Recommended Jazz Vinyl

While a substantial amount of music is unavailable on vinyl, there are some gems that are either newly discovered material or reissued with improved sound and packaging.

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Louis Armstrong Meets Oscar Peterson

Louis Armstrong Meets Oscar Peterson is a brilliant undertaking in which Verve’s legendary “house pianist” encountered one of jazz’s most revered giants. Backed by the Oscar Peterson Trio – bassist Ray Brown, guitarist Herb Ellis and frequent fourth member Louis Bellson on drums – the heavyweights created an album that is utterly compelling, radiantly jubilant and consummate in artistry. Acoustic Sounds Series features all-analog, remastered 180-gram vinyl in deluxe gatefold packaging.

Thelonious Monk
Complete Prestige 10” LP Collection (5 LPs)

Monk’s first session in 1944 with Coleman Hawkins for Joe Davis Records, Monk’s five sessions (1952-54) and his 1954 sideman appearances with Sonny Rollins and Miles Davis are gathered in this 5 LP set. Thirty-three selections in all, including first versions of such Monk classics as “Tinkle Tinkle”, “Bemsha Swing” and “Blue Monk”. Each album has been faithfully reproduced on 10-inch vinyl, with the original cover artwork and session notes.

Miles Davis
The Legendary Prestige Quintet Sessions (6 LP set)

The 42 tunes that make up Miles Davis’ famed quintet sessions between 1951 – 1956 – featuring John Coltrane, Red Garland, Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones – have nearly all become classics, and have resulted in several iconic albums. Includes 6 LPs, plus a 20-page booklet with notes by Jazz historian Bob Blumenthal. The final LP contains audio recordings from eight TV and radio performances by the quintet.

John Coltrane
Coltrane ’58: Prestige Recordings (8 LP set)

Coltrane’s breakout year, when his mature sound first grabbed ears and his own recordings began to sell consistently, was 1958. This release chronicles the story session by session, featuring all 37 tracks Coltrane recorded as a leader or co-leader for the independent Prestige Records label. This collection captures him in creative high gear—developing the signature improvisational style that journalist Ira Gitler famously dubbed “sheets of sound.”

Includes eight 180-gram LPs, remastered from the original analog tapes by Paul Blakemore (all of which were recorded by renowned engineer Rudy Van Gelder) and cut by Clint Holley from 24-bit/192kHz transfers. The lavish, linen-wrapped, portfolio-style book features an eye-catching design and 40 pages containing extensive liner notes by Grammy-winning American music historian Ashley Kahn, rare ephemera and historical photographs of the saxophonist and his collaborators, including several taken by renowned jazz photographers Francis Wolff and Esmond Edwards.

Oscar Peterson
Exclusively For My Friends (6 LP Box Set)

Six of Oscar Peterson’s MPS LPs, recorded at their state-of-the-art studio in Villingen in Germany’s Black Forest between 1963 and 1968 are gathered on this 6 LP set. Personnel includes Ray Brown and Ed Thigpen , Brown and Louis Hayes, Sam Jones and Hayes, Jones and Bobby Durham. Also included is an April 1968 solo piano session.

Bill Evans
Sunday At The Village Vanguard

Evans’s brilliant trio with Scott LaFaro and Paul Motian, which lasted only 19 months and made only 4 albums (“Explorations” and “Portrait In Jazz” in the studio and “Sunday At The Village Vanguard” and “Waltz For Debby” live), was one of those rare examples of perfect chemistry. LaFaro died just 10 days after the June ’61, Village Vanguard sessions.

The Gil Evans Orchestra
Out Of The Cool

Recorded shortly after “Sketches Of Spain,” this is Gil’s first real masterpiece on his own, with breathtaking arrangements of Kurt Weill’s “Bilbao Song,” George Russell’s “Stratusphunk” and his own “La Nevada.” Now includes the bonus track “Sister Sadie.”

Oliver Nelson
The Blues And Abstract Truth

Blues And The Abstract Truth is Oliver Nelson’s triumph. Featuring his all-time classic `Stolen Moments’, Nelson assembled one of the most potent modern jazz sextets ever. Lead trumpeter Freddie Hubbard is at his peak of performance, while alto saxophonists Nelson & Eric Dolphy (Nelson doubling on tenor) team to form an unlikely union that was simmered to perfection. Bill Evans (piano), Paul Chambers (bass) & Roy Haynes (drums) can do no wrong as a rhythm section. Deluxe gatefold packaging.

Lee Morgan
The Cooker

Blue Note was so taken by 18-year-old trumpet prodigy Lee Morgan that they signed him in November 1956 and recorded and issued an album every two months. “The Cooker” was the fifth in a series of six such albums. On this set, it’s the warhorses like “A Night In Tunisia,” “Lover Man” and “Just One Of Those Things” that show the depth, range and technique of this remarkable teenager. An essential and rewarding part of Lee Morgan’s legacy.

Curtis Amy/Dupree Bolton
Katanga

Saxophonist Curtis Amy recorded for Pacific Jazz in the early-1960s, Katanga! transcends not only the rest but plenty of other recorded jazz from that period as well. Trumpeter Dupree Bolton’s brilliant playing here is simply breathtaking in one of his very few recorded appearances during a career plagued with personal problems. Bolton and Amy are joined by guitarist Ray Crawford, pianist Jack Wilson, bassist Victor Gaskin, and drummer Doug Sides on this gem of an album.

Horace Silver
Song For My Father

A visit to Brazil prompted Horace Silver’s interest in his Portuguese roots and led to the magnificent “Song For My Father,” his most enduring composition. Horace Silver introduced his new quintet with Joe Henderson and Carmell Jones on four tracks of this album. Each became a classic: the title tune, “The Natives Are Restless Tonight,” “Que Pasa” and “The Kicker.”

Sam Rivers
Contours

Sam Rivers’ second Blue Note album is a killer quintet session from ’65 with Freddie Hubbard, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Joe Chambers at the top of their game. Highly evolved free bop. Rivers is heard on flute and soprano sax as well as tenor. An alternate take of “Mellifluous Cacophony” is added to the original album.

Andrew Hill
Passing Ships

This amazing 1969 nonet session features spectacular writing by Hill that presages his future big band. The instrumentation is one reed (doubling on tenor, soprano, alto flute and English horn), two trumpets, trombone, French horn, tuba (doubling on bass clarinet), piano, bass and drums. Joe Farrell, Woody Shaw, Dizzy Reece, Julian Priester and Hill are the principal soloists, and the compositions are varied and inventive. A real find!