Hard Bop ART BLAKEY’S JAZZ MESSENGERS Impex Records
Some of the greatest jazz musicians of all time have passed through Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers: Horace Silver, Hank Mobley, Kenny Dorham, Wayne Shorter, and Donald Byrd, among many others.
However brief their stay, working with the demanding and full-throttle drummer not only increased their visibility, but also their chops and interprative capacity. Blakey’s ability to drum up the best players in the game may have even eclipsed his superhuman ability to play drums.
Harry Chapin – Verities & Balderdash – Mofi 180g 33RPM Vinyl LP
Available To Pre-Order
The 1974 Folk-Rock Album That Impacted Generations: Harry Chapin’s Verities & Balderdash Features “Cat’s in the Cradle,” Personal Narratives, and Gorgeous Arrangements Hear the Singer-Songwriter’s Most Successful Record in Audiophile Sound for the First Time on Vinyl: Mobile Fidelity’s 180g 33RPM LP Is Strictly Limited to 3,000 Numbered Copies ¼” / 15 IPS Dolby A analog master to DSD 256 to analog console to lathe How enduring is the signature song from Harry Chapin’s Verities & Balderdash? So timeless that it became the subject of a 2025 documentary in which artists from multiple generations weigh in on its impact on their lives and craft. “Cat’s in the Cradle” doubtlessly remains the main event on the singer-songwriter’s 1974 album. The legendary opening track also serves as a guidepost for the bold personal and social material that follows — as well as the gorgeous folk-rock arrangements that underpin the New York native’s most commercially successful work.Harry Chapin – Verities & Balderdash – Mofi Hybrid SACD
Available To Pre-Order
The 1974 Folk-Rock Album That Impacted Generations: Harry Chapin’s Verities & Balderdash Features “Cat’s in the Cradle,” Personal Narratives, and Gorgeous Arrangements Hear the Singer-Songwriter’s Most Successful Record in Audiophile Sound for the First Time on Disc: Mobile Fidelity’s Hybrid SACD Is Strictly Limited to 2,000 Numbered Copies How enduring is the signature song from Harry Chapin’s Verities & Balderdash? So timeless that it became the subject of a 2025 documentary in which artists from multiple generations weigh in on its impact on their lives and craft. “Cat’s in the Cradle” doubtlessly remains the main event on the singer-songwriter’s 1974 album. The legendary opening track also serves as a guidepost for the bold personal and social material that follows — as well as the gorgeous folk-rock arrangements that underpin the New York native’s most commercially successful work.
Harry Nilsson – Son of Schmilsson – MoFi Numbered Limited Edition Hybrid Stereo SACD
Harry Nilsson – Son of Schmilsson – MoFi Numbered Ltd Edition 180g 45rpm Vinyl 2LP
Herbie Nichols – The Prophetic Herbie Nichols Vol. 1 & 2 Blue Note Re-Issue Vinyl
Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition on 180-gram LP
Art Blakey’s 1960 hard bop classic, The Big Beat, introduced one of the greatest line-ups of the Jazz Messengers with the legendary drummer joined by Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter, Bobby Timmons, and Jymie Merritt. 3 of the 6 tunes were composed by Shorter, but the album is best-known for an unforgettable version of Timmons’ enduring hit “Dat Dere.” Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series is all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Optimal in Germany.
Horace Parlan – Speakin’ My Piece (Classic Vinyl Series) Blue Note Vinyl
Best known for his work with Charles Mingus, pianist Horace Parlan began recording for Blue Note in 1960 with an excellent run of hard bop classics including Speakin’ My Piece, a quintet date featuring a frontline of Stanley Turrentine on saxophone and Tommy Turrentine on trumpet with the rhythm team of George Tucker on bass and Al Harewood on drums. This Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition is stereo, all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal.
Horace Tapscott – TAPSCOTT and WINDS
Horace Tapscott Conducting The Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra: Flight 17 – Pure Pleasure Records
Horace Tapscott Conducting The Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra: The Call – Pure Pleasure Records
There are certain albums you hear something new every time you revisit the music and this is one of those albums. An important part of Afro-American history; the politics and art which surrounded the album. If you get a chance check out the film ‘Horace Tapscott, Musical Griot’, by filmmaker Barbara McCullough, or buy the book ‘Songs Of The Unsung’: The Musical & Social Journey of Horace Tapscott’
UK VIBE Mark Jones
Horace Tapscott: Dial ‘B’ For Barbra – 2 x LP Pure Pleasure Vinyl
“The best of pianist Horace Tapscott’s recordings for the tiny Nimbus label is this 1981 LP which features him in a sextet with trumpeter Reggie Bullen, altoist Gary Bias, tenor saxophonist Sabir Matteen, bassist Roberto Miranda and drummer Everett Brown, Jr. The group stretches out on a couple of Tapscott’s originals plus a 19½-minute version of Linda Hill’s”Dem Folks.” Although the music could be called avant-garde, its use of rhythms and repetition keep the results from being forbidding and the performances have a momentum of their own.”
Scott Yanow/AMG
