When it was originally released in 1976 only 100 copies of Stop Over were pressed, making it one of the most sought-after Japanese jazz albums for collectors. Of course, rarity is far from the real marker of value. What makes this set of hard bop such a gem is the joyous abandon and dexterity with which the assembled musicians leap and skip through the — then very much out of vogue — all acoustic recording. Opener “Carole’s Garden” and the title track are so fleet-footed they could have been recorded in double time, but the bittersweet “Soultrane” and “Little B’s Poem”’s seemingly effortless swing show there was far more to them than just virtuosic velocity.