Along with the Dial label, Savoy was the small independent that best documented the first flowering of bebop – Charlie Parker famously recorded for both, but there was a lot more going on. Mosaic previously did a Dial box including its Parker repertoire (reviewed in Jazzwise 198) but Savoy, starting earlier and being more prolific, easily fills 10 CDs without finding room for Bird, that material being easily available elsewhere. So many musicians are involved that, with only the group leaders listed above, you also get glimpses of dozens of others including Dizzy, Bud, Max, Art and Roy Haynes, even the young Sonny Rollins. The inventiveness of some now forgotten, such as Allen Eager or Brew Moore, stands out but also the mastery of Fats Navarro, and it's fascinating to hear the youthful work of Dexter Gordon or, initially sounding much like Dexter, Stan Getz. All the boppish tunes are based on old standard songs and, though Savoy was also active with early R&B, you only get faint hints of that particular crossover from Lockjaw Davis and Leo Parker. Many sessions come complete with alternate takes and, because of previous exhaustive reissue programmes, particularly through Arista (in the 1970s) and Denon (1990s), there is no actual new material – perhaps a first for Mosaic. But there's a mine of information, and enjoyment.