Covering exactly 10 years of Kelly's foreshortened career, this mainly trio reissue underlines the compulsive buoyancy of his playing. Eight 1951 tracks by the 19-year-old were a little premature for, despite much professional experience including with Dinah Washington, he hadn't quite arrived at his distinctive approach – these were first issued as singles, with more titles not heard here only released in the CD era. But by 1958 and the quartet album with Burrell, he was well away and, even with predictable song choices, his strutting style is more or less irresistible. The only invasion of the horn trio is on two long items from Kelly Blue, including the title-track, which, though slightly slower, offers a tantalising comparison with Kind of Blue’s ‘Freddie Freeloader’ (done just 11 days later). Though some listeners may prefer his work behind the blowers, this could well be the definitive reissue for those wanting to study his piano. It's worth pointing out that the final album (Someday My Prince Will Come) was actually a compilation from two sets, many of whose tracks were also reissued with overdubbed strings, but thankfully there's no suggestion of that here.