Lee Morgan hadn’t cut a Blue Note session for more than two years when he entered Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs on April 28, 1960 to record Leeway. What was produced that day was vintage hard bop of the highest quality with the trumpeter leading a top-flight quintet featuring Jackie McLean on alto saxophone, Bobby Timmons on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Art Blakey on drums. The 4-song set includes Morgan’s hard-driving tribute to Blue Note’s founders “The Lion And The Wolff,” McLean’s emphatic “Midtown Blues,” and two pieces by composer Cal Massey: the easy-swinging “These Are Soulful Days” and rousing “Nakatini Suite.”

This Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition is stereo, all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal.