Trumpeter Booker Little made only a few albums during his tragically short life - including his astounding debut, Booker Little 4 & Max Roach - recorded in 1958 for United Artists. Little came to prominence in Max Roach's band and the drummer joins him here along with George Coleman, Tommy Flanagan and Art Davis. Blue Note Tone Poet Series stereo edition was produced by Joe Harley, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analog master tapes, pressed on 180g vinyl at RTI, and packaged in a deluxe tip-on jacket.
Jazz pianist Mal Waldron's 1962 album, The Quest, features Eric Dolphy (clarinet, alto sax) and Booker Ervin (tenor sax). Recorded at Rudy Van Gelder Studios in New Jersey, the album contains seven cuts that fall somewhere between hard-bop and avant-garde. This new edition of the album is released as part of the Original Jazz Classics Series and is pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI with all-analog mastering from the original tapes by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio and presented in a Tip-On Jacket.
Vinyl LP pressing. Following sideman appearances with pianist Horace Parlan in the early 1960s, Booker Ervin cut two stellar Blue Note records as a leader in 1968 including Tex Book Tenor which had to wait nearly 40 years until 2005 for it's first standalone release. With a sleek post-bop quintet featuring trumpeter Woody Shaw, pianist Kenny Barron, bassist Jan Arnet, and drummer Billy Higgins, the Texas-born saxophonist slices through a set of compelling bandmember originals including Barron's sinuous tune "Gichi" and Shaw's lilting waltz "In a Capricornian Way," as well as Ervin's lovely ballad "Lynn's Tune" and the hard-swinging "Den Tex," named for his hometown of Denison.
A deeply complex character, Booker only released two studio albums in his lifetime. However, Classified-his unintended swan song-offers one of his greatest commercially-released performances. Recorded in 1982, it is primarily the result of a whirlwind, four-hour session. In addition to several originals, the album includes a jaunty repertoire of mainly local fare, including Fats Domino's "One for the Highway" and Lloyd Price's "Lawdy Miss Clawdy". Remixed and remastered audio. Vinyl housed in single-pocket jacket.
