Apr 2, 2024 12:59 PM
Saxophonist, Sonic Explorer Casey Benjamin Dies at 45
Casey Benjamin, the alto saxophonist, vocalist, keyboardist and producer who stamped his distinctive sounds on the…
New titles in the Original Jazz Classics reissue series from Craft Recordings.
(Photo: Courtesy Craft Recordings)The latest reissues in Craft Recordings’ Original Jazz Classics series will include the Red Garland Trio’s Groovy, Kenny Burrell & John Coltrane’s Kenny Burrell & John Coltrane, the John Wright Trio’s South Side Soul and the New Miles Davis Quintet’s Miles. Currently available for pre-order, these reissues, which will be rolled out from April through July, feature lacquers cut from the all-analog original tapes by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio (the Kenny Burrell & John Coltrane and Groovy titles were cut by Cohearent Audio’s Matthew Lutthans), 180-gram vinyl pressed at RTI and tip-on jackets replicating the original album artwork. All titles will also be released digitally in 192kHz/24-bit HD audio.
The Red Garland Trio’s Groovy (available April 26), which sits firmly in the bebop/hard-bop genre, finds the Texas-born pianist with drummer Art Taylor and bassist Paul Chamber. It was the trio’s third album together, released in 1957.
Kenny Burrell & John Coltrane (available May 31) was recorded in 1958 and released five years later. Guitarist Burrell and saxophonist Coltrane went back together as far as 1951, when they both played in Dizzy Gillespie’s band. By 1958, this recorded collaboration with Burrell would end up being Coltrane’s last before he went on a spiritual music journey that would culminate in A Love Supreme.
John Wright Trio’s South Side Soul (available June 28) finds the Chicago-bred pianist bolstered by Wendell Roberts on bass and Walter McCants on drums. The trio’s 1960 debut features a slinky-cool title track, which cemented “South Side Soul” as Wright’s nickname. Meanwhile, a pair of harmonic escapes, “Sin Corner” and “Amen Corner,” nod ever so slyly to Wright’s roots playing in a Baptist church.
The New Miles Davis Quintet’s 1956 debut Miles (available July 26) came together after a record executive encouraged the trumpeter to form a band. The talent Davis assembled ended up becoming a dream team of tenor saxophonist John Coltrane, pianist Red Garland, bassist Paul Chambers and Davis’ favorite drummer, Philly Joe Jones. The album features a mix of pop and jazz standards.
Original Jazz Classics was created in 1982 under Fantasy Records and was relaunched last year, with jazz fans and critics acknowledging the series’ devotion to preserving and restoring seminal jazz albums — paying mind to everything from cover art to liner notes to the audio recordings themselves. Since its inception, the series has reissued more than 850 hard-to-find jazz albums, among them acclaimed titles from the Prestige, Galaxy, Milestone, Riverside, Debut, Contemporary, Jazzland and Pablo labels. Craft Recordings announced it plans to continue to grow its Original Jazz Classics series this year with audiophile vinyl and digital reissues of even more out-of-print titles.
Click here to pre-order the new titles, or click here to shop the complete OJC collection. Stay tuned for announcements regarding more reissues coming later this year. DB
Benjamin possessed a fluid, round sound on the alto saxophone, and he was often most recognizable by the layers of electronic effects that he put onto the instrument.
Apr 2, 2024 12:59 PM
Casey Benjamin, the alto saxophonist, vocalist, keyboardist and producer who stamped his distinctive sounds on the…
Albert “Tootie” Heath (1935–2024) followed in the tradition of drummer Kenny Clarke, his idol.
Apr 5, 2024 10:28 AM
Albert “Tootie” Heath, a drummer of impeccable taste and time who was the youngest of three jazz-legend brothers…
“Both of us are quite grounded in the craft, the tradition and the harmonic sense,” Rosenwinkel said of his experience playing with Allen. “Yet I felt we shared something mystical as well.”
Mar 12, 2024 11:42 AM
“There are a few musicians you hear where, as somebody once said, the molecules in the room change. Geri was one of…
Henry Threadgill performs with Zooid at Big Ears in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Apr 9, 2024 11:30 AM
Big Ears, the annual four-day music celebration that first took place in 2009 in Knoxville, Tennessee, could well be…
“I’m also at a point in my life where I don’t feel like I have anything to prove, like at all,” Akinmusire says about his art.
Mar 26, 2024 12:45 PM
At the risk of oversimplifying and romanticizing the story, Ambrose Akinmusire came bursting on the jazz scene at the…
