May 26, 2026 11:08 AM
Sonny Rollins Passes Away at 95
Sonny Rollins, the iconic saxophonist, composer and improviser whose career stretched from the origins of bebop to 21st…
Craft Recordings has released a boxed set reissue of Thelonious Monk’s Brilliant Corners.
(Photo: Courtesy Craft Recordings)Craft Recordings continues its deep-dive into jazz history with a slew of reissues featuring such brilliant artists as Thelonious Monk, Tito Puente, Wes Montgomery and a legendary bebop quintet with Charlie Parker/Dizzy Gillespie/Bud Powell/Charles Mingus/Max Roach. Here’s a sampling of several new gems Craft has mined from the vaults of recorded jazz.
Thelonious Monk
Brilliant Corners
As part of the Craft Recordings Small Batch series, the label has released an audiophile pressing of this landmark album, which introduced a number of Monk classics and a stellar lineup featuring Sonny Rollins, Max Roach and Paul Chambers. Limited to 4,000 copies, the reissue features lacquers cut from original tapes by Bernie Grundman. Pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI using Neotech’s VR900 compound, the one-step lacquer process allows for heightened musical detail and clarity. Liners come from author Ashley Kahn.
Ben Harper with Charlie Musselwhite
Get Up!
This Grammy-winning instant classic from 2013 gets a 10th anniversary treatment as a vinyl reissue. Coming from two generations and very different corners of the musical world, singer/songwriter Harper and blues harmonica legend Musselwhite create magic.
Various Artists
Hit The Bongo! The Latin Soul Of Tico Records
Here’s a collection of 26 Latin rarities guaranteed to get the booty shakin’ featuring Ray Barretto, Willie Bobo, Joe Cuba Sextet, Eddie Palmieri and Cal Trader, Tito Puente and more. The collection, being released on vinyl and digitally, culls the archives of Tico from 1962 to 1972 with lacquers cut by Phillip S. Rodriguez at Elysian Masters.
Tito Puente
El Rey Bravo
Craft has remastered this 1962 classic that features “Oye Cómo Va,” one of the biggest hits of Tito Puente’s illustrious career. Cut from the original masters by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio and pressed on 180-gram vinyl, there is also a limited-edition Canary Yellow option (limited to 500 copies) as well as a hi-res audio version being released on streaming platforms.
Wes Montgomery
The Complete Full House Recordings
The centennial of the groundbreaking guitarist’s birth has produced a treasure trove of new material, including this collection, an expanded version of his 1962 classic album Full House. The recording serves as Montgomery’s only live recording for Riverside Records. The complete concert is delivered in a three-LP set, pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Optimal Media with new liner notes by Bill Milkowski.
Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Charles Mingus, Max Roach
Hot House: The Complete Jazz At Massey Hall Recordings
This recording celebrates one of the most storied concerts in jazz history. Hot House presents the complete concert in honor of its 70th anniversary and in celebration of the centennial of both Max Roach and Bud Powell. It’s a deluxe three-LP set that’s also available in CD and digital formats.
Click here to read this article in DownBeat’s December 2023 issue.
Check out all of DownBeat’s Holiday Gift Guide here! DB
Onstage, Rollins would move about restlessly, thrusting his tenor sax in the air as he blew.
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