Even though Duke Ellington and Coleman Hawkins had both been well-known jazzmen since the early 1920s, it wasn't until 1962 - at least 20 years after Duke first suggested it - that these two recorded their only session together. High points include an exuberant "The Jeep Is Jumpin'," an interesting remake of "Mood Indigo," and a few new Ellington pieces. Verve Acoustic Sounds Series features transfers from analog tapes and remastered on 180-gram vinyl in deluxe gatefold packaging.

Organist "Brother" Jack McDuff came to Blue Note and made one of the most ambitious albums of his career with Moon Rappin'. Released in 1970, it features five funky, spaced-out originals including "Oblighetto," which would later be sampled by A Tribe Called Quest as the foundation of their classic tracks "Scenario," and "Check the Rhime." Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series is all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Optimal.

Ronnie Foster caught the ear of Blue Note Records after appearing on Grant Green's album Alive! and made his own Blue Note debut with Two Headed Freap. It includes covers of Al Green and Wilson Pickett along with originals like "Mystic Brew," which A Tribe Called Quest would later sample on their classic track "Electric Relaxation." Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series is all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Optimal.

Amy Winehouse's At The BBC features tracks from appearances on Later... with Jools Holland over the years, notably Amy's first performance on the show in 2003 with "Stronger Than Me." Plus, two performances from the Mercury Prize: "Take The Box" from 2004 and "Love Is A Losing Game" from 2007. Available for the first time as an audio-only release. The 3LP set is housed in a triple gatefold package and is pressed on 180-gram black vinyl.

I've been playing since I was 11 years old," says Charlie Gabriel, the most senior member of the legendary Preservation Hall Band, "I never did anything in my life but play music. I've been blessed with that gift that God gave me, and I've tried to nurse it the best way I knew how." While he's faced plenty of challenges nursing that gift for more than 78 years, none likely rank with last winter's passing of his brother and last living sibling, Leonard, lost to COVID-19. For the first time ever, Gabriel put down his horn, filling his days and weeks instead with dark reflection, a stubborn despondency broken now and then by regular chess matches in the studio kitchen of Hall leader Ben Jaffe, working overtime to bring his friend some light. One such afternoon also included Joshua Starkman, sitting off in a corner playing his guitar and half-watching the chess from a distance. When Charlie returned the next day, he brought his saxophone. "I was just inspired to try it, to play again. It had been a long time, and a guitar makes me feel free. I do love the sound of a piano, but it takes up a lot of a space, keeps me kind of boxed in." That day was to be the first session for Eighty Nine, almost entirely the work of Gabriel, Jaffe and Starkman, recorded mostly right there, in the kitchen, by Matt Aguiluz. Charlie Gabriel's first professional gig dates to 1943, sitting in for his father in New Orleans' Eureka Brass Band. As a teenager living in Detroit, Charlie played with Lionel Hampton, whose band then included a young Charles Mingus, later spending nine years with a group led by Cab Calloway drummer J.C. Heard. While he's also fronted a bebop quintet, played and/or toured with Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennet, Aretha Franklin and many more, this is the first time his name appears on the front of a record, as a bandleader. Since 2006, Gabriel has been a member of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, featuring prominently on That's It, So It Is, and Tuba to Cuba. Eighty Nine was different, and not simply due to a smaller ensemble. "We had no particular plan, or any particular insight on what we were gonna do. But we were enjoying what we were doing, jamming, having a musical conversation," Charlie says, further musing, "Musical conversations cancel out complications." Eighty Nine includes six standards and three newer pieces on which Gabriel is a writer: "Yellow Moon," "The Darker It Gets" and "I Get Jealous." The record also marks Charlie's return to his first instrument, clarinet, on many of the tracks. "The clarinet is the mother of the saxophone," he says. "I started playing clarinet early in life, and this [taught me] the saxophone." Finally, Eighty Nine includes three tracks of Charlie singing. "I always sung, but it wasn't my forte to become a singer," he says. "The truth is, people often develop a real relationship with a song once they hear the words. Sometimes I enjoy singing them.

For decades, the voice of Jean Carne has been a crucial part of the American musical landscape, tying together generations of Jazz, Gospel, and R&B artists. As a solo artist, backing vocalist, and vocal coach, she has contributed to and collaborated with the likes of Norman Connors, Doug Carn, Dexter Wansel, Phyllis Hyman, Lonnie Liston Smith, Michael Jackson, and many more. At 74, she shows no signs of slowing down. Many will recognize Carne from her output in the early 1970s, alongside her then-husband Doug Carn, for the lauded Black Jazz label. During this era of afrocentric creativity, the duo's output found themselves at the nexus of jazz's tectonic past decade and the fertile ground ahead. Without the constraints of genre or structure, artists such as Carne, on her Black Jazz output as well as on the saxophonist Azar Lawrence's 'Bridge Into The New Age' and percussionist Mtume's 'Rebirth Cycle', began to explore and re-interpolate, continuing the tradition of jazz music as a mode of reinvention, repurposing, and reimagining.

Two CD set. Live In Paris: The Radio France Recordings includes previously unreleased live performances from 1983-1984 by the famed trumpeter/vocalist Chet Baker. The dazzling performances by his drumless trios are complemented with essays by journalists Ashley Kahn and Franck Bergerot, and Pascal Rozat of INA France. Plus, interviews and statements from Baker sidemen, Sonny Rollins, Archie Shepp, David Murray, Carla Bley, John Zorn, Carlos Santana, Joe Lovano, and many more!

Norah Jones’ seminal debut album, Come Away With Me, became a global phenomenon reaching #1 in 20 countries, selling nearly 30 million copies, and sweeping the 2003 GRAMMY Awards with 8 wins including Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist. The remastered 20th Anniversary Edition captures the emergence of a singular talent on this now-classic album.

The greatest bassist leader jazz has ever known, Charles Mingus, with his spirited playing and spontaneity, always kept his ears and fingers on the pulse. “Mingus was something else, man,” Miles Davis wrote in his own book. “A pure genius, I loved him.”-This year marks the birth centenary of Charles Mingus, whose musical legacy is still ongoing. From artists like Kamasi Washington bringing him to a new generation, Chrissie Hynde, whose latest album includes a Mingus cover, Candace Springs, Elvis Costello, to Gang Starr sampling him, and Joni Mitchell writing lyrics to his music. -Originally released in 1957 on the Jubilee label, Mingus Three is one of only two albums led by Mingus in a trio setting, featuring pianist Hampton Hawes and drummer Dannie Richmond. This remastered release includes a whole extra disc of previously unreleased outtakes, discovered by chance, from these sessions, as well as liner notes by Charles Mingus’ friend and colleague Sy Johnson.

Released in 1961, My Favorite Things made John Coltrane a star with box-office pull previously reserved for the likes of Dave Brubeck and Miles Davis. The dazzling quartet treatment of the Richard Rodgers hit song features Coltrane on soprano saxophone for the first time on record and became an instant hit single in its own right. The album also became a major commercial success, receiving the Grammy Hall of Fame award in 1998 and attaining gold record status in 2018. The recently uncovered mono version of this album—once believed to be lost forever—is included in this deluxe package along with the stereo version, both having been mastered from the original tapes. This 60th Anniversary deluxe edition also includes liner notes by award-winning writer Ben Ratliff, as well as photos and Atlantic Records ephemera.

In May of 1957, Art Blakey and his Jazz Messengers went into the studio with Thelonious Monk to record a one-off album for Atlantic. The Jazz Messengers were a loose collective of young Jazz musicians, with a constantly rotating lineup to keep the music fresh and help launch new careers. In this iteration we find Art Blakey on drums, Thelonious Monk on piano, Johnny Griffin on tenor saxophone, Bill Hardman on trumpet and Spanky DeBrest on bass. -Blakey had recorded with Monk on various occasions, but this was the first time Monk sat in with the Jazz Messengers. This also marks Thelonious Monk’s only appearance on Atlantic Records. The result is a true meeting of the minds, a beautiful union of Monk’s melodies with Blakey’s unshakable sense of swing. This 65thAnniversary deluxe edition includes an extra disc ofunreleased outtakes, celebrating the most sensational jazz collaboration of the 1950s.

Gerald Wilson's 1962 album, Moment of Truth, features his dynamic big band on an action-packed 9-song set (7 of which were composed by Wilson) with highlights including the swaggering blues of the title track, the irrepressible Latin groove of "Viva Tirado," and a fleet-footed version of Miles Davis's "Milestones." Blue Note Tone Poet Series features all-analog, remastered 180-gram vinyl in deluxe gatefold packaging.

Recorded in May 1964, shortly after Hubbard left Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, the quintet - with James Spaulding, Ronnie Mathews, Eddie Khan, and Joe Chambers - moves assuredly from free-form playing and modal jazz to the blues and balladry on this 6-song set of originals by Hubbard and Chambers. Blue Note Tone Poet Series features all-analog, remastered 180-gram vinyl in deluxe gatefold packaging.

Andrew Hill is one of the most distinctive pianists/composers in jazz. Recorded in 1969, it sat unreleased until 2003 when it was issued on CD thanks to archivist Michael Cuscuna. Hill penned all compositions for an ensemble featuring Woody Shaw, Dizzy Reece, Julian Priester, Joe Farrell, Howard Johnson, Bob Northern, Ron Carter and Lenny White. This is presented for the first time on vinyl. Blue Note Tone Poet Series features all-analog, remastered 180-gram vinyl in deluxe gatefold packaging.

This release marks the first vinyl reissue of the jazz classic by master conguero Mongo Santamaría.  First released in 1976, Sofrito combines jazz with Afro-Cuban grooves, funk and soul. From the simmering blues of “Spring Song” to the devastating bass line of “O Mi Shangó” to the rousing groove of the title track, this set exemplifies the heady ambition of ’70s Afro-fusion at its most soulful. This edition features lacquers cut by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio and is pressed on 180-gram vinyl.

Released as part of the Acoustic Sounds Series celebrating 70 years of Contemporary Records, Saxophonist Art Pepper's first album "Meets The Rhythm Section" features Pepper's legendary sessions with the East Coast rhythm section for Miles Davis's quintet. Originally released in 1957 and recorded by legendary engineer Roy DuNann this new edition features ALL-ANALOG mastering from the original analog tapes by Bernie Grundman. It is pressed on 180-gram vinyl at QRP and presented in a tip-on jacket.

Released as part of the Acoustic Sounds Series celebrating 70 years of Contemporary Records, Shelly Manne & Friends "My Fair Lady" is the first album to ever consist of jazz versions of songs from just a single Broadway musical. First released in 1956 and recorded by legendary engineer Roy DuNann this new edition features ALL-ANALOG mastering from the original analog tapes by Bernie Grundman. The record is pressed on 180-gram vinyl at QRP and is presented in a tip-on jacket.

Released as part of the Acoustic Sounds Series celebrating 70 years of Contemporary Records, Saxophonist Benny Carter's Jazz Giant album features performances by Andre Previn, Shelly Manne, Barney Kessel and Ben Webster amongst others. First released in 1958 and recorded by legendary engineer Roy DuNann this new edition features ALL-ANALOG mastering from the original analog tapes by Bernie Grundman. The record is pressed on 180-gram vinyl at QRP and is presented in a tip-on jacket.

Released as part of the Acoustic Sounds Series celebrating 70 years of Contemporary Records, Four! highlights the timeless talents of Hampton Hawes (Piano), Barney Kessel (Guitar), Shelly Manne (Drums) & Red Mitchell (Bass). First released in 1958 and recorded by legendary engineer Roy DuNann this new edition features ALL-ANALOG mastering from the original analog tapes by Bernie Grundman. The record is pressed on 180-gram vinyl at QRP and presented in a tip-on jacket.

Released in 1964, JuJu is Grammy®-winner Wayne Shorter's fifth album. Celebrating its 50th anniversary, JuJu will be reissued as part of the overall Blue Note 75th anniversary vinyl reissue campaign spearheaded by current Blue Note Records President, Don Was.

Released as part of the Acoustic Sounds Series celebrating 70 years of Contemporary Records, The Poll Winners brings togther the talents of Barney Kessel (Guitar), Shelly Manne (Drums) and Ray Brown (Bass). First released in 1957 and recorded by legendary engineer Roy DuNann this new edition features ALL-ANALOG mastering from the original analog tapes by Bernie Grundman. The record is pressed on 180-gram vinyl at QRP and presented in a tip-on jacket.

Double vinyl LP pressing. Acclaimed vibraphonist and composer Joel Ross returns with his third Blue Note album, The Parable of the Poet, an expansive album-length suite comprised of seven evocative movements. The suite is performed by a dynamic 8-piece ensemble with Ross joined by Immanuel Wilkins on alto saxophone, Maria Grand on tenor saxophone, Marquis Hill on trumpet, Kalia Vandever on trombone, Sean Mason on piano, Rick Rosato on bass, and Craig Weinrib on drums.

Vinyl LP repressing. Recorded in 1964, Herbie Hancock's EMPYREAN ISLES was his fourth album for Blue Note and features Freddie Hubbard on cornet. This release debuts two of Hancock's most treasured songs, "One Finger Snap" and "Cantaloupe Island". Includes special Blue Note 75 vinyl sleeve that features album cover art for 75 Blue Note titles.

This beloved 1963 album on Impulse! is a career highlight for both Johnny Hartman and John Coltrane. Hartman was apparently Coltrane's suggestion for the recording and his deep, dark voice meshes perfectly here with Coltrane's tenor. The material is well-chosen, including definitive readings of "My One and Only Love" and "Lush Life." Verve Acoustic Sounds Series features transfers from analog tapes and remastered on 180-gram vinyl in deluxe gatefold packaging.

Nearly sixty years after they first played together, Ry Cooder and Taj Mahal, longtime friends and collaborators, reunite with an album of music from two Piedmont blues masters who have inspired them all their lives: GET ON BOARD: THE SONGS OF SONNY TERRY & BROWNIE MCGHEE.

With Taj Mahal on vocals, harmonica, guitar, and piano and Cooder on vocals, guitar, mandolin, and banjo-joined by Joachim Cooder on drums and bass-the duo recorded eleven songs drawn from recordings and live performances by Terry and McGhee, who they both first heard as teenagers in California.

TAJ MAHAL & RY COODER - GET ON BOARD

Introspective, Almost-Hallucinogenic 1962 Album a Pinnacle for Both Jazz IconsGuitarist Hall Aids Pianist Evans in Rebounding from TragedyDiverse Set Encompasses Ballads, Waltzes, Hard-Swinging BopDivine Sonics: LP Mastered on Mobile Fidelity's World-Renowned Mastering System and Pressed at RTIBill Evans catapulted to the top of the jazz world in June 1961 after reeling off three straight masterpiece sessions at New York's Village Vanguard with his trio. Yet the emotional highs came to a screeching halt shortly thereafter when bassist Scott LaFaro died in a car accident. Devastated, Evans refrained from playing for nearly a year. If not for an inspirational collaboration of tremendous creative outpouring, one wonders what fate may have befallen Evans. Undercurrent, the outcome of two studio sessions with guitarist Jim Hall, is that project.Mastered on Mobile Fidelity's world-renowned mastering system and pressed at RTI, this Silver Label LP edition bursts forth with brilliant textures, you-are-there realism, and extraordinary tonalities. No other version outside of this analog copy brings you face-to-face with these two jazz giants' sonic communion, a kind of spiritual musical summit on which Evans' deft keyboard touches and Hall's reliably subtle phrasings seamlessly mesh and wonderfully dance, the compositions streaked with natural instrumental decay, full-frequency extensions, and poignant emotionalism that, on this LP, you can feel.While Evans managed to sit down for a few one-off takes between LaFaro's passing and these April-May 1962 dates, he largely remained on hiatus and abstained from recording. Whether it owes to the intimate pairing, he and Hall's brotherly chemistry, or the exquisite selection of program material, the results consistently come across as the equivalent of a private meditation - such is the level of introspective depth and quietly shaded interplay throughout. For Evans, the duet clearly functions as therapy, a healing episode in which his partner patiently lays back, shadowing moves and suggesting others, neither musician interested in the spotlight but each striving for (and achieving) transcendent beauty.In tackling standards such as Rodgers and Hart's 'My Funny Valentine' and the Broadway classic 'Darn That Dream,' as well as the Hall original 'Romain,' the pair traverses complex harmonies with the astute elegance of a figure skater. At times, Evans and Hall go for broke on a hard-swinging romps, yet it's their implied melancholy and drifting, softly struck melodic refrains on waltzes and ballads that bestows Undercurrent with a nuanced romanticism and whispered atmosphere befitting the record's title. Indeed, even the album's cover - an iconic photograph by Toni Frissell - exhibits the surreal, almost-hallucinogenic properties of the fare contained within.

Jazztronica duo Blue Lab Beats make their full-length Blue Note Records debut with Motherland Journey, an album years in the making that celebrates pushing boundaries, taking risks, and overcoming adversity. Following their appearance on 2020's Blue Note Re:imagined project and their 2021 EP, We Will Rise, this new album is a star-studded affair featuring the duo (producer NK-OK and multi-instrumentalist Mr DM) joined by collaborators including Ghetto Boy, Tiana Major9, KillBeatz and more.

Alto saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins follows-up his acclaimed debut, Omega, with another striking album featuring his remarkable quartet with pianist Micah Thomas, bassist Daryl Johns, and drummer Kweku Sumbry, plus appearances by flutist Elena Pinderhughes and the Farafina Kan Percussion Ensemble. It consists of an hour-long suite comprised of 7 movements that strive to bring them closer to complete vesselhood by the end, where the music would be entirely improvised and channeled collectively.

CD companion to the recent vinyl reissue of the third album from hugely influential British bluesman John Mayall, who gave a boost to a young Eric Clapton when Mayall asked Clapton to join his Bluesbreakers band! Having left the Bluesbreakers behind, Mayall originally released this solo album in 1980 and showed that he had the chops to stand on his own! This reissue revamps the artwork with vintage photos of Mayall in a gorgeous 4 panel digipak!

On Curtis Stigers's 2022 release, this multi platinum artist takes a look back with new versions of his international hits "I Wonder Why," "Never Saw A Miracle," and "You're All That Matters To Me," as well as "This Life," the theme song to the TV show Sons Of Anarchy, and (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace Love and Understanding" from The Bodyguard soundtrack. Stigers revisits these classics and more, in his signature laid back, jazzy, bluesy style.

A few years ago, there were whispers around blues-rock dynamo Beth Hart's orbit about a glorious album of Led Zeppelin covers, meticulously put together by superstar producer Rob Cavallo (Green Day, Linkin Park, My Chemical Romance). The only thing missing was vocals. Beth's dynamically expressive singing, which spans honeyed delicate tones, sandpaper gritty soulfulness, and rattle-the-rafters high notes, would be the perfect fit. Yet, the Grammy-nominated blues-rock singer-songwriter was hesitant. "Heavy rock has a lot of screaming and yelling, and a lot of my anger had died down over the years. I was scared to reconnect with it for this Led Zeppelin album," Beth explains. "But a lot of things started coming up around the pandemic, and, as time went on, I felt willing to take that risk." The resulting 9-song album, 'Beth Hart: A Tribute To Led Zeppelin', produced by Rob Cavallo and featuring him as a guitarist, is an artistic feat-a viscerally rocking album that is both faithful and personal.The 'Beth Hart: A Tribute To Led Zeppelin' setlist is a perfectly-curated sampling of the band's majesty. The 9-track album features a mix of Zep essentials and fan favorites. Beth musters empathic emotionality on the album's elegant version of "Stairway To Heaven," conjuring the aching beauty of the timeless tune with her own dramatic flair. "I wanted to connect to the feeling of the original track. For me, I started thinking of a woman who lost her way, and was in a horrible loveless place," Beth recalls. Reflecting back on the album and it's epiphanic recording sessions, Beth says: "I was able to exorcise a lot of demons making this record. It was also just a really special experience creating with such amazing, compassionate, and respectful people as Rob, Doug, and my husband." She continues: "Art and music are about seeking the truth, and you need friends and people you trust around you when you do that. The overall experience just felt like being with family during very uncertain times."'Beth Hart: A Tribute To Led Zeppelin' is available everywhere Feb 2022

2022 release. There's nothing like the sound of a world-class bluesman getting back to business. Last October, when son of the late blues legend Luther Allison, Bernard Allison, returned to his old haunt of Bessie Blue Studios, Tennessee, to be greeted by fabled producer and career-long collaborator Jim Gaines, it felt like coming home. And when Allison fired up the amps, counted in the band and embarked upon his latest studio album, Highs And Lows, everything felt right with the world. "Just to be able to create music again after the pandemic," he says of that long-awaited rebirth, "was incredible."

2022 Release. Cheerfully bucking the traditional idea that self-titledalbums are only for artistsjust getting started, RickBraun marks a fresh newchapter in his career withRick Braun, a stylistically eclectic, ultra-funky/soulful and exoticatinged collection on his indie labelBrauntosoarus that celebrates30 years since Intimate Secretslaunched him to contemporary jazzstardom and made him one of thegenre's most influential artists andproducers.

Legendary drummer Simon Phillips returns with Protocol V, once again reimagining his adventurous jazz/fusion outfit. Instrumentation is expanded to a quintet format, including saxophone, launching the group into sonic territory familiar to fans of Chick Corea's Elektric Band in the late 1980s. Strands of DNA from other iconic artists like John McLaughlin, Tony Williams, Allan Holdsworth and Jan Hammer are woven throughout. Simon's impressive compositional skills are also on display, culminating in an 11-minute mini-suite called "The Long Road Home." Available as a beautiful 6-panel CD digipak! Protocol V is a must for Simon's devotees worldwide.

On his 2022 album, The Sun is Shining Down, Blues legend John Mayall teams up with a stellar cast to deliver a funky soulful affair punctuated by brass, violins, harmonica and electric ukulele. Special guests include, The Heartbreakers' Mike Campbell, fast rising roots rocker Marcus King, Americana icon Buddy Miller, Scarlet Rivera of Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Review, Chicago blues guitar mainstay Melvin Taylor and Hawaiian ukulele star Jake Shimabukuro. Also on hand are Mayall's longtime dynamic Chicago rhythm section of Greg Rzab on bass guitar and Jay Davenport on drums with Austin's multi-talented and charismatic Carolyn Wonderland on guitar. Recorded at Robby Krieger's (The Doors) Horse Latitudes studio with Grammy nominated Producer Eric Corne, The Sun is Shining Down is Mayall's 5th studio album for Forty Below Records, a fruitful partnership that began with 2014's A Special Life.