For those not in the know, the Hopbine was a 1930s boozer in North Wembley where tenorist Tommy Whittle hosted weekly jazz sessions by the great and the good of British modern jazz for a decade or so. The building is still there, only it's a Tesco Express now. Although I was a regular attender in the 1960s, usually reporting for Melody Maker, I wasn't there the night this roaring jam session was taped and, now I've heard it, I wish I had been. As veteran vibist Terry Gibbs recently said: “With a jam session, you never know what you're going to get.” All too true, but what we get here is a corker. Apparently the Hopbine sound man made tapes, then decided to destroy them but miraculously this one resurfaced. All this and more, much more, is detailed in Simon Spillett's copious notes. He also sketches the career pathways for each man, all bar Mathewson, now gone. Price was a former Ted Heath sideman who gained some pop fame but turns out to have been a rumbustious tenor-man somewhat in the Dexter Gordon mode, while Warleigh and Pyne were both beginning to make their mark on the local scene. The least known player is drummer Green, who sets a cracking pace on the opening ‘Billie's Bounce’, each man settling in for long solos of genuine worth. This is the kind of exuberant, dashing playing that makes a seemingly ad hoc combination like this one turn into something really quite splendid. ‘All The Things You Are’ opens with a lengthy statement from Pyne, already something of a free-thinker with a very supple technique, capable of being ranked alongside the likes of Frank Rosolino or Bill Watrous. Warleigh follows, slightly bittersweet in tone, the ideas rushing forth, over Burch's Silver-like, propulsive comping. ‘Alexander's Ragtime Band’ may seem an odd choice but again they tackle it with relish, as they do ‘Groovin’ High’. Turbulent, exultant music: quite a find.