John Handy recorded these two spirited albums for Roulette around the same time as he participated in the sessions for a number of famed Charles Mingus albums that included Blues & Roots, Mingus Ah Um and Mingus Dynasty. To his credit, Dallas-born Handy favoured that edgy tart blues-wailin' tone that distinguished Ornette Coleman and Eric Dolphy from Bird, thus earning him that well deserved tour of duty with The Big Man. The first straightahead jazz musician to play Bill Graham's Fillmore West, Handy was among the vanguard of jazzers to connect with young rock audiences without compromising his values, but it was to be an appearance at the 1965 Monterey Jazz Festival and the album of that shining hour that Handy became an instant hot ticket at around the same time as Charles Lloyd was similarly attracting attention from acid rock audiences. Later, a soul hit recording (‘Hard Work’) further expanded Our Man Handy's international appeal. As good as any other similar hard bop/hard swing albums recorded around this time – especially when joined by vastly underrated firebrand trumpeter Richard Williams – the intensity goes up a few more notches. Meanwhile the quality of Handy's original material (‘Problem Too’, ‘Quote, Unquote’, ‘Dance To The Lady’, ‘No Coast’, etc) further adds to the overall potency of both albums: here comfortably slotted on to a single CD. These two original (vinyl) albums have been out of circulation for far too long and should now be greeted with both open arms and wallets.