*2026 stock* Saxophonist Kenji Mori belongs to the second generation of TBM regulars, a player whose work for the label spans several years and several formats, but whose quartet records have a particularly distilled quality. Firebird fits cleanly into the modal and post-bop tradition that defined the heart of the Three Blind Mice catalogue: heads with real melodic substance, harmonic openness that gives the soloists space without leaving them stranded, and a rhythm section that knows how to keep the temperature high without crowding the front line.

Mori's tone is firm and vocal in the right way, and his writing tends to prefer development over display (pieces grow through their solos rather than around them). The recording captures the band with the analogue clarity that has made TBM such a touchstone for audiophile listeners, every grain of the saxophone tone in place. A record that doesn't try to be more than it is, and which has the kind of solidity that rewards repeated listening. From the Three Blind Mice Supreme Collection 1500 reissue series.