This fine and devotedly-crafted double album is a vehicle for much thrilling jazzmaking by a superb cast, but it has a rich stream of backstories running through it too.Songs From My Father is New York drummer Gerry Gibbs' personal tribute to his 96 year-old father and bop-vibes legend Terry, involving 10 months work and 15,000 miles of driving and pandemic-restricted meetings for Gibbs Jnr to involve four star-packed versions of his nine year-old Thrasher Dream Trio across the US. The project, which also sadly turned out to include Chick Corea's last recordings, features 18 tracks composed by Terry Gibbs between 1949 and 1985, but both the improvisations and the arrangements here have a timelessly vivid eloquence. Gerry Gibbs' original 2012 Thrasher pianist Kenny Barron joins Buster Williams on bass for four tunes including 1964's 'Kick Those Feet' and 1949's boppishly springy 'T & S'. The funky 1968 blues 'Smoke 'Em Up' grooves on a rugged piano/Hammond dialogue between Patrice Rushen and Larry Goldings, a vivacious Corea spins balletically with bassist Ron Carter through the jaunty 'Bopstacle Course' and his own Latin-jazz Terry Gibbs tribute, 'Tango for Terry', while 1955's 'Gibberish' draws blisteringly virtuosic uptempo solos from Geoff Keezer and Christian McBride. A spectacular standout is Gerry Gibbs' 'Hey Chick', an ingenious Corea-homage adaptation of his father's 'Hey Jim' splicing not only solos from the members of all four trios but a nimble, gleaming and seamlessly embedded Terry Gibbs vibes break from the maestro's 1961 recording of the original.

Songs From My Father is not only an awesome 97th birthday present, but an astonishing technical and musical feat likely to win some deserved prizes at the year's end.