Craft Recordings’ peerless Original Jazz Classics reissue campaign continues apace with these four exceptional all-analogue vinyl re-releases. Three were cut by the redoubtable Kevin Gray, with the Burrell/Trane LP remastered by his protégé Matthew Lutthans. All sound fantastic, as you’d expect from sessions recorded and/or produced by Orrin Keepnews and Rudy van Gelder, and all are authentically packaged in tip-on sleeves complete with Craft’s snazzy obi strips.

Know What I Mean? is an unusual entry in the Evans and Adderley discographies: backed by the Modern Jazz Quartet’s rhythm section, both players reveal different sides to their playing. Adderley’s blowing on ‘Waltz for Debby’ is characterisitcally muscular but also sensitive, as it is on the other Evans tune here, the modal ballad ‘Know What I Mean?’ Other highlights include a sprightly ‘Toy’ (by Clifford Jordan) and the Gershwin classic “Who Cares?”. Meanwhile, it’s fascinating to hear Evans playing with a soulful sax player and a very different kind of rhythm section. A delight.

By the time he made Caravan, Art Blakey had been leading the Messengers for 15 years. On his first Riverside LP, he’s joined by a heavyweight quintet which included two future megastars in Freddie Hubbard and Wayne Shorter. This version of the Messengers delivers a scintillating, high-energy set, of which compositions by Ellington (the wonderful title track) and striking contributions from Shorter and Hubbard (Wayne’s ‘This Is For Albert’ and ‘‘Sweet ‘n’ Sour’ and Freddie’s brilliant, angular ‘Thermo’). An upbeat treat offering a glimpse of two young, yet already fully-developed, jazz titans at the start of their careers.

The Burrell/Trane LP marks an interesting point in both men’s careers: although they’d played together many times before (as early as 1951, with Dizzy Gillespie), by 1958 they were beginning to drift apart stylistically, with Trane travelling outwards to Giant Steps and the avant-garde, Burrell tight and more conventional, but stunningly eloquent. Nevertheless, they work together beautfully here, with the top-notch rhythm section and Kenny’s nimble fretwork providing the bedrock for Coltrane’s still (at this stage) tentative explorations. Highlight is the gorgeous ‘Why Was I Born?’, which features the two leaders meshing and exchanging musical ideas perfectly.

The aptly-titled Groovy, Garland’s third album as a leader, finds the pianist and his group swinging heartily on a six-strong collection. From the joyous opening take on Duke’s ‘C Jam Blues’ it’s clear this is indeed a truly groovy set; even the two ballads have a delightful light-touch sparkle. The crucial presence here may be that of Paul Chambers, who drives everything along with his bouncing, melodic lines, and who provides a wonderful foil for Red’s piano; his bowed solo on’What Can I Say After I Say I’m Sorry’ is a thing of wonder.