Just eight weeks younger than Mingus, Byard is often viewed in relation to the bassist, although he had a long individual career as a performer and an educator. After early touring in the late 1940s (including with Earl Bostic) he settled back in Boston and, among other things, was the regular tenor soloist in Herb Pomeroy’s band. Only moving to New York in 1959, he was on piano for six albums by the Maynard Ferguson band, at the same time as playing a crucial role on early LPs by Eric Dolphy, Booker Ervin and others.

This solo debut album, like some other early Candids, remained unissued for many years (the label was initially wound up after mere months, though Jaki was soon making trio recordings for Prestige/NewJazz) and it now reappears with a liner note by the late Alan Bates.

Byard’s solo playing is a challenge to describe, since it shows an awareness of bebop and 20th-century European composers, but firmly based on a left-hand that is steeped in early stride piano and leavened with a joyous sense of humour. Were it not for the latter, the approach might seem cluttered – there are moments you’d mistakenly suspect a bit of overdubbing – but, if you don’t boggle at the technique involved, you’re carried along by the delightful energy of the whole thing.

All the material is original and thought-provoking, and even the ballad ‘Aluminum Baby’ (previously recorded with the Pomeroy band) has a deceptively semi-atonal opening chorus. But more typical of his approach is ‘Pete And Thomas (Tribute To The Ticklers)’, which cleverly combines the tribute aspect with considerable invention, while the title track shows a hugely varied approach to blues.

Presumably the two standard songs from this session always listed as unissued can now be assumed to be lost forever, but what’s here is priceless and, apart from his brief feature numbers on Mingus concerts, represents his only unaccompanied recording for nearly a decade.