Jazz /
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.
Whistle Stop
Renowned jazz trumpeter Kenny Dorham, one of the most underrated virtuosos in jazz history, invites listeners to revisit his landmark 1961 Blue Note masterpiece Whistle Stop – a bluesy, swinging hard bop session that captures the golden era of modern jazz.
Recorded on January 15, 1961, at Rudy Van Gelder's legendary studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, Whistle Stop showcases Dorham's original compositions performed by an elite quintet: Hank Mobley on tenor saxophone, Kenny Drew on piano, Paul…
The Cat Walk
Blue Note Records proudly unveils a stunning all-analog reissue of Donald Byrd's seminal 1961 hard bop masterpiece, The Cat Walk, as part of its acclaimed Classic Vinyl Series. Scheduled for release on May 15th, 2026, this limited-edition pressing on 180-gram vinyl has been meticulously mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes at Optimal Media studios, delivering unparalleled warmth, depth, and clarity for audiophiles and jazz enthusiasts alike.
Originally recorded on May 2, 1961, …
All Music
Recorded in Chicago in 1976, All Music catches Warne Marsh in lucid, late-middle form: a cool-toned tenor moving with dry wit and quiet daring through Tristano-school material, buoyed by Lou Levy, Fred Atwood and Jake Hanna’s alert swing.
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…
Renaissance
Modern and grounded in the 1960s hard-bop sensibility, the American pianist and composer Albert Dailey (1939 – 1984) had perfect control over his instrument. Since an early age he played with cutting-edge musicians of the likes of Art Blakey, Sarah Vaughan, Stan Getz, Charles Mingus, and Lee Konitz, only to name a few. But despite that, he was an underrated artist during his lifetime, receiving the deserved recognition only after his death. Renaissance 2 November 1977 is his second album, played…
Lola
On Lola, Zbigniew Namysłowski Modern Jazz Quartet fuse blazing post‑bop with Polish highlander melodies, cutting a 1964 London session that became both a historic first outside the Iron Curtain and a cult artefact of fiercely local modern jazz.
The Final Tour: Copenhagen, March 24, 1960
On The Final Tour: Copenhagen, March 24, 1960, Miles Davis and John Coltrane turn a standard club set into a knife‑edge drama, Davis all poised understatement, Coltrane in full escape‑velocity experimentation over one of the greatest rhythm sections in jazz.
New York Is Now!
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** On April 29 and May 7, 1968, iconoclastic saxophonist Ornette Coleman brought a dynamic quartet with tenor saxophonist Dewey Redman, bassist Jimmy Garrison, and drummer Elvin Jones into the studio to record what would yield his final two albums for Blue Note: New York Is Now! and Love Call. The alchemy of this group, which combined Coleman’s first-time two-saxophone pairing with a rhythm team deeply associated with John Coltrane, produced thrilling results.UHQ-CD…
Further Explorations
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** Further Explorations pairs Horace Silver’s piano with Art Farmer on trumpet and Clifford Jordan on tenor sax, plus Teddy Kotick on bass and Louis Hayes on drums. Silver’s blend of blues, gospel, and hard‑bop sophistication is very much in evidence, but the writing nudges things into slightly more intricate territory. Catchy themes, smart modulations, and rhythmic hooks abound, yet everything feels natural and unforced. Farmer and Jordan bring contrasting horn col…
Juju
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** Juju finds Wayne Shorter working with McCoy Tyner on piano, Reggie Workman on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums – essentially the John Coltrane Quartet’s engine repurposed. The tunes, many with subtly African‑inflected rhythmic ideas, open broad spaces for exploration while maintaining clear thematic profiles. Shorter’s improvisations wind through these spaces with a storyteller’s sense of pacing, lingering on simple motifs before leaping into unexpected intervals. …
Newk's Time
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** Newk’s Time captures Sonny Rollins in a quartet with Wynton Kelly on piano, Doug Watkins on bass, and “Philly” Joe Jones on drums, midway through one of the most fertile stretches any saxophonist has enjoyed. Rollins brings his huge, flexible sound and restless imagination to a set of standards and originals, bending them to his will without ever disrespecting the material. Rhythmic play is central: he toys with the beat, displaces phrases, and locates unexpected…
Heavy Soul
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** On Heavy Soul, Ike Quebec’s big, breathy tenor is wrapped in the glow of Freddie Roach’s organ, with Milt Hinton on bass and Al Harewood on drums. The organ‑tenor setting gives the session an intimate, club‑like feel: slow blues, shuffles, and strolls that prioritise mood over flash. Quebec favours clear, singing melodies, letting the natural grain of his sound carry the emotional weight. Roach’s organ lines and comps supply warmth and subtle grit, while Hinton a…
Search For The New Land
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** Search for the New Land shows Lee Morgan in a more reflective, exploratory mood, joined by Wayne Shorter on tenor, Herbie Hancock on piano, Grant Green on guitar, Reggie Workman on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums. The compositions stretch out over modal frameworks and evocative themes that suggest journeys as much inward as outward. The band plays spaciously yet intently, building tension through dynamics and texture more than sheer speed. Morgan’s tone is full …
The Cooker
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** On The Cooker, Lee Morgan fronts a quintet with Pepper Adams on baritone saxophone, Bobby Timmons at the piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and “Philly” Joe Jones on drums, and lives up to the album’s title. Recorded when he was still in his early twenties, the session showcases a trumpet voice brimming with swagger and control. The band digs into blues‑based vehicles and brisk swingers with equal commitment, Adams’ baritone adding a gruff counterweight to Morgan’s br…
It's Time!
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** It’s Time! finds Jackie McLean in the company of Charles Tolliver (trumpet), Herbie Hancock(piano), Cecil McBee (bass), and Roy Haynes (drums), fully committed to pushing forward. The compositions carry spiritual and political weight, and the arrangements make room for assertive horn lines, driving rhythms, and moments of unexpected lyricism. McLean’s playing is as biting as ever, but his navigation of more open, modal spaces shows an expanded vocabulary. Hancock…
Let Freedom Ring
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** On Let Freedom Ring, Jackie McLean fronts a quartet with Walter Davis Jr. on piano, Herbie Lewison bass, and Billy Higgins on drums, and turns the LP format into a manifesto. Stark, ringing themes and open, modal frameworks give the music a declamatory character, while McLean’s alto pushes into the upper register with cries and shouts that go beyond tidy bebop language. Higgins and Lewis oscillate between march‑like insistence and freer undercurrents, and Davis’ …
Bluesnik
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** On Bluesnik, Jackie McLean teams with Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Kenny Drew on piano, Doug Watkins on bass, and Pete La Roca on drums to prove there is still plenty to say within the twelve‑bar form. The band leans heavily on the blues but treats it as a living language, shifting tempos from strolling to urgent and varying the feel from tough swagger to reflective drag. McLean’s solos are full of sharp edges and vocal inflections, while Hubbard brings a more ext…
Demon's Dance
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** Demon’s Dance (often mis‑typed in catalogues) captures Jackie McLean with a younger, firebreathing band: Woody Shaw on trumpet, LaMont Johnson at the piano, Scott Holt on bass, and Jack DeJohnette on drums. The tunes are packed with rhythmic snaps and melodic hooks, yet the improvisations regularly veer into more angular, exploratory territory. McLean’s alto tone is piercing and urgent, cutting through the ensemble with authority, while Shaw’s harmonically advanc…
Total Eclipse
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** On Total Eclipse, Bobby Hutcherson leads a band featuring Harold Land on reeds, Chick Corea on piano, Reggie Johnson on bass, and Joe Chambers on drums. The tunes are more expansive, the structures less immediately obvious; the interplay between vibes and saxophone often feels like a conversation unfolding on the spot. Even brighter passages seem to carry a shadow, a lingering sense of unresolved tension that Hutcherson’s solos trace without trying to dispel. Cor…