Donald Byrd: Slow Drag (LP)

After more than a dozen albums as part of his Blue Note tenure, Donald Byrd's 1967 "Slow Drag" was one of the last pure hard bop sessions the reliably brilliant trumpeter recorded before his music moved toward fusion. The album opens with the title track, an entertaining 10-minute groovefest. "Secret Love," a 1950s hit for Doris Day, becomes a modal jazz piece that easily transitions into a jaunty swing before bassist Walter Booker and pianist Cedar Walton's "Book's Bossa" bring a bossa nova flair to the proceedings. Saxophonist Sonny Red's lilting boogaloo number "Jelly Roll" lifts the energy at the start of side 2, followed by Walton's soulful jazz waltz "The Loner." The album ends with the ballad "My Ideal," which showcases Byrd's dazzling melodicism. BLUE NOTE TONE POET EDITION: Stereo, produced by Joe Harley, mastered entirely in analog by Kevin Gray from the original tapes, RTI pressing (180g), sturdy tip-on gatefold, padded inner sleeve.