Sandwiched between the Silver/Dorham/Mobley line-up and the Morgan/Golson/Timmons triumvirate there was the Messengers' much lesser known Hardman/McLean aggregation. Though they recorded a number of albums for various labels – sometimes with Johnny Griffin either partnering or replacing McLean, come Blakey relaunching his Blue Note affiliation with Moanin' – this line-up was all but forgotten.

The bonus Hard Bop album was recorded a few months prior to Tough! and has often been the most sought-after of the two. Both albums included the group's then big in-person Gershwin medley feature that comprises truncations of ‘Rhapsody In Blue’, ‘Summertime’, ‘Someone To Watch Over Me’ and ‘The Man I Love’. Of the remaining nine selections, McLean's ‘Little Melonae’ and ‘Stanley's Stiff Chickens’ (co-penned with Hardman) are the more familiar, in that they highlighted the altoist's anguished unsweetened hard bop wail, before he moved out of Bird's shadow to develop his very own hard-edged New Thing approach. Though a handy player, Bill Hardman couldn't quite break into that exclusive circle of trumpet top guns that included Morgan, Hubbard, Farmer and Dorham among its members. To buy or not to buy all depends on how much of a Messengers obsessive you are.