Thelonious Monk - The Complete Prestige 10-Inch LP Collection (5 CD, 2017) [24-192]

Celebrating 100 years of Thelonious Monk: includes A Collective Personnel Of: Sonny Rollins, Art Blakey, Max Roach, Gary Mapp, Julius Watkins, Percy Heath, Willie Jones, Ray Copeland, Frank Foster, Curly Russell, Tommy Potter And Art Taylor.

Craft Recordings, the Catalog Division of Concord Music, is proud to announce the release of Thelonious Monk's The Complete Prestige 10-Inch LP Collection. The limited-edition album set includes all five of the 10" vinyl LPs which the pianist recorded for the jazz label, spanning 1952 to 1954.

The audio has been carefully restored and remastered by Joe Tarantino from the original analog tapes. Rounding out the collection is a booklet with new liner notes by Robin D. G. Kelley, author of Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original.

These early albums in The Complete Prestige 10-Inch LP Collection offer an intriguing look into this distinctive and resolute artist before he found full acclaim and acceptance, and feature an impressive collective personnel that includes some of jazz's finest. "Listening to these tracks more than sixty years after they were recorded, it's stunning how compelling, modern and original Monk's music still sounds, even through the filter of 21st-century ears," observes the collection's producer, Nick Phillips. "That's the mark of a true musical genius, indeed."

VA - The Passion Of Charlie Parker (2017/FLAC-HD)

 Impulse!/Verve present “The Passion of Charlie Parker”, an album of iconic Parker songs transformed through the addition of lyrics to create a musical play that narrates Bird’s life. Produced by Larry Klein with lyrics by David Baerwald, the album features actor Jeffrey Wright in the role of Parker as narrator, with vocals provided by Wright, Gregory Porter, Madeleine Peyroux, Melody Gardot, Barbara Hannigan, Luciana Souza, Kurt Elling and Camille Bertault.

This ambitious project reimagines the music of Charlie Parker with lyrics that tell the story of Parker's life. Produced by Grammy winner Larry Klein (Joni Mitchell, Herbie Hancock) with lyrics by David Baerwald, the album features actor Jeffrey Wright portraying Parker as narrator, while Gregory Porter, Madeleine Peyroux, Melody Gardot, Barbara Hannigan, Luciana Souza, Kurt Elling and Camille Bertault lend their voices. The singers are backed by a superb band consisting of pianist Craig Taborn, saxophonist Donny McCaslin, guitarist Ben Monder, bassists Larry Grenadier and Scott Colley and drummers Mark Giuliana and Eric Harland.

 

Bill Evans Trio - On A Friday Evening (2021) [Hi-Res FLAC]

 

Newly discovered live performance by Bill Evans Trio, featuring Eddie Gomez - bass & Eliot Zigmund - drums. The previously unreleased concert took place on June 20, 1975, at Oil Can Harry's, Vancouver, BC. Captured for radio host Gary Barclay, it was aired on his popular CHQM jazz show. For nearly half a century, the tapes lay forgotten - until now. Thanks to audio restoration by Plangent Processes & mastering by Paul Blakemore, it sounds just as fresh today as it did in 1975. 

1 - Sareen Jurer (Live At Oil Can Harry's / 1975)

2 - Sugar Plum (Live At Oil Can Harry's / 1975)

3 - The Two Lonely People (Live At Oil Can Harry's / 1975)

4 - T.T.T. (Twelve Tone Tune) (Live At Oil Can Harry's / 1975)

5 - Quiet Now (Live At Oil Can Harry's / 1975)

6 - Up With The Lark (Live At Oil Can Harry's / 1975)

7 - How Deep Is The Ocean (Live At Oil Can Harry's / 1975)

8 - Blue Serge (Live At Oil Can Harry's / 1975)

9 - Nardis (Live At Oil Can Harry's / 1975)

Bud Powell -The Scene Changes: The Amazing Bud Powell, Vol. 5 (2015) [24-192]

Pianist Bud Powell made several fine recordings for Blue Note during the 1950s, including The Scene Changes, his last album for the label in 1958. He's joined by bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Art Taylor on a handful of his own compositions. Powell is in excellent form, and there's a simple elegance to the small setting with each of the players sharing equal space in the stereo spectrum. The title cut bops along at a snappy pace before taking time out toward the end for a Taylor solo, while 'Down With It' is pushed forward by Powell's forceful, driving rhythm. Extra touches here and there, like the piano intro on 'Cleopatra's Dream' and the drum roll that kicks off 'Duid Deed,' lets the listener know these players are in the groove. Only 'Boderick' sticks out as minor, and the fact that the players only devote two minutes to this parlor-piano piece seems to indicate they felt the same way. Powell, Chambers, and Taylor make amends for this on the eight-minute 'Coming Up,' a medium-tempo piece with idiosyncratic piano lines and a thumping beat (the bonus cut includes a shorter version of the composition). The Scene Changes is a fine album filled with good compositions and nice interplay between three musicians in top form.“ 

Donald Byrd - At the Half Note Cafe, Vol. 1 & 2 {RVG Edition 2003} [24-192]

Situated at 289 Hudson Street in New York City, the Half Note Cafe quickly established itself as the venue at which to catch some of the best up and coming jazz talents of the age. Its reputation was further enhanced with a series of live recordings conducted at the club, with John Coltrane, Wes Montgomery and the Art Farmer Quartet among those artists to subsequently release live albums. And then there was Donald Byrd, whose band comprised Donald (trumpet), Pepper Adams (saxophone), Duke Pearson (piano), Laymon Jackson (bass) and Lex Humphries (drums) and who gathered at the Half Note on 11 November 1960 to record their show. With local DJ Ruth Mason acting as MC, the show kicked off with the ten minute plus My Girl Shirl and closed some two hours later with When Sunny Gets Blue. When subsequently released on vinyl, the show had been mashed up somewhat, with the two albums showing no reference to the original running order. That does not detract from what is an excellent album, with its later companion volume equally enthralling and entertaining. First class performances all round, as you would expect, make this a compelling album.

Al Di Meola – All Your Life - Tribute to The Beatles [2013/FLAC-HD]

 

Guitar superstar Al Di Meola pays personal tribute to The Beatles - “All Your Life” puts a fresh new rhythmic slant on beloved tunes.

Recorded at the Abbey Road Studios, London

1. In My Life (4:30)
2. And I Love Her (4:07)
3. Because (5:12)
4. Michelle (2:52)
5. I Will (2:52)
6. Eleanor Rigby (2:50)
7. Penny Lane (5:41)
8. Blackbird (4:38)
9. I Am the Walrus (4:04)
10. Day in the Life (3:01)
11. Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite (3:09)
12. With a Little Help from My Friends (4:15)
13. If I Fell (2:59)
14. She’s Leaving Home (3:22)

Ahmad Jamal - The Complete Ahmad Jamal Trio Argo Sessions 1956-62 [9 CD, 2010] [FLAC + 24-44 + 320]

 

In 2007, this set was well on its way with Ahmad Jamal’s blessing. He listened to and approved a multitude of previously unissued material, expanding the legacy of this extraordinary trio. A tape search proved problematic and we spent the next two years scouring various Ahmad Jamal Argo masters scouring Europe and Japan as well as the US.

As you can hear, this legacy has been reconstructed although almost half of it has comes from digital sources. Both analog and digital sources have minor problems here and there such as the small frying sound on disc 4, track 5. The only major problem is the “Count “Em 88” album (disc 1, tracks 1-9) which for years was available only in electronically-rechanneled stereo. The only existing source in 2010 is a Japanese CD master that seems to have been dubbed from an LP. It has wow and flutter and occasional electronic static as on track 5. Every effort has been made to bring all of this music to you in the best possible fidelity.

Miles Davis Quintet - The First Great Quintet 1955-56 (3 CD, 2021) [Hi-Res FLAC]

 

"In the summer of 1955, after Davis performed at the Newport Jazz Festival, he was approached by Columbia Records executive George Avakian, who offered him a contract if he could form a regular band. Davis assembled his first regular quintet to meet a commitment at the Café Bohemia in July with Sonny Rollins on tenor saxophone, Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums. By the autumn, Rollins had left to deal with his heroin addiction, and later in the year joined the hard bop quintet led by Clifford Brown and Max Roach.

At the recommendation of drummer Jones, Davis replaced Rollins with John Coltrane, beginning a partnership that would last five years and finalizing the Quintet's first line-up. Expanded to a sextet with the addition of Cannonball Adderley on alto saxophone in 1958, the First Great Quintet was one of the definitive hard bop groups along with the Brown-Roach Quintet and the Jazz Messengers, recording the Columbia albums Round About Midnight, Milestones, and the marathon sessions for Prestige Records resulting in four albums collected on The Legendary Prestige Quintet Sessions." 

Max Neissendorfer Trio - Max Neissendorfer Trio (2023) [24-44]

The Munich jazz singer and pianist Max Neissendorfer (p,voc) is one of the most versatile jazz pianists and scat singers in Europe. Rene Harderer (b) studied double bass with Paulo Cardoso and electric bass with Patrick Scales at the Munich Music Academy. Stephan Treutter (dr) did his diploma in jazz drums at the Munich University of Music and Theater.

1 - There Is No Greater Love (08:45)

2 - Exactly Like You (07:35)

3 - Aqua De Beber (10:43)

4 - Angel Eyes (07:42)

5 - Night And Day (08:17)

6 - Relax (06:57)

7 - Doxy (07:37)

8 - Caravan (09:45)

9 - Get Me To The Church (08:00)

Michel Petrucciani - Montreux Years (2 CD, 2023) [24-96]

The brand-new release in The Montreux Years series is a collection of Michel Petrucciani’s most memorable performances at the Montreux Jazz Festival from 1990 – 1998.

Jaco Pastorius - Modern American Music... Period! The Criteria Sessions (1974/2014) [24-48]

Modern American Music... Period! The Criteria Sessions presents a series of demo recordings that bassist Jaco Pastorius made two years before his landmark debut album, 1976's Jaco Pastorius. Recorded after hours at Miami's Criteria Studios, these tracks represent some of the earliest solo cuts from Pastorius. 

Miles Davis & John Coltrane - The Best of Miles Davis and John Coltrane (2019) [24-48]

Coltrane had been a sideman with Davis on and off since 1955; they were both born in 1926, but their careers took drastically different paths. Davis was already a minor star in 1945, at the age of nineteen, when he recorded with Charlie Parker. Three years later, at twenty-two, he led a nonet, featuring intricate arrangements, that proved vastly influential. (They’re gathered under the title “Birth of the Cool.”) Davis had a huge and significant discography as a leader by the time he hired Coltrane, an unheralded musician best known as a rarely soloing sideman, who’d never yet led a record date. With Davis, Coltrane quickly found his voice, and expanded it during a stint in 1957 with Thelonious Monk. Coltrane had led dates on several labels; recorded the influential “Giant Steps,” in 1959; and was ready to go out on his own.

01 - Round Midnight 05:56

02 - Airegin 04:25

03 - My Funny Valentine 06:01

04 - Half Nelson 04:45

05 - The Maids of Cadiz 03:54

06 - Blues for Pablo 05:20

07 - Generique - Ascenseur Pour L'echafaud 02:48

08 - Au Bar Du Petit Bac - Ascenseur Pour L'echafaud 02:53

09 - Miles 05:42

10 - Summertime 03:19

11 - It Ain't Necessarily So 04:25

12 - So What 09:04

13 - All Blues 11:32

14 - Someday My Prince Will Come 09:04

15 - Giant Steps 04:44

16 - Syeeda's Song Flute 07:01

17 - Naima 04:21

18 - Like Sonny 05:52

19 - My Favorite Things 13:42

20 - Equinox 08:33

21 - Aisha 07:37

22 - Greensleeves 09:58

23 - Soul Eyes 05:24

24 - Tunji 06:33

25 - In a Sentimental Mood 04:14

Al Di Meola, Jean-Luc Ponty, Stanley Clarke / Live At Montreux 1994 (2005) [24-48]

It was at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1994 that Al Di Meola, Jean-Luc Ponty and Stanley Clarke played as a trio for the first time. Clarke and Di Meola had been part of Return to Forever and while they were comfortable in the familiarity of knowing each other, Ponty reached in and became a perfect fit. That language of understanding is seen to advantage on this portrait.

• Al DiMeola (guitar)
• Jean-Luc Ponty (violin)
• Stanley Clarke (bass)

Guest artist: Monty Alexander (piano on "Song to John")

01 - Song To John 12:57

02 - Memory Canyon 10:13

03 - La Cancion De Sofia 13:42

04 - Summer Country Song 06:41

05 - School Days 06:43

06 - Eulogy To Oscar Romero 06:19

07 - Renaissance 09:55

08 - Chillean Pipe Song 06:31

09 - Song To John 13:31

10 - Indigo 08:04

Sonny Rollins - Go West!: The Contemporary Records Albums (3 CD, 2023) [24-192]

Go West!: The Contemporary Records Albums combines legendary Jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins' two studio albums for Lester Koenig's Contemporary Records, Way Out West and And The Contemporary Leaders, with a third disc, Contemporary Alternate Takes. Featuring remastered audio by Bernie Grundman, the set is available on both RTI pressed 180g 3-LP and 3-CD formats.

• Brown, Ray - bass
• Hawes, Hampton - piano
• Kessel, Barney - guitar
• Manne, Shelly - drums
• Rollins, Sonny - tenor saxophone

Way Out West

01 - I’m An Old Cowhand 05:43

02 - Solitude 07:51

03 - Come, Gone 07:53

04 - Wagon Wheels 10:13

05 - There Is No Greater Love 05:18

06 - Way Out West 06:33

Sonny Rollins and the Contemporary Leaders

07 - I’ve Told Ev’ry Little Star 05:29

08 - Rock-A-Bye Your Baby With A Dixie Melody 04:56

09 - How High The Moon 07:47

10 - You 04:18

11 - I’ve Found A New Baby 03:41

12 - Alone Together 06:03

13 - In The Chapel In The Moonlight 06:42

14 - The Song Is You 05:43

Alternate Takes

15 - I’m An Old Cowhand (Alternate Take) 10:11

16 - Come, Gone (Alternate Take) 10:30

17 - Way Out West (Alternate Take) 06:40

18 - The Song Is You (Alternate Take) 06:17

19 - You (Alternate Take) 04:18

20 - I’ve Found A New Baby (Alternate Take) 04:21