NEW RELEASES

LARRY YOUNG****

“The Complete Blue Note Recordings of Larry Young”

Mosaic

Mosaic has never focused exclusively on big names. Take this six-CD, nine-LP collection of recordings by Young, the highly regarded organ innovator who died in 1977 at 37, in both leader and sideman roles. In the ‘60s, Young steered clear of cliched blues structures to forge a melodic, economical approach to soloing.

A surprisingly light touch gave Young’s music a serene, mellow tone, and listeners unaccustomed to this sound in the organ-guitar-drums trio context might find some of Young’s earlier tracks tasteful but perhaps too sedate. Still, those recordings are a valuable prelude to his evolutionary search for a personal style that flowered with 1965’s “Unity”--the organist masterpiece that features saxophonist Joe Henderson and trumpeter Woody Shaw.

After “Unity,” Young’s approach continued to change through experiments with different-sized ensembles and expansive instrumental techniques.

But all the recordings in this set ($90 for CD and $81 for LP) could be considered a prelude of sorts: The first post-Blue Note move by Young, who left the label in the late ‘60s, was to join forces with drummer Tony Williams and guitarist John McLaughlin in the explosive jazz-rock fusion ensemble Tony Williams Lifetime.

(Available by mail order from Mosaic Records, 35 Melrose Place, Stamford, Conn. 06902.)

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