Vinyl is back! Each month on “Vinyl Watch,” we list some of the most noteworthy new vinyl releases — including new albums, reissues, special-edition box sets and more. At JAZZIZ, we share the vinyl community’s appreciation of the experience of collecting and playing vinyl records. As an increasing number of music fans discover the joy of vinyl, we hope these lists will serve as a starting point for new musical discoveries.
Ornette Coleman, Round Trip: Ornette Coleman On Blue Note (Blue Note)
Blue Note releases this Friday the first-ever box-set of its Tone Poet Audiophile Vinyl Reissue Series. Round Trip: Ornette Coleman on Blue Note includes Tone Poet Vinyl Editions of all Blue Note albums the iconoclastic saxophonist/composer appeared on in the late ’60s. They are his five albums as a leader – the two-volume At The ‘Golden Circle’ Stockholm (1965), The Empty Foxhole (1966), New York Is Now! (1968), and Love Call (1968)—as well as his lone sideman appearance on New And Old Gospel (1967) by saxophonist Jackie McLean. Order it here.
Charles Mingus, The Jazz Experiments of Charlie Mingus (Bethelem/BMG)
The Jazz Experiments of Charlie Mingus compiles a set of 1954 recordings by jazz legend Charles Mingus. These recordings were initially put out by Period as a series of 10-inch records and were later compiled into one program. Reissued on Bethlehem/BMG, The Jazz Experiments of Charlie Mingus offers a portrait of the artist as a young man, predating some of the bass great’s compositional flourishes that would be perfectly showcased on such masterpieces as Mingus Ah Um and Black Saint and the Sinner Lady. Order it here.
John Coltrane, “Live” at Village Vanguard (Verve)
“Live” at the Village Vanguard was trailblazing saxophonist John Coltrane’s first official live album. The recording finds him alongside fellow jazz giants McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones, plus Eric Dolphy on bass clarinet, and Reggie Workman and Jimmy Garrison alternating on bass. Recorded live at New York’s famed Village Vanguard venue on November 2-3, 1961, ‘Live’ at the Village Vanguard was reissued as part of Verve’s Acoustic Sounds Series with remastered audio and presented in deluxe gatefold tip-on packaging. Order “Live” at the Village Vanguard here.
Johnny Hodges Septet Featuring Ben Webster, Blues-A-Plenty (20th Century Masterworks)
A long-overdue reissue for 1958’s Blues-A-Plenty, featuring longtime Duke Ellington collaborator/saxophonist Johnny Hodges leading a star-studded septet, featuring none other than saxophonist Ben Webster. Originally released on Verve Records, this 20th Century Masterworks reissue comes with two bonus tracks (“Central Park Swing” and “M.H.R.”) and in an orange-colored vinyl. It also helps shine a light on Hodges’ often-underappreciated work as a bandleader. Order it here.
The Oscar Peterson Quartet, A Time for Love: The Oscar Peterson Quartet – Live in Helsinki, 1987 (Two Lions/Mack Avenue)
A Time for Love captures the total synergy of pianist Oscar Peterson’s quartet with Joe Pass, Dave Young and Martin Drew. The 3-LP set documents the final concert of a 14-city tour of 1987 and includes Peterson originals, including a 20-minute homage to Johann Sebastian Bach, and standards. Among them, two virtuosic solo Peterson performances. A Time for Love is beautifully housed and comes with two sets of inside-view liner notes by quartet member Dave Young, Peterson protégé Benny Green and Oscar’s wife and producer of this album, Kelly Peterson. Order it here.
Featured photo: Tad Hershorn
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