one who has suffered with him throughnthe permutations of crossover, fusion,nand quasi-rock to which he subjectednhimself ina 10-year questfor commercialnstardom.nChuck Mangione should be, but isnprobably not, ashamed of himself. Mangionenbetrays himself by letting glimpsesnof his true leanings creep into his playing.nIn “Steppin* Out” (from “LovenNotes,” Columbia FC 38101) there arensome genuinely hip flugelhorn phrases,nexpressed with perfect rhythm and inflection,nharking back to his early Riversidenalbums of the 60’s and the vestigesnof creativity remaining on his MercurynLP’s of the 70’s. These bright spots,nhowever, only illuminate the paucity ofnideas in the album. One night in 1974, atnNew York’s Half Note, I heard thenMangione band that included the saxophonistnGerry Niewood drop all thenpop trappings and, for one set, definenthe state of jazz in the mid-70’s withnsome of the most intense and inventivenimprovisation I had heard in New Yorknin years. The “Love and Peace” ethosnthat took over and informed his musicnshortly thereafter rendered Mangionenthe Percy Faith of jazz. And so he remains.nThe “Love Notes” album performsnthe function that Faith’s musicnperformed in the 1950’s for elevators andndentists’ waiting rooms.nColumbia, however, is a house ofnmany chambers. As if against the will ofnthe accounting department, reissues andnwithheld first issues of important musicnflow out of the Black Rock, CBS headquarters.nIn the most recent batch, thenhitherto buried remainders of the ArtnBlakey Jazz Messengers date of thenSpring of 1956 shimmer like unearthedntreasures. The session that producedn”Nica’s Dream” and “The End Of AnLove Affair” turns out to have creatednfour more performances, which have thensame unity and boiling urgency as theirncompanion pieces. Hank Mobley’s tenornsaxophone and Donald Byrd’s trumpetnblend with a richness achieved by fewntwo-hom front lines.nPianist Horace Silver was also a naif,n42inChronicles of Cttltttrenbut the foundations for his later successfiilncomplexity are evident. Blakey, thenquintessential drummer-leader, is thenpersonification of swing. His thunderousnaccents and light goadings behind thensoloists on “Carol’s Interlude” summarizenhis style. And Doug Watkins, annhonest, plain, swinging bassist, wasnalways in tune. On side two, the revelationnis Ira Sullivan, one of the few whitenmusicians to work with Blakey (ChucknMangione was another). Sullivan’s tenornsaxophone intonation and his perfectntime were accompanied by an imaginationnthat led him to a perfect expressionnof the balance between control andnabandon that has characterized the bestnof Blakey’s bands.n”Roy” (Columbia C2-38033) is RoynEldridge, the trumpeter whose nickname,n”Little Jazz” gets the size wrong.nDespite the antiquated simplicity of thenarrangements, the seven recordings ofnthe 1937 Eldridge band support some astoundingntrumpet playing. In the fournpieces recorded with Mildred Bailey’snshort-lived nine piece band, Eldridgenfound himself in the midst of sophisticatednarrangements by Eddie Sauter.nTeddy Wilson’s piano enlivened the action,nas did Sauter’s reed voicings, andnRoy floated on the pneumatic rhythmnsounding more like Bunny Berrigan thannhimself. The unleashing was to come:nEldridge joined Gene Kmpa, and theirnrecordings of the early 1940’s are amongnthe monuments of the era. “Roy” offersnpreviously unissued alternate masters ofn”Green Eyes,” “Let Me Off Uptown,”n”After You’ve Gone,” “Rockin’ Chair,”nand several other Krupa/Eldridge experimentsnin arson. In each case, thenEldridge solos on the original issues werensuperior, but only marginally so. Hisnheat and drive were consistent in all versions,nand his celebrated refusal to play ansolo the same way twice gives us distinctlyndifferent creations in the alternate takes.nKxupa’s band is rarely mentioned in discussionsnof the great swing groups. Thisncollection reminds us that it was one ofnthe hottest big bands of the 40’s and thatnAnita O’ Day was a vocalist of the highestnnncharm and distinction.nColumbia has issued for the first timeneight Ornette Coleman recordings fromn1971 and ’72. “Broken Shadows” (ColumbianFC 38029) is such importantnmusic that one must simultaneously deplorenits being kept buried for a decadenand rejoice at its unexpected appearance.nColeman is neither the Grandma Mosesnnor the Jackson Pollock of modern jazz.nHe is made up equally of traditional andninnovative parts, and if after nearly anquarter of a century of his music he still isnoften dismissed as either primitive orniconoclastic, it merely means that manynpeople listen to music with closed minds.nIn this album there is a perfect introductionnto Coleman’s music in “CountrynTown Blues” by the reunited quartetnthat in 1959 dismpted and ultimatelynchanged the course of the developmentnof jazz. Coleman’s alto saxophone andnDon Cherry’s trumpet execute a typicallynjagged Coleman melodic line whilenCharlie Haden and Billy Higgins on bassnand dmms keep time more or less conventionally.nIn the solo sections, there isnamazing empathy among the fournplayers as they develop an engaging offcenternswing and the horns explore thenpossibilities of freedom within the harmonicnand melodic bounds expanded,nbut not broken, by Coleman. This isnColeman’s music in its most accessiblenform.n”Thelonious Monk Live At The ItnClub” (Columbia C2-38030) is die lastnof Monk’s quartets in a superior live performancennotable for the inclusion ofnseveral of the pianist-composer’s leastnknown works, among them “Gallop’snGallop” and “Nutty.”nGerry Mulligan’s “Night Lights”n(Phillips EXPR1037) features one of thenbaritone saxophonist’s best bands, an1963 sextet including guitarist Jim Hall,ntrumpeter Art Farmer, and trombonistnBob Brookmeyer. The title tune andnMulligan’s adaptation of Chopin’s “Preludenin E Minor” are recordings both reflectivenand lyrical at the same time.nClifford Brown/Max Roach: (EmArcyn