When these well-crafted mid-fifties sessions were made, Randy Weston had a working trio and he and Cecil Payne were frequent partners, which accounts for the music s general air of ease. It s particularly true of the stu- dio dates, With These Hands and The Modern Art Of Jazz, in which Payne s fluently mobile, surprisingly light and legato baritone makes an effective bal- ance to Weston s more percussive piano. Weston, recognised as one of the most original voices to emerge from under Thelonious Monk s umbrella, lives up to the praise heaped on him, while the marvellous Payne rivals perhaps his greatest baritone contemporary, Serge Chaloff. Highlights include the debut of Weston s gorgeously exotic Little Niles , The Man I Love and These Foolish Things (taken much faster than usual) and the calypso-like Run Joe , to which trumpeter Ray Copeland ebulliently adds a Mexican spice. The live Jazz A La Bohemia is a relaxed affair, with Weston especially striking in a trio version of You Go to My Head . Piano and baritone are spurred on by the exuberant calypso Run Joe and stretch out rewardingly on Just a Riff . The most intriguing performance is Weston s minor key but uptempo Chessman s Delight , with both stimulated to produce possibly their best work on the date.