Beset with personal and professional difficulties from the 1960s on, ' fortunes turned in 1970. He assembled a new band and began recording -- the seminal -- and touring again. Beneath the Underdog, his long-awaited autobiography, was published in 1971 to rapturous acclaim. The sextet for the recoding -- veteran saxophonists and , pianist , drummer , and 19-year-old trumpeter -- were booked at Ronnie Scott's for two-and-a-half weeks during a summer European tour. The last two nights were professionally recorded by a mobile unit. also cut a couple of edits and packaged them with the concert tapes, which have been discreetly spliced in. In 1973, dropped all its jazz artists (except ) from its roster, leaving these tapes to rot in a vault for 50 years. They have been painstakingly restored to full fidelity by . The physical package, released on ' 100th birthday, underscores this release's historic import. Its large booklet contains biographer 's excellent historical essay plus 1972 interviews with . Producer interviews , , and 's widow. Rare photos are also included. This band captures ' '70s aesthetic perfectly. The epic-length opener "Orange Was the Color of Her Dress, Then Silk Blues" melds gutbucket party music to gospel with panoramic colors, dynamic textures, and exploratory improvisation. repeatedly engages "Ysabel's Table Dance" from , while the bassist is in excellent interplay with , foreshadowing a later version on 1975's . The 20-minute "Noddin' Ya' Head Blues" commences with a bracing, four-minute unaccompanied solo from . There is blues shouting from , a dizzying, high-pitched solo from , and a soaring exchange between the pianist, the bassist, and ' musical saw. "Mind Reader's Convention in Milano" travels across modalities connecting blues to North African and Latin musics. delivers a dazzling drum solo before its cacophonous hard-swinging conclusion. "Fables of Faubus" reflects ' journey into modernism without forsaking bop's rhythmic advances or the influence of 's elegant harmonic invention. The bassist's conversations with his sidemen lead to a long, winding solo adorned with fine arco playing. The salute to on "Pops (When the Saints Go Marching In)" finds imitating the trumpeter's gruff singing voice as the sextet expand the margins of the root tune with alacrity and humor, while delivers a killer clarinet break and ' solo reveals a debt to NOLA's jazz tradition. "The Man Who Never Sleeps" is introduced by the trumpeter's dirtiest, loosest -- and arguably most soulful -- playing. The saxophone solos are comped wonderfully by , as breaks and double-times with enthusiastic swing. The set closes with a brief, athletic, modernist read of 's and 's "Air Mail Special." While wasn't actually missing, it was abandoned to history on a dusty shelf. Thankfully, it's been resurrected to cast favorable light on ' creative renaissance. ~ Thom Jurek