Howard McGhee (1918-1987) tends to be overlooked these days when the top bop trumpeters are talked about and that's a matter for regret, in these quarters anyway. Always ambitious, he navigated his way through the ranks of the territory big bands, culminating in fruitful periods with Andy Kirk and Charlie Barnet's orchestra in the 1940s, before joining Coleman Hawkins' quintet and heading for Los Angeles in January 1945. Once there, he stayed when Hawk moved on, forming a band of his own, its bebop stance marking it out as the pioneer West Coast modernist group, this ahead of the much-vaunted arrival of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie that December. All of this and more is documented in Kirk Silsbee's exemplary liner essay, its accompanying illustrations worth the price of admission alone. Central to this valuable reissue (just another in Uptown's impressive list) is a newly discovered Lamplighter broadcast (complete with period announcements) from the Streets of Paris club by McGhee and company presented in its entirety, hence the presence of the sugar-coated Four Blazes and earthy house-singer Monette Moore. McGhee opens with ‘A Night in Tunisia’, with Porter dropping bombs, the trumpeter's fearless, swing-to-bop attack foremost and Biddle's asymmetric comping a feature. Moore's eccentric version of ‘Rockin' Chair’ follows, the band noodling behind before the Blazes take over. ‘Howard's Blues’ with its boogie base, swings hard, the riffs piling in, McGhee muted, the excitement building, Edwards playing clarinet, a rarity in itself, King's Hawk-like bluesy chorus heralding his R&B credentials, before Biddle romps in. Moore evokes Nellie Lutcher on ‘Nagasaki’, McGhee authentically boppish before he completes the broadcast with a searing reading of ‘The Man I Love’. Thereafter, Uptown collect three further McGhee sessions, those from Philo and Melodisc displaying a settled unit, truly together, ‘Mop Mop’ allowing McGhee to feature his Navarro-like command, the twin tenors of Edwards and King jousting agreeably. Space prevents little more than a cursory commentary on these sessions but rest assured McGhee's band was quite something, his power and control further demonstrated on the final three pieces, taken from a Jubilee transcription, with young Criss and Hawes on hand. Feisty, compulsive music; brilliant McGhee. Get it now.