Sarah Vaughan – Live At Laren 1975 – The Lost Recordings 2LP 180g Vinyl
First publication of this unreleased concert. August 5, 1975: Sarah Vaughan is chosen to open the famous Jazz Festival in Laren, a small village near Amsterdam. She slips in among her musicians, including Bob Magnusson, Jimmy Cobb, Miles Davis's drummer, and Carl Schroeder, her pianist who has accompanied her for more than 20 years. At 51, not only does the "Divine" use the full range of her voice to sail from the roughest bass to the most scintillating highs, but she smiles, grasps the slightest emotion, seeks communion with each spectator as if he or she were unique, as if she were singing only for him.
Sarah Vaughan – Live At The Berlin Philharmonie 1969 – 2LP 180g Mono Version
"This is an absolutely mesmerizing Vaughan performance of 20 smartly chosen and sequenced tunes — some standards in 1969 and some then new and now standards — intimately mic'd that puts her startlingly and transparently in front of you between the speakers. ,,, the credits (read) cut by Kevin Gray using the original master tapes, lacquers processed at QRP and pressed in Germany on 180-gram vinyl. And that's how it sounds! Highly recommended." — Music = 10/11; Sound = 9/11 — Michael Fremer
Scolohofo – Oh! (Tone Poet Series) Blue Note 180G 2LP Vinyl
ScoLoHoFo — the supergroup made up of guitarist John Scofield, saxophonist Joe Lovano, bassist Dave Holland, and drummer Al Foster — first played together as a band in 1999, but the musicians’ associations stretched back decades. Scofield, Holland, and Foster were all alumni of Miles Davis’ groups and they appeared together on Joe Henderson’s 1993 Miles tribute So Near, So Far. Scofield’s acclaimed early-90s quartet featured Lovano as heard on a series of excellent Blue Note albums including Time On My Hands and Meant To Be.
Shakey Jake – Mouth Harp Blues – Analogue Productions 45RPM 180g Vinyl
The late James Harris earned the moniker "Shakey Jake" due to his proficiency at dice, but he was equally adept at the blues game. The Arkansas-born, Chicago-based singer and harmonica blower traveled to Rudy Van Gelder's New Jersey studio in November 1960 to record Mouth Harp Blues.. Jake brought along Jimmie Lee Robinson, the brilliant, fast-fingered guitarist best known for his work with Little Walter's band. Also making tasty contributions to the session was Robert Banks, the New York R&B and gospel studio organist who, in this case, ably appointed himself as a two-fisted blues piano stylist. Among the 10 selections is the distinctively loping "Easy Baby," a tune also associated with Jake's nephew Magic Sam.