One of Thad Jones’s first recordings for the Blue Note label, this mid-1950s set finds the revered jazz trumpeter in typically fine form. A Michigan native who relocated to the Big Apple (hence the title), Jones mixes a pair of Rodgers & Hart standards (the romantic “The Blue Room” and the weeper “Little Girl Blue”) with a few solid originals, resulting in a top-notch bop record.

Liner Note Authors: Leonard Feather; Bob Blumenthal.
Recording information: Audio-Video Studios, New York, NY (1956).
Photographer: Francis Wolff.

Personnel: Thad Jones (trumpet); Thad Jones; Billy Mitchell (tenor saxophone); Oscar Pettiford (bass instrument); Kenny Burrell (guitar); Tommy Flanagan (piano); Shadow Wilson (drums).

Audio Remasterer: Rudy Van Gelder.