One of the best things about Avid’s Four Classic Albums series is the chance to re-evaluate artists who might have been slightly out of focus in terms of their output – recent examples being Jerome Richardson and David ‘Fathead’ Newman. Tenorist Curtis Amy is another, based in Los Angeles and recording principally for Pacific Jazz. This collection splits neatly into two aspects of Amy’s personality: bluesy tenor and organ sessions with Paul Bryant at the Hammond, and more conventional hard bop/soul jazz sessions with a piano trio and a two-or three-piece frontline.

Keeping this slightly out of four-star territory are the organ sessions, which are somewhat samey (even with trombonist Roy Brewster adding a different tone-colour), whereas the original albums Groovin’ Blue (co-led with drummer Frank Butler) and Way Down (with UK expat Victor Feldman on piano) have more variety. The former includes the welcome presence of trumpeter Carmell Jones, who teams neatly with Bobby Hutcherson to push this firmly into the harmonic language you’d expect from a Blue Note session of the period, notably on the opening ‘Gone Into It’. The latter benefits from Marcus Belgrave sharing frontline duties with Brewster, and Roy Ayers on assertive form. Amy’s own composition, ‘Liberia’, stands out, partly for its 6/8 pulse, and partly for some really strong soloing. Monk’s rhythm team of Larry Gales and Ben Riley also add class to this session, making it the highlight of the four original LPs included.