The short-lived pianistic genius that was Sonny Clark (1931-63) is perhaps better known for the sessions he made with other musicians than for the six LP albums and three singles that had appeared under his own name by the time of his death. Over the years, Blue Note have reissued five of his band CDs, including a handful of previously unheard tracks. Two of his trios have been issued on CD by Blue Note, but all three appear on an excellent 3CD set from Gambit. So this Mosaic box, drawing together his catalogue of sextet, quintet and trio sides is a welcome opportunity to reassess his playing as a leader. Not least, the newly-remastered material is even an improvement on engineer Rudy Van Gelder’s own fine BN reissue of Leapin’ and Lopin’ from 2008, with a tad less reverb but his legendary clarity of ensemble sound preserved intact.

The late 1957 and late 1958 quintet sessions, with Clifford Jordan and Kenny Burrell on the former, and Art Farmer and Jackie McLean on the latter, were not issued on CD by Blue Note. The trio tracks include one piece, ‘Black Velvet’ not included in the Gambit box, so all in all there’s plenty of interest here for those who do not have the original vinyl.

Gems include John Coltrane’s contribution to several tracks, notably ‘Speak Low’, from Sonny’s Crib, and the natty ensemble work and fine solos from Art Farmer, Hank Mobley, Curtis Fuller, but above all Sonny himself, on tracks such as ‘Bootin’ It’ (in slightly different mono and stereo versions) from Dial S for Sonny. On the same album ‘It Could Happen To You’, with Farmer’s deeply felt solo, Sonny’s own reflective chorus, and then the sumptuous ballad playing of Mobley, before Fuller’s coda, is a moment of pure musical romance missing from the work of many other players of the era.

Overall, this splendid box gives us a chance to hear a pianist who – as both soloist and comping ensemble player – showed a way forward from the innovations of Bud Powell and Monk, but did not live long enough to see through what he had begun.