Autumn Leaves --Jack McDuff with Jimmy Forrest

There is a similarity between the Jazz Establishment and ESPN. With ESPN you know the lead is going to be the Yankees and Red Sox, the rest of the country be damned. The same is true of Jazz, where there will be hundreds of recordings by Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Dexter Gordon, but nothing from middle America. If Cannonball Adderley didn’t happen into the bar where Wes Montgomery was playing, we wouldn’t hear much of Wes Montgomery. Wes would have been a gem known only to those in Indiana. Jimmy Forrest fell into that almost hidden category--he recorded very few albums under his own name. This is an example of Forrest as a side man, and if you chance upon any album with Jimmy Forrest--yep, he’s always this good. But like ESPN and sports happening everywhere but New York, the Jazz Establishment--critics, producers, record executives, always managed to overlook him. This recording has another unknown jazz giant, vibes player Lem Winchester. You’ll listen, and you’ll ask, like so many other musicians ask, why you haven’t heard more about these wonderful players. Finding their recordings is like finding hidden treasure.