I'm starting to wonder whether my end of year Top 10 can be expanded to contain a new category "Box Sets". I'm certainly thinking about it because there are three that now spring to mind as adding quality to this year's output on CD.

Uncompromising expression:

To celebrate 75 years of output Blue Note have compiled an amazing assortment of tracks, some rarities and some more obvious, at mid-price. There's a book to go with it, but the 5 CD collection, which comes in at around thirty quid is an amazing cornucopia, and shows the breadth of what they've done in those years, and the strength and diversity of the current roster.

Sideman: Tran's Blue Note sessions example of where

Title says it all, and the music does the rest. It's certainly a revelation to those(like me) who chiefly know him through the Atlantic and later Blue Note releases. I particularly like the Paul Chambers led albums, which I think have long been out of print. Revelatory!

Herbie Hancock- The Warner Brother Years:

"Fat Albert Rotunda" is no stranger to me (Peachy uses it as his theme for the Ja Fu Re collective), but "Mwandishi" and "Crossings" are great examples of what electric jazz was like in the early 1970's. Probably not to everyone's taste, but a great example of where he was during that period.

However my top 10 albums is evolving( to be published in mid December!) with strong recent contenders from Euan Burton, James Farm, and possibly best of all Jason Marsalis Vibes Quartet. The title," The 21st Century Trad Band" gives no clue as to the contents of this vibes led combo. Some of the titles, like "The man with two left feet" and "Blessed Unrest" are better indicators!