This wonderful studio date by the talented Catalonian blind pianist Tete Montoliu was recorded in his native Barcelona in March of 1992, but until now it had been only available on a long out of print CD issued in Japan by the Alfa Jazz label shortly after being recorded. The renowned VENUS label presents it back again for everyone to enjoy. Tete is backed by New Orleans drummer Idris Muhammad, and Netherlands born bassist Hein Van de Geyn, and the program features a selection of Catalan traditional songs, plus two versions of songs by the remarkable Joan Manuel Serrat (“Words of Love”, which Tete recorded on several other occasions, and the more seldom heard “My Street”), and one Montoliu original, "I Don't Smoke Anymore".

This recording was made 10 months before Ben Webster's death in 1972. Webster, who had left the United States in 1965 to settle in Europe - first in Copenhagen and then in Amsterdam - was visiting fellow musician and friend Tete Montoliu in Barcelona. Webster and pianist Montoliu went back a ways, having played together regularly in Webster's Copenhagen days. In fact, Montoliu cited Webster and Don Byas as his two chief musical influences. Webster and Montoliu understood each other deeply, and their comfort with on another is palpable in this recording. Their accompaniment of one another is seamless. On board with these two is Montoliu's regular working trio-mates, Eric Peter on bass and Peer Wyboris on drums.

The blind Spanish pianist Tete Montoliu was an international star; an original stylist with prodigious technique, he was one of the foremost hard bop pianists. Dedicated to Tete’s daughter, Blues for Nuria is a stunning original that mixes a taste of Monk, freewheeling dissonance, and the Catalonian’s turbulent hard bop style.

This recording was made 10 months before Ben Webster's death in 1972. Webster, who had left the United States in 1965 to settle in Europe - first in Copenhagen and then in Amsterdam - was visiting fellow musician and friend Tete Montoliu in Barcelona. Webster and pianist Montoliu went back a ways, having played together regularly in Webster's Copenhagen days. In fact, Montoliu cited Webster and Don Byas as his two chief musical influences. Webster and Montoliu understood each other deeply, and their comfort with on another is palpable in this recording. Their accompaniment of one another is seamless. On board with these two is Montoliu's regular working trio-mates, Eric Peter on bass and Peer Wyboris on drums.

Buddy Tate was one of the most relaxed, humorous and amenable of musicians, with a personal style that was glowingly reflected in the supple and occasionally gently mocking elegance of his saxophone playing. Like many of the lyrical and romantic jazz performers of his era, Tate could perform miniature miracles with minimal materials. Shuffling a handful of soft, buttery notes and mingling them with a textural repertoire of intimately whispering intonations, was one of the most agreeable experiences in postwar jazz. But Tate could also be an exciting, hard-swinging player too, and his control of the horn in its upper register predated many of the technical advances in saxophone playing that were made by the modernists in hard bop and the avantgarde.