The death in January of Canadian pianist Paul Bley, at the age of 83, marked the passing of yet one more genuine free jazz originator – a pioneer who not only worked with the quintessential avant-garde quartet of Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry, Charlie Haden and Billy Higgins as early as 1958 but also, in the early 1960s, was part of Jimmy Guiffre’s groundbreaking trio before going on to champion the early use of synthesizers in jazz. This 1966 album stands as a fine epitaph, containing assured readings of two of the compositions he is best known for – the nonchalant ‘Mr Joy’ and the rapidly prancing ‘Kid Dynamite’, both written by his second wife, Annette Peacock. While these are both powerfully melodic statements, lesser-known pieces such as ‘Blood’ reveal just how radical Bley could be, with a fiercely churning free-fall rhythm section providing the energy needed to power Bley’s quicksilver intelligence and probing phrases.

Vinyl sold for £82 at ebay.com in January 2016