Red alert

It seems to me Red Rodney has kind of gotten lost, or at least misplaced, in jazz history, despite having played in Charlie Parker-led combos. That's a shame because he's an inventive trumpeter with a lot more range and creativity than, say, better-known Chet Baker. I certainly rate him with a Lee Morgan or Freddie Hubbard, for instance. "The Red Rodney Quintets," Fantasy, is a nice compilation of two dates from 1951 and 1955 with Roy Haynes on drums and saxophonist Ira Sullivan, who also should be better known (check out his solo on "This Time the Dream's on Me" on this disk), as partners on the latter. Hard-swinging bop for nearly 70 minutes.