Don Rendell-Ian Carr Quintet

★★★★ The Complete Lansdowne Recordings 1965-1969 JAZZMAN. LP

Box set chronicles the exploits of pioneering British jazz group.

Gerald Short’s Jazzman label celebrates its 20th anniversary by reissuing on vinyl all five albums by the highlyregarded jazz group that poetcum-jazz aficionado, Philip Larkin, regarded as “second to none”. Co-led by saxophonist/ flautist Don Rendell and trumpeter Ian Carr, the quintet recorded for EMI’s longdefunct Columbia imprint (now owned by Universal) between 1965 and ’69. The five now-super-rare albums they left behind as their legacy (Shades Of Blue, Dusk Fire, Phase III, Change Is, and Live) are brought together in one superlative package, whose seemingly hefty £95 price tag is an absolute bargain given that the originals would set you back an estimated six grand. You can’t put a price, though, on the exceptional quality of the music that this remarkable group served up, with their supremely elegant Dusk Fire being the standout.