Boss Baritone (4 CDs) Properbox *****

It's a tribute to the enduring appeal of this material that it has been revisited in many forms since Chaloff's death in the late 1950s. The closest to a definitive survey of the greatest baritone saxophonist ever to grace jazz was Mosaic's box-set, but this just-released budget set with a comprehensive booklet surpasses its long-gone predecessor. It includes Chaloff's masterpiece Blue Serge quartet session with pianist Sonny Clark, as well as his Fabel of Mabeland Boston Blow Updates with slightly larger groups, and the Four Brothers reunion with Zoot Sims, Al Cohn and Herbie Steward just months before his death. His playing on these dates is among the finest examples of baritone saxophone in jazz, with extraordinary performances of Thanks for the Memory, Stairway to the Stars, A Handful of Starsand Body and Soul,which transcend the original melodies. A bargain.