An incredible early German bop session! In the 1950s, pianist Jutta Hipp recorded straighter sides for Blue Note in the US, but this first album features her with German contemporaries Joki Freund on tenor sax and Emil Mangelsdorff on alto, creating a dark, sharper sound than expected! Hipp leads, but Mangelsdorff and Freund's horn interaction on several song intros, slashing back and forth like a double-edged blade and then bursting forth into lovely compact solos, makes the record sparkle.