The Joshua Breakstone Quartet: Wonderful!

This is a reissue of Joshua Breakstone's debut as leader. The recording, which has been out of print for nearly 40 years, dates back to 1984, when the guitarist was 27 years old. It also marks the first time the recording has been available on CD.

While many guitarists of a similar vintage built success by forging ahead in jazz-rock, Breakstone followed a more time-honored path, following the trail of Kenny Burrell, Grant Green and Wes Montgomery. He was also heavily influenced by horn players, notably Lee Morgan and Clifford Brown, whose precise articulation is echoed in Breakstone's single-note lines and open-toned electric guitar style.

Breakstone was certainly a man of taste when it came to assembling his quartet, which featured Barry Harris on piano, Earl Sauls on bass and Leroy Williams on drums. Their cohesive, synergistic teamwork across seven tracks forms the ideal backdrop for the guitarist's deft improvisations.

Wonderful! opens with George Gershwin's "'S Wonderful." Breakstone's fluid, completely relaxed lines lead into Harris' typically accomplished solo, followed by features for Sauls and Williams. In contrast, Tadd Dameron's "Soul Train" (often referred to as "Soultrane") allows the quartet to show their skills at a languorous pace, and they do so superbly.

There are two Breakstone originals, "Sevens Up" and "This Is It!," which show that Breakstone was perhaps underappreciated as a composer. The remaining covers are Lennie Tristano's "Two Not One," "Time on My Hands" by Vincent Youmans and an elegant, slowly swaying performance of Django Reinhardt's "Django's Castle."

Breakstone looks back on the album with a critical eye. "When I hear the young guitarist that I was," he says, "I can't help but think, if I only knew then what I know now." The sentiment, while familiar, may be over-critical, as Wonderful! is a gem of a recording that justifies the often-used description of his playing as "fire in velvet." Breakstone, whose musical ideas are still flowing, went on to become very popular in Japan, also releasing tributes to Thelonious Monk, Grant Green, Wes Montgomery and Bud Powell.