The latest CD releases reviewed

WOODY HERMAN Woody Herman Mosaic Select *****

Herman's early 1960s big band had talented soloists and an ensemble awesome in its power, precision and finesse.

It also had that indefinable chemistry, analogous to but different from, the congregational feel of black churches, that turns a good band into a great one.

And it had a superb Nat Pierce-Chuck Andrus-Jake Hanna rhythm section and such apt writers as Pierce, Bill Holman and Ralph Burns.

This three-CD set includes all five of Herman's big band Philips albums, of which only Woody Herman-1963has previously appeared on CD.

The others are Woody Herman: 1964and the live albums Encore(a Grammy winner), The Swinging Herman Herd Recorded Liveand Woody's Big Band Goodies.

This is not complex music; neither is it simple, nor is there much to add about it except to say that it's thoroughly enjoyable. www.mosaicrecords.com - RAY COMISKEY

KEITH JARRETT Somewhere Before - The Atlantic Years 1968-1975 Warner ****

This double-CD anthology straddles a hugely significant period in Jarrett's then burgeoning career, during which he quit Charles Lloyd's successful quartet in 1969, joined Miles Davis in 1970 and rapidly became an independent performer, leaving Davis in 1971.

Bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Paul Motian form, with Jarrett, the bedrock here; they're on the tracks from the splendid trio albums Life Between the Exit Signs(four numbers), Somewhere Before (five) and The Mourning of a Star(four), and the quartet encounters with Dewey Redman on Birth(two) and El Juicio(three).

The remaining four tracks come from the Gary Burton & Keith Jarrett album. It was an exciting time and it defined the emergence of a major talent, a true original, on the cusp of greatness and joyously tasting freedom. ECM was in the future, but this still sounds fresh. - RAY COMISKEY