'S

In the 1940's a young man named Jerry Newman was one of a handful of jazzheads who lugged early disc recorders around New York to capture the changing scene. This happened to be an era of radical evolution, with the fomenting of Bebop. This evolution is somewhat minimally documented, thanks to a pair of strikes by musicians' unions.The present album features the great trumpeter Hot Lips Page in portions of several jam sessions--musicians playing to entertain each other and exchange ideas, in after hours joints. The names of many of these players is lost to time, but most feature trumpeter Joe Guy, and one tune from 1941 (Topsy), includes the earliest known recording of piano legend Thelonious Monk. Several other significant players known to be on these tunes include guitarist Tiny Grimes (who played with Charlie Parker).Audio quality is what one would expect from a sixty-year-old bootleg, some distortion, needle noise, and lack of treble. Still, this stuff is precious. Nine tracks, 54 minutes.

These are high quality live recording and sound great