You're a hard bop fan. Good stuff. How about fusion? I know there are lots of different kinds of fusion, but there's some good stuff out there. The first real exposure I had to it was when I picked up Miles' Bitch's Brew about a hundred years ago. Remarkable album.

I like some fusion. It took me a while to really appreciate Bitches Brew - but then I went back and listened to the albums leading up to Bitches Brew, and was able to understand it.

And speaking of trumpet players, about a year ago I picked up a few Woody Shaw CDs. What a nice sound he had.

There was a group in the 80's and 90's called ShadowFax. They were a mix of jazz and new age and probably at least 10 other genres. I don't know if they were considered fusion, but some of their material was very good.

Yes, I'm definitely partial to hard bop. Great stuff...

Kevin