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In Memoriam: John Hammond Jr., 1942–2026
John P. Hammond (aka John Hammond Jr.), a blues guitarist and singer who was one of the first white American…
The Free Slave, Cosmos Nucleus and Sunset To Dawn: three classic Muse albums being reissued this fall by Timer Traveler Recordings.
(Photo: Time Traveler Recordings)Record producer and “Jazz Detective” Zev Feldman has launched his next endeavor, the archival label Time Traveler Recordings, with the Muse Master Edition Series, a run of masterpiece reissues from the historic Muse Records catalog.
The series begins with the Oct. 17 release of three albums from the legendary label’s discography: drummer Roy Brooks’ seminal 1972 live album The Free Slave; pianist Kenny Barron’s 1973 work Sunset To Dawn; and Cosmos Nucleus, a rare and much sought-after 1976 recording from Panamanian tenor saxophonist Carlos Garnett (featuring a 20-year-old Kenny Kirkland on keys). Subsequent major releases are planned quarterly from artists such as Woody Shaw, João Donato, Clifford Jordan, Joe Chambers and more.
Time Traveler will provide Muse collectors and fans with “The Rolls Royce, ultra-deluxe vinyl experience,” in Feldman’s words. These initial exclusive vinyl sets will only be available as a limited release, issued on 180-gram LPs (pressed at Germany’s Optimal Media), analog mastered directly from the original tapes by engineer Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab in Salina, Kansas. They will be issued in high-gloss tip-on jackets furnished by respected printer, Stoughton Press, with new liner essays for the Brooks, Barron and Garnett reissues, respectively. The packaging will mirror a facsimile of the original productions with upgrades.
“Time Traveler Recordings is a really meaningful undertaking,” says Feldman, who is also an executive for the Resonance, Elemental and Jazz Detective labels. “It’s a collaboration with Craft Recordings, and Virgin Music Group distributing. We’re starting with jazz, but we’re not limited to it: The idea is to have a whole array of thoughtfully curated archival material for heritage artists from across musical genres.”
Muse Records was founded in 1972 by producer and record executive Joe Fields. Fields was a veteran of Prestige Records and designed Muse as a continuation of the legacy of Prestige and other bebop-era independent labels like Riverside and Milestone. Muse was a haven for the best of both the artists and technicians from those labels. When asked about his feelings regarding the reissues, Joe’s son Barney Fields said, “I’m so happy to see the Muse catalog being reissued, and that it’s being given the proper curation. The world will get to be exposed to this music all over again. I think my father would be honored to see that something like this is happening — and I know, with the Time Traveler folks at the helm, that it’ll be done right.”
“Muse Records is really one of the great untapped record labels when it comes to reissues,” says Feldman. “Its catalog captured where the music was going in the 1970s. These Time Traveler reissues will have the best sound, production quality and packaging possible, with new inserts, new liner notes and new photographs. Muse is one of my favorite labels of all time, and it’s time to dress up these albums in a big tuxedo.” All the artwork has been recreated piece by piece by respected album cover designer and art restoration specialist John Sellards, who worked from original pressings that were tracked down by the label. DB
Hammond came to the blues through the folk boom of the late 1950s and early 1960s, which he experienced firsthand in New York’s Greenwich Village.
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