@djpari_

Damn right, you’ve seen this album in my feed before. But if there’s one occasion worthy of repetition it’s today’s announcement by @bluenoterecords of the two Tone Poet special vinyl editions of “Blue Train” that will be released Sept. 16 just in time for the 65th anniversary of the making of what happens to be my favorite album on the label. The release of a single LP mono pressing will be complimented by a 2-LP stereo edition, with the second disc featuring seven alternate and incomplete takes. If this isn’t every Coltrane disciple’s wet dream, I don’t know what is. I’ve owned several versions of “Blue Train” over the years, from a 1970s UA stereo pressing and a Japanese King mono issue to a 1960s mono with NY labels. Five years ago, I scored this pristine 1958 original mono pressing on eBay and never looked back. With this album, Trane made good on a promise to Alfred Lion to cut a session for Blue Note, and Lion in return afforded the saxophonist the time, space and manpower to create something very special. This was one of Coltrane’s first sessions after kicking his heroin habit, and his newfound freedom and utmost focus are evident in both his playing and writing. Fire breathing trumpeter #LeeMorgan and sublime trombonist #CurtisFuller join Trane in the frontline, and in the rhythm section we have pianist #KennyDrew, bassist #PaulChambers and drummer #PhillyJoeJones. The music featured on this album makes “Blue Train” the ultimate hard bop record. Coltrane’s originals (“Blue Train,” “Moment’s Notice”, “Locomotion” and “Lazy Bird”) have become jazz standards, and Trane’s take on the Mercer-Kern composition “I’m Old Fashioned” is one of the most perfect renderings of this tune ever put on tape. While not as adventurous as Coltrane’s later work for Impulse, “Blue Train” is a stroke of genius, packed with brilliant performances that are very accessible. If you want to hip a friend to jazz, play them this album. They will thank you for it. #JohnColtrane #BlueTrain #BlueNote #BlueNoteRecords #RVG #Jazz #hardbop #vinyl #jazzvinyl #jazzrecords #jazzcollector #recordoftheday #vinyloftheday #recordcollection #igvinyl #igvinylclub #IGjazzvinyl

Earlier this year, I participated in @what_can_brown’s impossible #top5jazzalbums challenge. For some reason I blanked and didn’t think of pianist Mal Waldron's landmark album "The Quest," which is one of the most spectacular sessions that the genre has to offer. After my recent post of #RonCarter’s debut “Where?”, which was recorded one week before “The Quest” and with an almost identical cast, I decided to revisit this album today and pay tribute once again. Maybe it was the dark aura and haunting beauty of the music pressed into these grooves that made me fall in love with this album the first time I heard it. We'll never know what Waldron was looking for on his quest, the liner notes don't offer many clues as to his motive, but whatever it was, the mature sophistication and prudent execution of the music offered here imply that he may have found it. This sextet date from 1961, occasionally released under #EricDolphy's name, stands among the most mesmerizing works in post-bop. There are no standards here, Waldon contributes all the tunes but he retains a modest presence as a soloist, graciously allowing his ever-curious sidemen to spearhead their search for new, uncharted musical territories. Dolphy sticks to alto sax (apart from a single excursion on clarinet), #BookerErvin shines on tenor, a young Carter on cello, #JoeBenjamin on bass and #CharliePersip on drums. There is no filler, every tune serves a distinct purpose in this beguiling exercise in highly artistic grandstanding (and I don't mean that in a bad way.) My favorite moments, however, are the quieter parts, such as "Duquility," which features Carter's lyrical cello playing, and "Warm Canto," another ballad that benefits from Waldron's dark, introverted style. In a 2001 interview, Waldron recalled that "the sound just came to me as an entity." To me, this album is an indubitable masterpiece, one that holds many surprises even after repeated listening. #MalWaldron #NewJazz #Prestige #RVG #Jazz #hardbop #vinyl #jazzvinyl #jazzrecords #jazzcollector #recordoftheday #vinyloftheday #recordcollection #igvinyl #igvinylclub #IGjazzvinyl

On this day in 1949, 70 years ago, Miles Davis and arranger Gil Evans took a group of eight musicians, including drummer #KennyClarke, tenorman #LeeKonitz, baritone saxophonist #GerryMulligan and pianist #JohnLewis, to a Capitol Records recording studio in New York City for the first of three sessions that ultimately resulted in the landmark album "Birth of the Cool." The idea for this project came out of the often mythologized musician hangouts at Evans' smoke-filled basement apartment on 55th Street where tomorrow's talent engaged in passionate discussions about the future of jazz. One of the most important concepts developed there, that would shape the genre for decades to come, was the revelation to pair horns together rather then pitying them against each other, as was common in the big bands of the swing era. Initially Evans had envisioned to let Charlie Parker take lead of the project, but instead he decided to ask Davis, who was 22 at the time and still trying to find his voice, to helm the group that eventually became known as the Miles Davis Nonet. The group recorded 12 tracks during three sessions over a year and a half, with Davis, Mulligan, Konitz and tuba player #BillBarber being the only musicians participating in all of them. Some of the material recorded in these sessions was released gradually on a series of 78s over the coming years and then on a 10-inch LP titled "Classic in Jazz - Miles Davis" in 1954. It wasn't until 1957 that Capitol finally issued 11 of the tracks as a full length album dubbed "Birth of the Cool." I could say much more about the significance of this album — nothing that hasn't already been written many times over — but it should be noted that it was "Birth of the Cool" that first established Davis as an innovator and the album is often credited with starting the cool jazz movement. My personal highlight here is "Boplicity," a tune cut on the April 1949 session, that contains many hallmarks of the new sub-genre created with this album. My copy is a 1st mono pressing of the original “Birth of the Cool” released on Capitol Records.