Vinyl LP pressing. 2024 collection. Louis Armstrong made his first studio records in Richmond, Indiana 101 years ago, recording acoustically because microphones hadn't yet been invented. Microphones eventually allowed Armstrong to begin recording electrically to disc and, later, to tape in the mono and "hi-fi" eras. Beginning in the late 1950s, Armstrong began making records in revolutionary stereophonic sound. He had seen and conquered every trend in recording technology between 1923 and his death in 1971-and he continues to conquer them into the 21st century, over 50 years since he passed away. Today, with the advent of streaming and the resurgence of popularity in LPs, there is more music available to the public to listen to than at any previous time in history. Yet, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, people from around the world still choose to listen to Louis Armstrong, much more so than any other artist born at the turn of the 20th century. The question remains: Why? This new collection helps to provide answers.

BIEN ENSEMBLE

Taken from Abdullah Ibrahim's summer 2023 sold-out headline date at London's Barbican Centre, the new album "3" follows suit and is spread across two performances - the first is recorded without an audience ahead of the concert straight to analogue on a 1" Scully tape machine, which had previously been used by Elvis at the famous Memphis-based Sun Studios. The second recording is taken from the evening's performance itself with Ibrahim performing in a unique trio which includes Cleave Guyton (flute, piccolo, saxophone) who has performed alongside the likes of Aretha Franklin, Dizzy Gillespie, and Joe Henderson, as well as lauded bassist and cellist Noah Jackson, both of which are members of Ekaya and featured on Ibrahim's top 3 Billboard Jazz album "The Balance". 2-CD

STEPPING STONES

By the time Chick Corea - the venerated 27-time Grammy winner and National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master - went into Mad Hatter Studios in Los Angeles to record the third album with his Elektric Band, the lineup had been solidified through constant touring the previous year. Dedicated to his father Armando, a trumpeter who led a Dixieland band in Boston in the 1930s and 1940s, Eye of the Beholder reflected a tightening of the ensemble playing and a greater showcasing of the individual solo prowess of these consummate musicians. With this fresh sounding five-star recording, it is clear that Corea was more open to showcasing this band's collective muscle and individual virtuosity. The group rips, in no uncertain terms, on showcases like "Cascade, Part II," "Trance Dance," and the staggering "Amnesia." There are experimental excursions into the kind of atmospheric, ambient music realms that Brian Eno pioneered on "Cascade, Part 1" and may be the most profound musical statement of the collection, on par with past Corea high points, "Beauty." Originally released on GRP Records in 1988, the album is a high-water mark for Corea and his Elektric Bandmates.

Vinyl LP pressing. Alfred Lion's inspired idea to pair tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine with The Three Sounds-the trio featuring pianist Gene Harris, bassist Andrew Simpkins, and drummer Bill Dowdy-on 1960's Blue Hour produced one of most deeply soulful hard bop outings in the Blue Note catalog. Both Turrentine and The Three Sounds were in the early days of their lengthy associations with the label at the time, the saxophonist having just recorded his leader debut Look Out a few months prior and the trio having debuted in 1958 with Introducing The 3 Sounds. Blue Hour is a smoldering late-night affair highlighted by seductive ballad performances of four standards: "I Want A Little Girl," "Gee Baby, Ain't I Good To You," "Since I Fell For You," and "Willow Weep For Me." At the album's center is Harris' spunky "Blue Riff," the sole uptempo number on this otherwise laid-back classic.

SMOKE IN THE SKY

Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing. In his last release for the Impulse! Label, Hubbard's ambitious 1963 recording, The Body & The Soul, includes both an all-star septet and an orchestra with strings. Including a number of Hubbard originals and such notables as Curtis Fuller (trombone), Wayne Shorter (tenor saxophone), Eric Dolphy (alto saxophone), Cedar Walton (piano), Reggie Workman (bass), and Louis Hayes (drums), the album stands alone as one of the most unique productions in Freddie's substantive discography and as a showcase for the arranging skills of Wayne Shorter.

Keyon Harrold - "Foreverland" / Acclaimed trumpeter-composer Keyon Harrold makes his Concord Jazz label debut with his much-anticipated new album, Foreverland. Blending a unique hybrid of jazz, hip hop and R&B, this special curation of 10 original tracks includes special guests Common, Robert Glasper, PJ Morton and more. Softpak CD.

HITTIN' IT

LIVE AT MEZZROW

Acclaimed vibraphonist Joel Ross returns with the release of his remarkable album nublues, a collection of ballads and blues as seen through the lens of one of the most creative modern jazz groups featuring Immanuel Wilkins, Jeremy Corren, Kanoa Mendenhall, and Jeremy Dutton, as well as special guest Gabrielle Garo. The band moves seamlessly across the blues-imbued musical terrain of this 10-track set which includes 7 new Ross originals and pieces by John Coltrane and Thelonious Monk.

The album features eight new compositions by Halvorson, performed with her sextet Amaryllis; the improvisatory band that performed on her critically praised 2022 albums Amaryllis and Belladonna comprises Halvorson, Patricia Brennan (vibraphone), Nick Dunston (bass), Tomas Fujiwara (drums), Jacob Garchik (trombone), and Adam O'Farrill (trumpet). Labelmate Laurie Anderson also is featured on the album track "Incarnadine."All the music on Cloudward was written in 2022, mostly in the fall and winter, when things started moving forward. Life felt like a creaky machine starting up again," she continues. "Air travel, however chaotic, had resumed, and we were once again cloudward. Performances and tours and recordings were happening after a long hiatus and with a renewed sense of gratitude. This band, for me, was quite simply working, both musically and personally, and the main thing I felt while writing the music was optimism."

2024 collection. Known internationally as "The First Lady of Song", Ella Fitzgerald was also, importantly, the first lady of Verve Records-the label that was essentially created for her by her manager and the label's founder, Norman Granz. This collection brings together Ella's most cherished recordings in the company of American music's greatest performers and composers-Louis Armstrong, George & Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin and Jerome Kern, among many others.

Another Day is an album by jazz pianist and composer Oscar Peterson, originally released in 1970.

Three CDs. Jewels in the Treasure Box: The 1953 Chicago Blue Note Jazz Club Recordings is a previously unissued collection of recordings from jazz icon and virtuosic pianist, Art Tatum, captured live at the Blue Note jazz club in Chicago in March of 1953 with guitarist Everett Barksdale and bassist Slam Stewart. These recordings were transferred from the original tape reels and mastered for LP and CD by engineer Matthew Lutthans (who also worked on Resonance's Grammy-nominated 2019 Nat King Cole release Hittin' the Ramp). Containing a whopping nearly 3 hours of never-before-heard Art Tatum captured in an intimate setting at the height of his powers with his longtime trio.

Grammy Award winner and Academy Award nominated Pianist/Composer Roger Kellaway, has recorded more than two hundred and fifty albums. He's worked with everyone from Ellington to Elvis, Joni Mitchell to Barbra Streisand, and Quincy Jones to Yo-Yo Ma. Kellaway is not only a major pianist, he is a composer of protean ability, writing in the music fields of jazz, classical and pop, also scoring for films and television. The 9th album in the Smalls Living Masters series finds Kellaway in the company of Jay Leonhart on bass, Dennis Mackrel on drums and with special guest Roni Ben-Hur on guitar.

Double vinyl LP pressing. Deluxe edition features eight bonus tracks - alternate takes from the surviving four-track session reels, including an explosive rendition of the single, "Soul Vibrations," extended versions of the title track and "Little Sunflower," plus two fantastic jazzy readings of "Theme from Valley of the Dolls." Afro-Harping is the first of a rarefied and outstanding trilogy of soul-jazz albums by Dorothy Ashby. Remastered from the original tapes, Afro-Harping is filled front-to-back with sumptuous and hypnotic grooves. It's African percussion, soulful orchestrations, in-the-pocket rhythms and Dorothy's virtuosity take it beyond jazzy mood music and made it a favorite of beat heads and producers.

EXOTIC HEARTBREAK

This third CD from the dynamic piano trio of Brian Marsella, Jorge Roeder, and Ches Smith is a delightful surprise-and one of Zorn's greatest achievements. Exploring a wide variety of tempi, moods, and feelings the compositions dive deeply into the parameters of melody, harmony, hythm, and texture, stretching the ballade format to it's limits and beyond. The trio, three essential members of Zorn's inner circle, performs with passion, imagination, virtuosity, and a telepathic improvisational interplay at the very highest level. A stunning collection of modern Ballades performed by three of the greatest young musicians in the Downtown scene. Essential! 1. Ballade Nr. 1 2. Ballade Nr. 2 3. Ballade Nr. 3 4. Ballade Nr. 4 5. Ballade Nr. 5 6. Ballade Nr. 6 7. Ballade Nr. 7 8. Ballade Nr. 8 9. Ballade Nr. 9 10. Ballade Nr. 10 11. Ballade Nr. 11

DECISION IN PARADISE

IN EUROPE

BROKEN WING

Lakecia Benjamin's new album focuses on the music from her acclaimed Phoenix project and adds three new songs. It was captured live-in-studio at Brooklyn's the Bunker, whose alumni include everyone from Brad Mehldau to Bang on a Can to the Black Keys. Features guitarist John Scofield, trumpeter Randy Brecker and drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts.

Joined by her core band of Matthew Stevens (guitar), Justin Tyson and Eric Doob (drums), Leo Genovese (piano), Corey D. King (vocals, synths), Spalding and Nascimento together reimagined five of his beloved songs, along with four Spalding originals, and covers from The Beatles, Michael Jackson, the Brazilian guitarist Guinga, and Shorter. Though she did some arranging and other work in the States, much of the recording happened in Rio; authenticity and connection are crucial to the project.