Counce is best known for four albums released on Contemporary Records, recorded between 1956 and 1958. His quintet featured saxophonist Harold Land and pianist Carl Perkins and was one of the finest interpreters of hard bop on the West Coast. Yet it was his final album "Exploring The Future" - made with Perkins' replacement Elmo Hope - that is a masterpiece. Eight tracks of incendiary jazz, edited down to fit the LP format, and an extravagant period piece album cover showing Curtis in a space suit. (Previously deleted:2/1/11. Original release date:9/3/96)