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…
Savoy Jazz, the storied Newark, NJ-based label that first recorded the early pioneers of bebop—Charlie Parker, Dexter Gordon, Miles Davis, Stan Getz, Fats Navarro and J.J. Johnson—along with documenting groundbreaking gospel, blues and r&b recordings, will mark its 60th anniversary this fall. Led by a team of former major label jazz executives, Savoy Jazz also announces the imprint’s long anticipated return to active recording. An array of catalogue classics and reissue programs of various configurations and price points will also serve to re-ignite the label’s return to prominence.
In the qualitative tradition of last years double Grammy nominated Charlie Parker boxed set, Savoy Jazz will release single, double and three CD packages by Charlie Parker, Red Norvo and Dizzy Gillespie respectively on May 21. These lavish packages feature all new 20 bit digital transfers from the original session acetates and master tapes and exhaustive annotation in elegant black and silver foil digipaks. Charlie Parker: The Best of the Complete Live Performances on Savoy boasts 12 seminal tracks culled from the historic 1948 Royal Roost performance that included Miles Davis and Max Roach. The Modern Red Norvo is a long overdue survey that features two previously unissued tracks among 41 that captures him at one of his most productive phases and those of his star sidemen such as Parker, Charles Mingus, Dizzy Gillespie and Teddy Wilson, among others. Dizzy Gillespie: Odyssey 1945-’52 surveys the trumpeter’s rise to prominence as the co-founder and pre-eminent spokesman of bebop.
Later in the summer Savoy Jazz will release premium single and double-CD packages by Stan Getz, Lester Young, J.J. Johnson and Billy Eckstine, among others produced by multiple Grammy Award winning producer Orrin Keepnews.
Steve Backer, well-known A&R jazz executive, is the newly appointed VP of A&R. “I am delighted that we are getting back into the groove with a plethora of meaningful and varied projects, and also thrilled that Savoy Jazz is returning to active recording after such a long hiatus,” Backer said. “We are also currently negotiating with several other jazz instrumentalists and vocalists and are accepting demo solicitations (steveb@savoyjazz.com) worthy of this imprint. This is perhaps going against today’s industry grain of slash and burn artist development, but we feel positive about being able to contribute to what will be the next upward cycle for jazz.”
Savoy Jazz will begin the years second half by initiating its “Savoy at 60—Timeless” campaign with a 2-CD package representing a retrospective of the amazing historical significance of the label programmed and annotated by historian Billy Vera. The “timeless” mid-line series will feature label stalwarts Charlie Parker, Cannonball Adderley, Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis, among others in all new audiophile CD collections. For a complete list of titles, visit www.savoyjazz.com.
“What I got from Percy was the dignity of playing the bass,” Buster Williams said of Percy Heath.
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