Released respectively in 1969 and 1970, these two albums were always seen by pianist Howard Riley as a pair. Now, for the first time, they are being released together on CD (happily by the dependable UK label Hux). Born in Huddersfield and earning his stripes in the fertile UK scene of the late 1960s, Riley has worked with the likes of John McLaughlin, Evan Parker, Keith Tippett, Trevor Watts, Tony Oxley and Elton Dean, as well as solo. These discs, a piano trio with the great Barry Guy on bass and the sometimes unjustly overlooked drummer Alan Jackson, represent Riley's salad days, really, but he sounds remarkably assured. The three musicians – plus guest flautist Barbra Thompson for one entirely notated suite on Angle – are on superb form, using compositions (by Guy as well as by Riley, on The Day Will Come) as points of departure for startlingly affecting improvisation. Absolutely stunning.