The Graham Bond Organisation (GBO) is legendary for the influence that they had on the British Beat and their crossover into jazz in the early 60s. Any re-release of their early albums must be a must listen just for the sheer hell of hearing some hip swinging hepcats really bustin their chops.
Their jazziness, the source of their greatest influence within the music business, came from not only Dick Henstall-Smith's swinging saxophone style which he used liberally to embellish the otherwise quite straightforward Rhythm & Blues sound, but also from Jack Bruce's blues harp voice with which he could bend notes through micro scales thereby implying a sophistication beyond the 3-chord tricks of the competition. Alas, that's not what the majority of the paying youth were after, so the legend eventually died, but not before providing a springboard for the great partnership of Bruce and Ginger Baker that led to Cream and the jazz interests and eastern influences of a young reasonably unknown but well respected guitarist known as Johnny McLaughlin.