Two months after recording what would become his hit record The Sidewinder, trumpeter Lee Morgan returned to Van Gelder Studio in February 1964 to create his masterful album Search for the New Land. For the session, Morgan assembled a sextet consisting of several young stars of the Blue Note roster including Herbie Hancock on piano, Grant Green on guitar, and Wayne Shorter on tenor saxophone, along with the dynamic rhythm team of bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Billy Higgins. The album opens with the expansive 16-minute title track, a musical odyssey that alternates a shimmering rubato theme with a loping exploration by each soloist. Four more indelible Morgan originals follow including jaunty numbers such as "The Joker" and "Morgan the Pirate," as well as the plaintive ballad "Melancholee."

Introducing Lee Morgan is a 1956 hard bop record by the heralded jazz trumpeter, originally released on the Savoy label. It also features Hank Mobley, Hank Jones, Doug Watkins and Art Taylor. Recorded when Morgan was just 17, the album features 7 cuts, including the Mobley penned "Hank's Shout." This new edition of the album is released as part of the Original Jazz Classics Series on 180-gram vinyl pressed at RTI with all-analog mastering from the original tapes at Cohearent Audio and a Stoughton Tip-On Jacket.

Cleveland-based baroque orchestra Apollo’s Fire has made an indelible impression since launching on Avie last year, making their Billboard Classical Chart debut in the Top 10. Vivaldi & Friends presents concertos by the Red Priest with a twist: two authentic concertos—one for four violins, the other for two cellos—interspersed with J. S. Bach’s transcription of Vivaldi’s A minor concerto for four harpsichords and Jeannette Sorrell’s own transcription of “Summer” from the ever-popular Four Seasons. In this unique version, she performs the original violin parts on the harpsichord. The album ends with an enigmatic Tango Concerto by contemporary composer René Duchiffre, written in the idiom of Bach and Vivaldi for the unusual combination of two violas da gamba. Vivaldi & Friends is released to coincide with the group’s extensive tour with star countertenor Philippe Jaroussky.

Music and lyrics by Jerry Herman.

Principal cast includes: Pearl Bailey (Mrs. Dolly Gallagher Levi), Cab Calloway (Horace Vandergelder), Emily Yancy, Chris Calloway, Winston DeWitt Hemsley, Sherri Peaches Brewer, Mabel King, Morgan Freeman, Roger Lawson.

Recorded November 17, 1967.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Lisa Delan and Luna Pearl Woolf write of their new release: “We were dreaming of lullabies. Each of us, unbeknown to the other, imagined creating the kind of recording we wanted to hear as we tucked our children in at night. Meeting in this shared land, our commingled dreams sowed the seeds of Angel Heart. Buds broke through in the farm of songs that we gathered from disparate corners of the world, with vastly differing musical languages. Delighted with the landscape, what, we wondered, would it look like in full bloom? When we laid our seedlings at the feet of Cornelia Funke, the flowering began. Her words took root around the songs to form a single story: a tale told by voices in speech and in song, suspended above a rich bed of cellos. Bringing pictures in to play, our nursery blossomed with contrast and color. Come, lay a blanket down among the stalks and petals and experience Angel Heart through music, story, sight, and touch. Join us!”

SCH¸TZ: PSALMS OF DAVID MARLO

Classical Music

Classical Music

Brass instruments are a vital part of the festive fabric of Christmas, and Tchaikovsky’s iconic ballet The Nutcracker is made even more joyful with the brassy brilliance of Septura. Narrated by preeminent actor Derek Jacobi, The Nutcracker is set on Christmas Eve, with music both rapturous and fantastical. It tells the story of how young Clara’s favorite present, a nutcracker shaped like a little man, turns into a handsome prince at midnight. Septura has been acclaimed by Brass Band World for its ‘stylistic perfection’ and ‘beautifully portrayed artistry.’

2019 release. Like their acclaimed ECM release Small Town of 2017 which The Guardian called "wistful and mesmerizing... tonally ingenious and haunting" Epistrophy by guitarist Bill Frisell and bassist Thomas Morgan was recorded at New York City's Village Vanguard. The album once again captures the rare empathy these two players achieve together in this intimate environment. There are further poetic takes on pieces from the duo's beloved Americana songbook ("All in Fun," "Red River Valley," "Save the Last Dance for Me"), as well as another intense version of a composition by Paul Motian ("Mumbo Jumbo"), an artist whom both the guitarist and bassist knew well. Frisell and Morgan communicate the essence of Billy Strayhorn's "Lush Life" and the Frank Sinatra hit "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning," so much so that the famous words seem to hang in the air even without a singer. At the center of the album is a pair of pieces by Thelonious Monk: the funky, angular "Epistrophy" and the ruminative ballad "Pannonica." And as with "Goldfinger" on Small Town, Frisell and Morgan offer a glowing duo interpretation of a melody-rich John Barry title tune from a James Bond film "You Only Live Twice."

TALES OF THE FACADE

A jazz artist to watch (NPR) and "a virtuoso in the truest sense of the word" (JazzTimes), Morgan Guerin spent nearly a year crafting his multi-dimensional Tales Of The Facade, layering instruments and sounds track upon track. And while an impressive amount of the album is performed solely by Guerin, he also enlisted stellar collaborators, including Georgia Anne Muldrow, Melanie Charles, Cisco Swank, Zacchae'us Paul, J Hoard, and Kokayi. Despite Guerin's widespread acclaim as a jazz artist, it would be reductive to call this a "jazz album." "It touches a lot of different periods and styles of music," Guerin explains. "Wayne Shorter and John and Alice Coltrane are big influences, but so are people like Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Minnie Riperton, and Kendrick Lamar. I wanted all of those sounds to be represented." What's left in the grooves obliterates concepts of genre even as it celebrates genres themselves. Now signed to Candid, Guerin's music will finally reach an audience as vast and diverse as his musical vision.

BLIXT

Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing. Following the runaway success of The Sidewinder in 1964, Alfred Lion continued to record trumpeter Lee Morgan frequently in the hopes of capturing another funky boogaloo hit. While his subsequent albums may not have scaled the same commercial heights, Morgan certainly delivered the musical goods on his 1965 albums The Rumproller, The Gigolo, and Cornbread, all of which stand among the finest outings in his formidable discography. Recorded over two dates that Summer, The Gigolo featured Morgan with a dynamic quintet comprised of Wayne Shorter on tenor saxophone, Harold Mabern on piano, Bob Cranshaw on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums. A supremely confident set of swaggering hard bop, the album kicks off with the groovy opener "Yes I Can, No You Can't," one of four Morgan originals featured here along with the up-tempo gems "Trapped" and "Speedball," and stirring explorations of the 11-minute "The Gigolo." The album closes with an exceptional arrangement of the ballad "You Go To My Head" which sways with sensual movement.

Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing. Lee Morgan's 1968 album Taru found the trumpeter at a crossroads exploring a variety of styles from modal jazz and post-bop to beautiful balladry and funky boogaloos. The band here is notable for the elevating presence of guitarist George Benson and the addition of tenor saxophonist Bennie Maupin. This stereo Tone Poet Vinyl Edition was produced by Joe Harley, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analog master tapes.

Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing housed in a deluxe gatefold tip-on jacket. Lee Morgan's Infinity, which was recorded in 1965 but not released until 1981, finds the great trumpeter leading a robust quintet featuring saxophonist Jackie McLean, pianist Larry Willis, bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Billy Higgins to the far reaches of the hard bop tradition and beyond. Blue Note Tone Poet Series is remastered from the original analog tapes.