Ever beautiful, ever young

Self-taught and a professional at the age of 16, as a young man, he played with Sonny Stitt after military service and Mingus before a 10-year stint as soloist and arranger for the Count Basie Orchestra (1953-64).

In 1965, he formed his own very successful big band with drummer Mel Lewis, which continued until 1979, when Jones suddenly left the US to spend the rest of his life in Denmark, where he died in 1986.

The other major presence on The Legendary 1963-64 Sessions is multiple reedman James Moody, born in Savannah, Georgia, in 1925 and still blowing strong around the jazz circuits of the world.

His greatest years were with Dizzy Gillespie and he was an inseparable part of his quintet between 1963-8, after which he temporarily quit the jazz scene to play in show bands in Las Vegas.

A tenorist and flautist of immense invention, he also developed a humorous line in vocalise, which gave him a hit record in 1952 with Moody's Mood for Love.

These sessions comprised two separate albums when they first emerged as recordings. Running the Gamut had Moody and Jones on their horns with pianist Patti Bown, Reggie Workman on bass and Al "Tootie" Heath on drums.

The opener, Buster's Last Stand, has some very rapid Moody tenor and some brilliantly skittish Jones before Workman booms in for a chorus. The horn chemistry is well exposed as they duet with amicable aplomb before Moody, riding high, takes it out.

Em Prean Shore achieves some unusual horn harmonies before Moody's buoyant flute floats over the beat and Thad plays the sort of technically superb solo that makes you think that Mingus was absolutely right.

In Capers, Moody is back on a very fast tenor with a huge inventive swing, Brown's solo runs to catch him up but is soon overtaken by Thad's swift trumpet pointillism. A marvellous track, this, blown forwards by Tootie's urgent drums.

Wayward Plaint is a flute dream - slow, haunting and in a reverie of its own. Thad's trumpet has a beautiful fragility and the whole performance spins like a spell.

The session concludes with a stomper, Figurine. Moody hurries forwards on tenor, Jones dances high, Brown skips and Workman's heartbeat is everywhere, ending a session of power, skill and excitation.

The other, earlier octet session of June 1963 adds another trumpeter, the great but undersung Johnny Coles of Trenton, New Jersey, Hubert Laws on flute and brother Hank shares the piano stool with Bernie Leighton.

Bassist Richard Davis is on hand with guitarist Jim Hall and Thad's future bandleader partner Mel Lewis is the drummer. The strong hand of arranger Tom McIntosh is immediately apparent on the album title number, Great Day, where Moody's tenor leads the ensemble and Coles adds a flickering, lyrical solo.

McIntosh's The Search follows, with Moody playing a tuneful alto before Jones soars in for a chorus followed by a few Hank phrases and the lofty return of Moody. John Lewis's ballad One Never Knows shows more of Moody's flute artistry before hall's echoing guitar plucks out an enticing interval. Opalesque has more of Moody's twisting flute above the rhythmic gift of Lewis and Davis before Coles's fluttering horn beauty and some enigmatic lines by Hall.

Staying on flute through Blues Impromptu, Moody dialogues with Davis's insistent bass before Hall's searching guitar choruses continue the string-plucked calls and responses. The full ensemble enters for a heated conclusion.

And, finally, there is McIntosh's masterpiece Malice Toward None, with Davis's bowed opening, Moody's reflective tenor jumping into double-time while stretching skywards and Hall's complex phrases all gelling into a dense web of memorable sound. More than four decades old now, but ever beautiful and ever young.