Jimmy Giuffre: 3 & 4: New York Concerts (2xVinyl) (RSD 2020)

The release of the two remarkable 1965 New York Concerts performances offer a rare and revelatory glimpse into that discographic dark period. This captivating double LP set would be valuable solely for the brilliant music, which finds Giuffre leading otherwise undocumented trio and quartet line-ups that advance his experiments in counterpoint and abstraction from the chamber-like Free Fall into even more adventurous avant-garde territory. But it also offers much-needed insight into one of jazz’s most innovative thinkers at a key moment in his development.