The first two albums, New Vibe Man and Who Is…? last appeared on CD back in 2014 on the él/Cherry Red Records album compilation Gary Burton/Conception, the label subsequently putting out Gary Burton Quartet In Concert in 2016.

So, after a respectful pause, BGO’s compilation arrives, revealing the former child prodigy’s emergence as a virtuoso performer who would successfully bridge the divide between jazz and rock at least three years before Miles Davis. New Vibe Man… is a trio album comprising standards, a jazz standard and originals (none by Burton) with just bass and drums. Vibes are thus up front and centre stage, but Burton’s nerveless confidence, invention and command of his instrument is, even today, remarkable for an 18-year-old. From Clifford Brown’s ‘Joy Spring’ to an assured ballad performance of ‘Over the Rainbow,’ it’s an impressive debut.

Who Is…? is with a sextet comprising some of New York’s finest and he sounds at home. He includes a Mike Gibbs original, ‘Fly Time Fly (Sigh),’ marking the first of his consistent support for his friend and composer during the 1960s and early 70s. The album cover includes the blurb, “He has to be heard to be believed”, which was indeed true. His quartet with Larry Coryell, Steve Swallow and Bob Moses was a game-changer.

By 1968, Burton was already well into his jazz-rock experimentation era, and this concert, recorded at the Carnegie Recital Hall, gives a good overview of Burton’s music in the context of the changing times, with Bob Dylan’s ‘I Want You’ (from Blonde on Blonde), originals that had previously appeared on The Time Machine and Lofty Fake Anagram. It may be of its time, but it still sounds fresh, with not just rock influences but also taking in the avant garde on ‘One Two, 1-2-3-4’, Country Music overtones on ‘Walter L’ and the Dylan original suggested an artist absorbing influences from a wide range of sources.