by Scott Yanow
Shortly before the formation of The Jazztet, tenor-saxophonist Benny Golson and trombonist Curtis Fuller teamed up for this quintet set with pianist Ray Bryant, bassist Tommy Bryant and drummer Al Harewood. Although Golson contributed three of the six songs (&Blues After Dark& is the best-known one), the emphasis is on his playing; the tenor is quite heated on the uptempo blues &Jam for Bobbie.& The CD reissue adds &A Bit of Heaven& (originally on a sampler but part of the same session) to the original program, a fine example of hard bop of the late '50s.