John Prine – John Prine – Analogue Productions Atlantic 75 Series Hybrid Stereo SACD
On April 7, 2020, John Prine died a victim of the COVID-19 pandemic after a storied career as a singer/songwriter. His first album, John Prine, released in September 1971, marked the beginning of Prine's long musical journey. But Prine's start as a talented songwriter began years before that in Maywood, Illinois.
Roy Haynes – Out Of The Afternoon – Analogue Productions 180g Vinyl
Released in the summer of 1962 on Impulse! Records, Out Of The Afternoon is an album by jazz drummer Roy Haynes. It features multi-instrumentalist Roland Kirk among the musicians in the Haynes Quartet.
Roy Haynes was just about everywhere in the golden age of jazz, recording classic albums with some of the most legendary names of the genre: Miles, Coltrane, Monk, Bud Powell, Sarah Vaughan, Sonny Rollins, Eric Dolphy, Milt Jackson, McCoy Tyner and Jackie McLean. The hard-bop-verging-on-post-bop Out Of The Afternoon is an excellent example of the adventurous spirit that was taking flight in the jazz world in the early 1960s.
Johnny Hodges – Blues A Plenty Analogue Productions 200g 45RPM Vinyl
One of the giants of the alto saxophone, Johnny Hodges was perhaps the most important soloist and sideman in Duke Ellington’s orchestra from 1928 up to Hodges’ death in 1970. The self-taught player made many solo forays during his long career – one of his ’50s outfits included a young John Coltrane – but history remembers Hodges for his virtuosic sidemanship, particularly his sensitive rendering of ballads.
Sonny Stitt – Blows The Blues – Acoustic Sounds 180g Vinyl LP
Sonny Stitt led a number of excellent record dates in 1959, especially at the end of the year when he produced three LPs for Verve over a span of three sessions with pianist Lou Levy, bassist Leroy Vinnegar and drummer Mel Lewis. Playing alto sax throughout this album, Stitt hardly sounds like a Charlie Parker clone, something that unfortunately was a frequent claim by tin-eared critics throughout a fair portion of his career. The music includes several potent originals, especially “Hymnal Blues” and the slow, powerful “Morning After Blues.”
Originally released in 1970.
Amanda McBroom Midnight Matinee XRCD24
Available for the first time on XRCD24 – this release was produced by Peter Bunetta and Rick Chudacoff for Ripe Productions, also the producers for Dreaming. (To their credits they have also produced Michael Bolton’s Soul Survivor, Smokey Robinson’s One Heartbeat and Patti LaBelle’s New Attitude.) Guests on the project include Bob James, who plays keyboards on two tracks, guitarist Robben Ford and keyboardist Brad Cole, who plays with the Phil Collins Band. Audiophiles who’ve enjoyed Amanda’s work for years will certainly want to finally include this XRCD24.