Aug 26, 2025 1:53 PM
Blindfold Test: Buster Williams
Buster Williams, who at the age of 83 has been on the scene for 65 years, had never done a Blindfold Test. The first…
Tony Williams’ Civilization is among the new entries in Blue Note’s Classic Vinyl Series.
(Photo: Courtesy Blue Note Records)From a Record Store Day Exclusive to a trio of cool Tone Poet Society releases as well as a duo of additions to the Classic Vinyl series, Blue Note has been digging into the archives, so we can now go digging in the crates!
Various Artists
Alts ’N Outs: The Other Side Of Blue Note
Blue Note
This is an RSD Exclusive compiling alternate takes from classic Blue Note sessions. The set offers diamonds from Cannonball Adderley, Grant Green, Art Blakey, Jimmy Smith and Sonny Clark. It will be offered on blue vinyl and limited to a pressing of 2,500 copies.
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Teddy Edwards
Sunset Eyes
Blue Note/Pacific Jazz
When Blue Note annouced it’s new Tone Poet Society subscription service, the label laid out a lofty set of releases coming out this year, including tenor saxophonist Teddy Edwards’ Sunset Eyes. Edwards represents the depth of what the series delivers, his legacy is that of a master of jazz deserving wider recognition. Sunset Eyes is one of two records Edwards made for the Pacific label in the 1960s and a wonderful document of his art.
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tonepoetsociety.com
Kenny Burrell with Art Blakey
On View At The Five Spot Café: The Complete Masters
Blue Note
Another addition to its Tone Poet collection, Blue Note offers up this classic meeting from 1959 at The Five Spot Café, a lost shrine of jazz. The three-album (two-CD) set features Tina Brooks on tenor saxophone, Roland Hanna and Bobby Timmons on piano and Ben Tucker on bass. Pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI, the package includes never-before-seen photos and an interview with Burrell himself.
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Art Pepper
Modern Art
Blue Note
Recorded in Hollywood, California, during the 1950s, Modern Art was originally released on the Intro label demonstrating the feel of West Coast cool at the time. Another Tone Poet entry on 180-gram vinyl, mastered by Kevin Gray and pressed by Record Technology Inc.
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Don Pullen
New Beginnings
Blue Note
A new addition to the label’s Classic Vinyl Series, New Beginnings represents pianist Don Pullen branching out on his own in the 1980s after runs with Charles Mingus and co-leading groups with George Adams. The trio on this set is jaw-dropping with Gary Peacock on bass and Tony Williams on drums. This edition is stereo, all-analog and pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Optimal. It’s mastered by Kevin Gray.
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Tony Williams
Civilization
Blue Note
Another entry into the Classic Vinyl Series, Civilization represents Williams’ mid-’80s return to Blue Note, which included a return to acoustic music. Featuring trumpeter Wallace Roney, saxophonist Billy Pierce, pianist Mulgrew Miller and bassist Charnett Moffett, Civilization offers eight Williams originals. The album is stereo, all-analog and mastered by Kevin Gray from the original masters. It’s pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Optimal.
bluenote.com
“What I got from Percy was the dignity of playing the bass,” Buster Williams said of Percy Heath.
Aug 26, 2025 1:53 PM
Buster Williams, who at the age of 83 has been on the scene for 65 years, had never done a Blindfold Test. The first…
Don and Maureen Sickler serve as the keepers of engineer Rudy Van Gelder’s flame at Van Gelder Studio, perhaps the most famous recording studio in jazz history.
Sep 3, 2025 12:02 PM
On the last Sunday of 2024, in the control room of Van Gelder Studio, Don and Maureen Sickler, co-owners since Rudy Van…
The Free Slave, Cosmos Nucleus and Sunset To Dawn: three classic Muse albums being reissued this fall by Timer Traveler Recordings.
Aug 26, 2025 1:32 PM
Record producer and “Jazz Detective” Zev Feldman has launched his next endeavor, the archival label Time Traveler…
Butcher Brown, clockwise from top left: Marcus Tenney, DJ Harrison, Morgan Burrs, Corey Fonville and Andrew Randazzo. (Keyboardist Harrison couldn’t make the gig, so special guest Jacob Mann sat in with the band at the Reno Jazz Festival.)
Aug 19, 2025 12:41 PM
The band known as Butcher Brown has enjoyed the last half-decade basking in the glow from the twin engines of critical…
This year’s Jazz em Agosto set by the Darius Jones Trio captured the titular alto saxophonist at his most ferocious.
Aug 26, 2025 1:31 PM
The organizers of Lisbon, Portugal’s Jazz em Agosto Festival assume its audience is thoughtful and independent. Over…
