The title Complete Recordings refers to the particular Messengers line-up that, for a mere six months, had Mobley, Silver and Watkins joined by Byrd, the replacement for Kenny Dorham who had contributed to the live Café Bohemia recordings just a few days before the first session here. That was in fact done under the new trumpeter's name (Byrd's Eye View, with fellow trumpeter Joe Gordon spicing up half of the material) and was previously on his Blue Note reissue, The Transition Sessions. Blakey's Columbia album, The Jazz Messengers comprising the first seven tracks here, has the most essential contents. No fewer than four items have latin-based themes, including the key Silver compositions ‘Ecaroh’ and the original 12-minute version of ‘Nica's Dream’, and they are somewhat superior to the five contemporary tracks included (that remained unissued until the 1980s). The closing curio is half an LP by Dutch singer Reys (see p51), with short solos documenting the break-up of the classic drums-piano partnership because her second session saw Silver, Watkins and Mobley leave Blakey to form the first Silver quintet. Their classic contributions naturally make this reissue worthwhile, along with the dynamism (and the dynamics) of Blakey.