In 1967–1968 it was not Miles Davis that jazz audiences were flocking to see, but tenor saxophonist Charles Lloyd whose group bloomed brightly and then abruptly disappeared. Shrewdly managed by George Avakian, Lloyd made three albums for Columbia (although Nirvana was not released until 1968) before gathering around him some of the most talented young musicians of their generation in Jarrett, McLure and DeJohnette and signing with Atlantic. These eight Lloyd titles bring us the first conscientious reissue programme ever of this legendary quartet's work for Atlantic. Here is the group's entire album output for the label remastered with impeccable high-bit resolution for the Japanese market where they retail at 1,000 Yen (the equivalent of about £6.50). The original cover art, what was once the original back and front of the original 12-inch LPs, is retained with good colour saturation, albeit the additional brief liner notes are in Japanese. No matter, it's the sound that carries the day here which is about as good as you're likely to get from the source tapes. Although the band acquitted itself well on Dream Weaver it was not the sort of album to create a breakthrough with American audiences, especially among the opinion forming east coast critics ever suspicious of what a west coast based band could offer. That breakthrough came with Forest Flower, recorded live at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1966. This is a supercharged performance that received four and a half stars on release from Downbeat and prompted a big feature for Lloyd in the influential Harpers magazine. Lloyd's playing, with a hypnotic, floating feel that owes more to Lester Young than John Coltrane is far better than the critics of the time would have us believe while Jarrett's playing, especially on the two-part title track and ‘East of the Sun’ has the poise, maturity and invention of a young master, so this album effectively sets the bar extremely high for the subsequent six discs. That all come close (except Soundtrack, the group's last album recorded live at New York's Town Hall on 15 November, 1968 as the band was pulling itself apart) speak of remarkable consistency. In Europe – recorded live in Oslo on 29 October 1966 as are four of the five tracks from The Flowering, which was not issued until 1971 – plus Journey Within (1967) and the mega-rare In the Soviet Union (1967) are all especially rewarding. Love-In has definite period charm, recorded live at The Fillmore, the legendary rock venue, in January 1967 where the real socio-musical significance of the quartet emerges. Donning kaftans and adding a couple of slightly esoteric numbers (such as ‘Temple Bells’) to their repertoire, Lloyd was in tune with the times, his music crossing-over into the affections of rock audiences without compromising the integrity of his music with Billboard dubbing them “the first psychedelic jazz group.” Playing sets alongside the Grateful Dead (Lloyd was a favourite among the Deadheads), Jimi Hendrix, Ravi Shankar, and Otis Redding they opened a new door for jazz musicians since the jazz scene was struggling for existence, with jazz clubs closing their doors and reopening as things called Discotheques. Bob Dylan and Robbie Robertson were friends of Lloyd and they played a song called ‘Memphis Blues Again’, prompting Lloyd to come up with ‘Memphis Dues Again’ that climaxes Love-In. Even in CD packaging, the impact of the Love-In cover is retained, with its psychedelic cover in variations of shocking pink with a huge heart framing a picture of the band playing against a psychedelic light show, appealing to the love-and-peace generation who warmly received this music. As Lloyd's booking agent said at time: “Who else in jazz is there? Either you get someone old enough to be their father or a bunch of angry guys pouring frustration, protest and hate messages out their horns. It's not the message these kids want to hear.”