Charlie Hunter – Bing Bing Bing! (Classic Vinyl Series) Blue Note 2 LP Vinyl
Charlie Hunter’s 1995 Blue Note debut Bing Bing Bing! was a groove-heavy tour-de-force that marked the arrival of a virtuosic guitarist whose unique concept on his 8-string guitar produced music that was both impressive and irrepressible. Hunter’s trio laid down a program of originals plus an unforgettable cover of Nirvana’s “Come As You Are.” 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.
Grant Green – The Latin Bit (Tone Poet Series) Blue Note 180G Vinyl
Guitarist Grant Green explored Latin & Brazilian influences on his highly enjoyable 1962 album The Latin Bit featuring Johnny Acea on piano, Wendell Marshall on bass, Willie Bobo on drums, Carlos "Patato" Valdes on conga, and Garvin Masseaux on chekere. Blue Note Records’ Tone Poet Audiophile Vinyl Reissue Series is produced by Joe Harley and features all-analog, mastered-from-the-original-master-tapes, 180g audiophile vinyl reissues in deluxe packaging. Mastering is by Kevin Gray (Cohearent Audio) and vinyl is manufactured at Record Technology Incorporated (RTI).
Jackie Mclean – Tippin’ The Scales Lp (Blue Note Tone Poet Series) Blue Note 180G Vinyl
Recorded in 1962 but not released until 1979, Jackie McLean’s album Tippin’ The Scales found the alto saxophonist and Blue Note stalwart leading a quartet with Sonny Clark on piano, Butch Warren on bass, and Art Taylor on drums through a stellar set of hard bop including originals by McLean, Clark, and Vernon Duke’s “Cabin in the Sky.”
This stereo Tone Poet Audiophile Vinyl Edition was produced by Joe Harley, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analog master tapes, pressed on 180g vinyl at Record Technology Incorporated (RTI), and packaged in a deluxe gatefold tip-on jacket.
Grant Green – Feelin’ The Spirit (Tone Poet Series) Blue Note 180G Vinyl
Blue Note Tone Poet Series Vinyl Edition on 180-gram LP
Grant Green was Feelin’ The Spirit on this deeply soulful 1962 date that found the great guitarist interpreting a set of spirituals with a state-of-the-art modern jazz line-up featuring Herbie Hancock on piano, Butch Warren on bass, Billy Higgins on drums plus Garvin Masseaux on tambourine. This stereo Tone Poet Vinyl Edition was produced by Joe Harley, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analogue master tapes, pressed on 180g vinyl at RTI, and packaged in a deluxe gatefold tip-on jacket.
Arturo Michelangeli – Concerto For Piano – The Lost Recordings 180g Vinyl
For decades now pianists and other musicians have acclaimed the recording of this concert, only available on video. It was of utmost importance to us to publish it as a record. While we were looking for the video recording in the BBC archives, we stumbled upon the analog stereo tape that had fallen into oblivion. We used it to bring this emotion-filled, historical evening back to life.
Dave Brubeck Quartet – Debut In The Netherlands 1958 – The Lost Recordings 2LP 180g Vinyl
With the support of the American State Department, the Dave Brubeck Quartet, including new members Joe Morello and Eugene Wright, began a major tour of Europe early in 1958. Their first concert in the Netherlands was held on 26 February in the legendary Concertgebouw Hall in Amsterdam, usually reserved for performances of classical music. Since 1951 and the collaboration between Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond, the band had gained a stunning reputation. In 1954, Dave Brubeck was featured on the cover of Time magazine. Rumor has it that Duke Ellington knocked on Brubeck’s hotel door to congratulate him. Brubeck is said to have responded, “It should have been you.” He dedicated one of his most famous pieces, “The Duke”, included on this album, to his fellow pianist.
Duke Ellington – Berlin Jazz Festival 1969-73 – The Lost Recordings 180g Vinyl
On November 8, 1969, on the stage of the great hall of the Berlin Philharmonic, the Duke, whose portrait is the poster of the Jazztage Festival which celebrates his 70th birthday, slowly joined his piano. His orchestra is at the orders, adorned with a gleaming section of which some have accompanied him for 30 years, such as Cootie Willams and Cat Anderson. The legendary saxophonists Paul Gonsalves and Johnny Hodges and Russell Procope are also present.
Oscar Peterson Trio – Live At Concertgebouw 1961 – The Lost Recordings 2LP 180g Vinyl
It is 9 p.m. on February 10, 1961, when Norman Granz takes the stage of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw to present one of the most sensational concerts of the Oscar Peterson Trio. Norman Granz is the greatest impesario and producer in the history of Jazz. Behind the scenes is his protégé, the one he discovered by chance one night in 1949 on the radio of a Montreal taxi, the one he would lead to the top of the pianists. The one he presents that evening as "the Ineffable". It can be said that Peterson plays 100 notes when others play 10, but this virtuosity is not disturbing when it is so perfectly placed in the service of music. The fluidity of the first notes of the introduction sets the tone for an exceptional concert... This is the first release of this recording.
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
