SKF NOTE: I spotted this ad for a Louis Bellson “limited edition” piano trio album, Intensive Care, on the Fall 1978 Jazz magazine back cover. I’ve heard Bellson and bassist Ray Brown on several recordings. Pianist Paul Smith plays perfect on Ella Fitzgerald’s The Intimate Ella album where it’s just the two of them on the entire album. (More musicians would have detracted from this gem.)

On closer inspection, Intensive Care is available in CD and vinyl formats — at a price – and on YouTube. But unavailable in MP3 format. From the three cuts I’ve heard on YouTube I’m not sure the Smith, Brown, Bellson trio works all that well. Still, I would like to hear the full album. And it’s always a treat to hear fresh Bellson.