Quite why Alfred Lion chose to hold back three out of four albums he recorded with tenor saxophonist Harold Floyd ‘Tina' Brooks as a leader for Blue Note he never exactly made clear, but five will get you 10 Brooks' lengthy heroin dependency had something to do with it. The more you hear them, the more it seems an unjust decision given that Brooks' strong performances as a player and composer embodied the sinewy, swinging hard-bop and soulful balladry and blues that was Lion's stock in trade, plus each album came primed by the strong spirit and presence of big-name Blue Note hitters.

Influenced early on by Lester Young and Hank Mobley, Brooks appeared on highly-rated Blue Note dates such as Jimmy Smith's The Sermon and House Party, Kenny Burrell's At the Five Spot and Freddie Hubbard's Open Sesame, among others, yet Lion curiously chose to shelve his promising 1958 debut, Minor Move, despite the attendance of Lee Morgan, Art Blakey and Sonny Clark and strong writing. He did however, release the follow up, True Blue, featuring Hubbard and Duke Jordan, which has been high on collectors' lists for decades; but again withheld both the excellent Back To The Tracks from 1960 – featuring Jackie McLean – and this, his final recording, aptly titled The Waiting Game. Tracked in 1961 but not released until 1979 in Japan and 2002 in the UK/USA it came courtesy of the efforts of Blue Note expert and reissue producer Michael Cuscuna, long after Brooks' tragic early death in 1974 from kidney failure.

Now given the Tone Poet treatment – expertly remastered from the original analogue tapes and pressed on pristine 180g vinyl in a stout gatefold sleeve with Cuscuna's original sleeve note – it again begs the question why Lion perversely passed – especially with Philly Jo and Wilbur Ware in the engine room, Kenny Drew's fluid piano, and trumpeter Coles making a solid label debut.

The opener, ‘Talkin' About', briskly sets the tone, a rousing minor key blues steered with towering authority by Philly Joe's sizzling shuffle with Coles easing himself into a potent opening statement and Brooks' lyrical flow etched with evocative darker tinges. ‘One For Myrtle' is an accelerated bopper with a snappy head while ‘Dhyana' is another minor key jaunt with Brooks' articulate probing lines moving into a more lachrymose mood that's picked up by Coles' bleaker tones.

All pieces are composed by Brooks apart from the Broadway standard ‘Stranger In Paradise', that's enlivened by a rhumba feel under the bridge. But the best comes with the majestic, Middle-Eastern hued ‘David the King', with its bold declamatory head contrasting with a sombre Coles improvisation opening the way for Brooks' bold, assured tone and dense construction of ideas, and the title track's ear-grabbing tiered melody with Brooks and Drew in robust form. Clearly a date to savour and one that keenly points to where his music could have gone next had Blue Note chose not to ignore him.