Jazz /
Jazz Harpist
*2026 repress!* This is Dorothy Ashby's debut album, originally released in 1957 by the Regent label. Recognized as the woman who gave the harp a jazz voice, here Ashby is at the head of a highly distinctive combo featuring Frank Wess on flute, Eddie Jones or Wendell Marshall on bass and master Ed Thigpen on drums. The Jazz Harpist is an unprecedented mix of evocative classic sounds and jazz soul, awarded by Allmusic as her first and best album, period!
Jazz Mood
The debut album from jazz multi-instrumentalist Yusef Lateef, Jazz Mood was originally released in 1957 on New Jersey’s Savoy label. Featuring five Lateef originals the album included Curtis Fuller (trombone), Hugh Lawson (piano), Ernie Farrow (bass), and Louis Hayes (drums). This new edition of the album is released as part of the Original Jazz Classics Series on 180-gram vinyl pressed at RTI with all-analog mastering from the original tapes at Cohearent Audio and a Stoughton Tip-On Jacket.
The Best Of John Coltrane
The year 2026 marks the hundredth birthday of John Coltrane, whose groundbreaking artistry as a saxophonist, composer, and bandleader made him one of the most influential musical figures of the 20th century. To honor his immeasurable impact, Craft Recordings looks back on Coltrane’s early years as a bandleader with a carefully curated collection of original compositions and standards. Produced with the full support of the John Coltrane Estate, The Best of John Coltrane draws from the saxophonist…
Miles '54 (The Prestige Recordings)
Released to celebrate the 70th anniversary of these sessions and the 75th anniversary of Prestige Records, "Miles '54" brings together 20 tracks recorded by the trumpet legend in 1954. Including cuts from albums released that year, it features Sonny Rollins, Charles Mingus, Horace Silver, Art Blakey, Thelonious Monk and more. Included are new liner notes by GRAMMY Award-winning music historian Ashley Kahn and session notes by Dan Morgenstern, with mastering by Paul Blakemore. 4 LP set on 180g bl…
Tonight At Noon
"Tonight At Noon" compiles tracks from two earlier recordings sessions: one session from 1957 with Jimmy Knepper on the trombone, the drummer Dannie Richmond, Saxophone player Shafi Hadi and the pianist Wade Legge, which were released on the album "The Clown" (Atlantic 1260). The second session took place in 1961 with Booker Ervin and Roland Kirk on the saxophone, Knepper, the bassist Doug Watkins, Mingus at the piano and Richmond on the drums, and was released on "Oh Yeah" (Atlantic SD 1377).
T…
New Trombone
Jazz fans rejoice: Curtis Fuller's seminal debut album, New Trombone, originally released on Prestige in 1957, is back in the spotlight. At just 23 years old, the Detroit-born trombonist arrived on the scene with a fluent, innovative style that marked a bold evolution for the trombone in jazz.
Backed by an all-star quintet – Sonny Red on alto sax, Hank Jones on piano, Doug Watkins on bass, and Louis Hayes on drums – Fuller delivers a powerhouse hard-bop session. The album bursts open with three …
The Original Quintet (First Recording)
From the original "Theme" to a series of beautifully reimagined standards by Duke Ellington, Benny Golson, and Isham Jones, The Original Quintet (First Recording) captures a seminal moment in jazz history. Released in 1956 on Prestige and engineered by the legendary Rudy Van Gelder, this album perfectly synthesizes Miles Davis’s evolving artistic vision, marking a landmark in the bop revolution.
Featuring an extraordinary ensemble including John Coltrane on tenor saxophone, Philly Joe Jones on d…
Collectors' Items
When Ira Gitler, jazz journalist and producer at Prestige, curated this album, the term "collector" was already well-established among music enthusiasts. The pursuit of out-of-print recordings, old 78 rpm discs, and unreleased material had reached an intensity comparable to the fervor seen in the vinyl-collecting market decades later. Gitler aimed to offer jazz fans unreleased Prestige recordings while meeting expectations for the amount of music on an LP. Initially dismissed as a mere compilati…
Super-Sonic Jazz
When Sun Ra released his debut Saturn release in 1957, he signaled the Arkestra’s mission for the future. The cover declared the album a "21st Century Limited Edition." The compositions on Supersonic Jazz conveyed optimism and hope, bringing a message auguring the World of Tomorrow. Ra declared this the first dimension of a fresh art form, as he set about evolving a new American music — a composite of the past and future, the known coalescing with the unknown. The album, not very well received u…
Mingus Ah Um
When driving a band with his upright bass, Charles Mingus looked -and was- gigantic, in more ways than one. He had huge creative appetites (as well as being hot tempered), creating his own combination of hard bop, blues, and avant-garde jazz. There was no one more multi-faceted than Mingus between the 1950s and 1970s and of his many albums, Mingus Ah Um (1959) is considered to be a jazz classic.
Traneing In
*2025 stock* John Coltrane with the Red Garland Trio is the third studio album by the jazz musician John Coltrane. It was released in early 1958 through Prestige Records. The recording took place at Rudy Van Gelder's studio on August 23, 1957. It was reissued in 1961 as Traneing In with a new catalogue number and cover design.
Collector's Item
When Ira Gitler, jazz journalist and producer at Prestige, curated this album, the term "collector" was already well-established among music enthusiasts. The pursuit of out-of-print recordings, old 78 rpm discs, and unreleased material had reached an intensity comparable to the fervor seen in the vinyl-collecting market decades later. Gitler aimed to offer jazz fans unreleased Prestige recordings while meeting expectations for the amount of music on an LP. Initially dismissed as a mere compilati…
City Lights
Sowing Records present a reissue of Lee Morgan's City Lights, originally released on Blue Note in 1957. City Lights is the result of a fine session recorded at the legendary Rudi Van Gelder studio by an all-star sextet featuring the 19 years old trumpet genius Lee Morgan plus an impressive coalition of jazz stylists such as Curtis Fuller on trombone, George Coleman on tenor sax, Ray Bryant on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Art Taylor on drums. All great players caught here in top form while d…
Blues For Gassman
Limited edition The most valuable of Gürtler’s (founder of Saar Records in 1950) jewels came from the jazz world. Gürtler donated all his passion and expertise to jazz, financing every project without complaints. The jewel in the crown of his productions was the LPJ 5007 album (Basso-Valdambrini Octet), considered by critics the best one ever published in Italy till that moment. The records selection, to which also Gürtler took part, leaned towards the classic themes of the American repertoire, …
Byrd In Paris (Volume 1)
*2022 stock. In process of stocking* Trumpeter Donald Byrd spent a few months in France in 1958, and a Paris concert resulted in two LPs' worth of material. Byrd's quintet at the time included Bobby Jaspar (on tenor and flute), pianist Walter Davis, Jr., bassist Doug Watkins, and drummer Art Taylor. Byrd was just beginning to find his own sound in the late '50s and he is in excellent form on "Dear Old Stockholm," Sonny Rollins' "Paul's Pal," Jaspar's "Flute Blues," "Ray's Idea," and "The Blues W…
Jazz Sur Seine
A fantastic early recording from the great French tenor saxophonist Barney Wilen – best known as an artist who recorded famously in the soundtrack world of the French new wave, and with Art Blakey – but who's even more striking here on a rare small combo date from the 50s! The session's a monster – cut with rhythmic backing by Milt Jackson on piano (!?), Percy Heath on bass, and Kenny Clarke on drums – and two cuts feature additional percussion by Gana M'Bow, which gives the set a wonderful kick…
I Had the Craziest Dream: Modern Jazz and Hard-Bop in Post War London, Vol. 1
Another luminous compilation from London's Death is Not the End, this time examining the city's modern jazz and hard-bop scenes from the end of the 1940s until the early '60s.
Flute, Brass, Vibes And Percussion
In 1959, flutist Herbie Mann put together a very interesting band that was in its brief existence (before Mann's interests shifted elsewhere) one of the top in Afro-Cuban jazz. Utilizing four trumpets (including Doc Cheatham), up to three percussionists and a flute-vibes-bass-drums quartet, Mann performs four standards (including "Dearly Beloved," "I'll Remember April" and "Autumn Leaves") and two originals in a style that was beyond bop and much more African- and Cuban-oriented.
African Suite
Impressive session led jointly by Herbie Mann and John Rae. On side A, the group incessantly shifts from soft vibes-and-flute jazz to percussion-heavy Afro-Cuban rhythms to classic "Blue-Note" hard bop. Side B is the African Suite, a percussive trip across the Sahara.