Keb’ Mo’ – Keb’ Mo’ Pure Pleasure Records
Keb' Mo's self-titled debut is an edgy, ambitious collection of gritty country blues. Keb' Mo' pushes into new directions, trying to incorporate some of the sensibilites of the slacker revolution without losing touch of the tradition that makes the blues the breathing, vital art form it is. His attempts aren't always successful, but his gutsy guitar playing and impassioned vocals, as well as his surprisingly accomplished songwriting, make Keb' Mo' a debut to cherish.
Kenny Burrell – Guitar Forms – Acoustic Sounds Verve 180g Vinyl Gatefold Sleeve
1966 Grammy nominee for Best Instrumental Jazz Performance — Large Group or Soloist with Large Group, and Best Album Cover — Photography.
A cornerstone of any jazz library. Kenny Burrell's concept for this album was to demonstrate a variety of jazz guitar styles. And he does so, masterfully. Of particular interest "Moon and Sand" by Burrell and the Gil Evans Orchestra showcases an engaging guitar performance with a Latin combo.
Kenny Burrell – K.B. Blues – Blue Note Tone Poet Series 180g Vinyl
Recorded in 1957, Kenny Burrell’s third session as a leader for Blue Note presented the guitarist’s signature stylings with a crack team of hard boppers featuring Horace Silver, Hank Mobley, Doug Watkins, and Louis Hayes. Previously only issued on vinyl in Japan this swinging set is given a new shine with this mono Tone Poet Vinyl Edition.
Kenny Burrell and Jackie McLean – Inta Somethin’ – Blue Note Tone Poet 180g Vinyl
Kenny Dorham added stellar entries to the catalogs of Blue Note, Riverside, and New Jazz throughout the 1950s as he solidified his reputation as a leading trumpeter and composer on the jazz scene. He began 1961 in the studio for Blue Note recording his excellent album Whistle Stop and later that year cut his first date for Pacific Jazz, Inta Somethin', a spirited live recording that captured Dorham leading a quintet with alto saxophonist Jackie McLean, pianist Walter Bishop Jr., bassist Leroy Vinnegar, and drummer Art Taylor at The Jazz Workshop in San Francisco.
The band is firing on all cylinders throughout this set of four standards bookended by the Dorham originals "Us" and "San Francisco Beat." A buoyant version of "It Could Happen To You" is performed quartet as a Dorham showcase, while the trumpeter lays out on "Let's Face The Music And Dance" and "Lover Man" to give the spotlight to McLean.
Kenny Dorham – Matador Impex Records Hybrid Stereo SACD
Kenny Dorham – Matador Numbered Limited Edition HQ-180g Vinyl LP
• Numbered, Limited Edition
• Limited To 5000 Pressings
• Audiophile 180g Vinyl LP
• 33rpm
• Available on all-analog LP for the first time in nearly 50 years
• First time ever on HQ-180
• Mastered by Chris Bellman from the original analog master tapes
• Original single disc jacket with ribbed paper tip-on over heavy-board stock
• Pressed at RTI
Khachaturian Gayne Ballet Suite 2LP 45rpm 180g Vinyl LSO Fistoulari Everest Classic Records
Rarely has a record label been so influential and so associated with trend-setting recording techniques for its time as Everest Records. Hollywood sound man Harry Belock and audio dealer-engineer Bert Whyte started the label as the stereo era dawned. They acquired 3-channel 35mm magnetic film recording equipment in 1959, and through the early ’60s recorded in this fashion, as did Mercury Records.
Click here to listen to samples on YouTube.com ♫
- Limited Edition
- 2LP 45rpm 200 Gram Vinyl
- Cut From Original 35mm Magnetic Film Tapes
- Mastered Using ‘All Tube’ Cutting System
- Mastered by Bernie Grundman
- Classic Records 200-gram Super Vinyl Flat Profile
- Pressed at Quality Record Pressings, QRP USA
- Stoughton Printing tip-on old style covers
- 2 LP’s Packaged in protective clear sleeve
Kirsten Edkins – Shapes & Sound – Cohearent Sound 180g Vinyl
Shapes and Sound by jazz composer/saxophonist Kirsten Edkins
Shapes and Sound from jazz saxophonist Kirsten Edkins is the debut LP release from Cohearent Records — the new record label companion to famed mastering engineer Kevin Gray's latest enterprise, an all-valve (vacuum tube) recording studio (Cohearent Recording) adjoining his home-based mastering facility in California.
"It's the 'essence of an era' we are trying to recapture with today's musicians, not the sound of specific spaces, engineers or recordings," Gray told music reviewer Michael Fremer.
Larry Coryell, Badi Assad, John Abercrombie – Three Guitars – Chesky Records – SACD
Lee Morgan – Infinity LP (Blue Note Tone Poet Series) – Blue Note Vinyl
Just two months after recording his exceptional sextet date Cornbread, the prolific trumpeter Lee Morgan was back in Van Gelder Studio in November 1965 with a slightly slimmed down—but no less robust—quintet line-up to record his next session Infinity, which wouldn’t be first released until 1981. Alto saxophonist Jackie McLean and drummer Billy Higgins—both of whom were featured on Cornbread—were at Morgan’s side once again along with pianist Larry Willisand bassist Reggie Workman for a five-song set that ventured to the far reaches of the hard bop tradition and beyond. Four compelling Morgan originals and McLean’s engaging ballad “Portrait of Doll” cover a wide expanse of musical terrain including the probing title track, the laid-back 6/8 groove of “Miss Nettie B,” the intricate interlaced lines of “Growing Pains,” and the hard-charging closer “Zip Code.”
Lee Morgan – Taru – Blue Note Tone Poet Series 180g Vinyl
Lee Morgan’s 1968 album Taru—which wouldn’t be first released until 1980 as part of the LT Series—found the trumpeter at a crossroads exploring a variety of styles. The band on this outstanding date is notable for several reasons including the elevating presence of guitarist George Benson who delivers inspired solos throughout. The session also marked Morgan’s first recorded collaboration with tenor saxophonist Bennie Maupin who would play an integral role on future Morgan albums including Caramba! and Live at the Lighthouse. Rounding out the sextet were pianist John Hicks, bassist Reggie Workman, and the ever-inspiriting drummer Billy Higgins. The six-song set covered a range of stylistic ground including modal jazz (“Avotcja One”), hard-charging post-bop (“Get Yourself Together”), beautiful balladry (“Haeschen” and “Taru, What’s Wrong With You?”), gospel-tinged numbers (“Dee Lawd”), and funky boogaloos (“Durem”).
Lee Morgan – The Sidewinder (Blue Note Classic Series) – Blue Note Vinyl
Lee Morgan’s magnum opus The Sidewinder—recorded in 1963 and release in 1964—was both a comeback and a coronation. The prodigious trumpeter had debuted on Blue Note in 1956 at the age of 18, but personal problems in the early-60s forced him off the scene temporarily. His rebound recording turned out to be The Sidewinder, an assured and energetic set of 5 indelible Morgan originals featuring tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson, pianist Barry Harris, bassist Bob Cranshaw, and drummer Billy Higgins. The album became his biggest commercial success fueled by the irrepressible title track.
