Stormy Weather

John Coltrane's final album for Atlantic bookends the exploratory motifs he explores on his Impulse! debut, Africa/Brass,recorded concurrently, with each involving knotty rhythmic shifts and Spanish-derived textures. Bonding with an amazing band that includes pianist McCoy Tyner, drummer Elvin Jones, and an uncredited Eric Dolphy (due to contractual reasons), Coltrane welcomes improvisations and ranging outside conventional parameters, all the while retaining melodic beauty. Yet the biggest attraction on the 1961 effort comes via the double-bass interplay between Art Davis and Reggie Workman, whose back-and-forth exchanges produce heat and cause the leader to up his own game. Mastered from the original master tapes, this dead-quiet 180g 45RPM 2LP set presents each pluck of the acoustic basses with tremendous body and decay. Long overdue for audiophile treatment, Olé Coltrane is ready for its closeup, and how.

Originally released in 1960, and on the heels of Giant Steps, Coltrane Jazz came in the midst of the saxophonist's peak Atlantic period. The album is among several recordings that Coltrane issued from 1959-1961, and which, ultimately, forever changed the face of music. Not surprisingly, Miles Davis' influence is felt throughout; his rhythm section is used on all but one selection. This reissue was mastered from the original master tapes at 45rpm with meticulous care, pressed on two 180gram LPs, and is housed in an old school tip-on style gatefold jacket. The essential edition of Coltrane Jazz.

1. Little Old Lady
2. Village Blues
3. My Shining Hour
4. Fifth House
5. Harmonique
6. Like Sonny
7. I'll Wait and Pray
8. Some Other Blues

Double LP, 4RPM Edition
180gram audiophile-grade vinyl pressed at Pallas Group in Germany
Mastered by Bernie Grundman from the original analog tapes

"This 1960 recording was a landmark album in John Coltrane's career, the first to introduce his quartet with himself, pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Steve Davis and drummer Elvin Jones, and the first release on which he played soprano saxophone. It also provided him with a signature hit, as his new group conception came together wonderfully on the title track. It's an extended modal reworking in 6/4 time that brought the hypnotic pulsating quality of Indian music into jazz for the first time, with Coltrane's soprano wailing over the oscillating piano chords and pulsing drums. The unusual up-tempo version of Gershwin's 'Summertime'is a heated example of Coltrane's 'sheets of sound' approach to conventional changes, while 'But Not for Me' receives a radical harmonic makeover. This is an excellent introduction to Coltrane's work." — All Music Guide

Here we have the free-floating, abstract beginnings of Weather Report, which would define the state of the electronic jazz/rock art from its first note almost to its last. Their first album is a direct extension of the Miles Davis In a Silent Way/Bitches Brew period, more fluid in sound and more volatile in interplay. All Music calls it one of the most impressive debuts of all time by a jazz group. Weather Report is getting new life with this incredible pressing. Mastered from original tapes at 45rpm, pressed on two 180 gram audiophile-grade vinyl, and housed in an oldschool tip-on gatefold jacket. 

1. Milky Way
2. Umbrellas
3. Seventh Arrow
4. Orange Lady
5. Morning Lake
6. Waterfall
7. Tears
8. Eurydice

The third and final installment of Thelonious Monk’s London Collection, his last recording session as a band leader, finally gets its time to shine on vinyl. The recording features the legendary pianist/composer on six solo performances as well as five numbers with bassist Al McKibbon and drummer Art Blakey. It was remastered from original analog tapes by Bernie Grundman and pressed on 180gram audiophile-grade vinyl at Pallas in Germany.

1. Trinkle Tinkle
2. The Man I Love
3. Something In Blue
4. Introspection
5. Trinkle Tinkle
6. Crepuscule With Nellie
7. Nutty
8. Introspection
9. Hackensack
10. Evidence
11. Cordially