Jolly Jazz recorded in Paris

Once in every great while there comes a disc suitable for listening to once, twice, thrice and yet many more times in a row. Ten fine folks worked together over two days in May to furnish your ears with sharp tunes. Mind, it was 1976. And Ring dem vibes is as amazing as ever. Praise be for the late Lionel Hampton.

Toes tapping, fingers snapping, hands clapping – goodness gracious mercy me – from the outset, all the way through to the end of the seven swell tracks I could barely hold myself still enough to sit and type these words. "Ring dem bells" sets the great ball of jazz rolling and it does not stop for a good 43 minutes. "On the sunny side of the street" is a sweet favourite of mine. Then this hot record concludes with "Hamp's thing," a composition from the vibraphone man extraordinaire.

There is something so lovely about a solid jazz recording. Sophisticated and complicated. These are but a couple of words that come to mind when listening and re-listening to the wondrous workings of that fine swinging of mallets onto the aluminium bars. In conjunction with all the other players on this recording, there is a heaping helping of magic music made and as soon as I have listened to it another bunch of times, it will be back at our favourite local library for your borrowing enjoyment.