Contemporary records (Acoustic Sounds series)

Contemporary Records Acoustic Sounds Series continues in 2024! Twelve standout albums from the Contemporary Records catalog reissued on 180-gram vinyl   Titles featuring Art Pepper, Sonny Rollins, Helen Humes, Ben Webster and many more!   Mastered AAA by Bernie Grundman from the original analog tapes   180-gram LPs pressed at Quality Record Pressings!   Stoughton Printing gatefold old-style tip-on jackets   Series supervised by Chad Kassem CEO of Acoustic Sounds Continuing Craft Recordings' celebration of seminal jazz artists from Contemporary Records Shelly Manne, a famed bebop drummer who worked with Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker, also made his name in Hollywood as the sticksman on soundtracks for classic films such as The Wild One and The Man With the Golden Arm. He never lost his passion for playing club shows though, and recorded this album (the first of four volumes) during a 1959 gig at San Francisco's Black Hawk nightclub in the Tenderloin district. "The extended performances," says AllMusic, "are easily recommended to straight-ahead jazz fans." To that end, the album opens with a leisurely take on Gershwin's "Summertime," and goes on to dazzle with the swinging waltz of "Blue Daniel." This new edition of the album is released as part of the Contemporary Records Acoustic Sounds series on 180-gram vinyl pressed at QRP with (AAA) lacquers cut from the original tapes by Bernie Grundman and is presented in a Stoughton Printing tip-on jacket.

Contemporary Records Acoustic Sounds Series continues in 2024! Twelve standout albums from the Contemporary Records catalog reissued on 180-gram vinyl   Titles featuring Art Pepper, Sonny Rollins, Helen Humes, Ben Webster and many more!   Mastered AAA by Bernie Grundman from the original analog tapes   180-gram LPs pressed at Quality Record Pressings!   Stoughton Printing gatefold old-style tip-on jackets   Series supervised by Chad Kassem CEO of Acoustic Sounds Continuing Craft Recordings' celebration of seminal jazz artists from Contemporary Records Another Howard McGhee cut, Together Again!!!! (recorded just before Maggie's Back in Town!!), is a collaboration between McGhee and his old friend, saxophonist Teddy Edwards. Also featuring Phineas Newborn, Jr on piano, the sultry, otherworldly "Misty" is a spectacular entwining of each musician's superpowers and the golden mean of musicianship led the Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings to declare that Together Again!!!! is "one of the best mainstream albums of its day." This new edition, released as part of the Contemporary Records Acoustic Sounds Series, features (AAA) lacquers cut from the original master tapes by Bernie Grundman and is pressed on 180-gram vinyl at QRP, and presented in a Stoughton Printing tip-on jacket.

Contemporary Records Acoustic Sounds Series continues in 2025! Mastered AAA by Bernie Grundman from the original analog tapes   180-gram LP pressed at RTI   Tip-on jacket   Series supervised by Chad Kassem CEO of Acoustic Sounds Continuing Craft Recordings' celebration of seminal jazz artists from Contemporary Records Sonny Rollins and the Contemporary Leaders was originally released in 1959 by west coast jazz label Contemporary Records. Rollins is backed by a who's who of the labels players, including Hampton Hawes (piano), Barney Kessel (guitar), Leroy Vinnegar (bass) and Shelly Manne (drums). This edition, released as part of the Acoustic Sounds Contemporary Records Series, features (AAA) lacquers cut from the original master tapes by Bernie Grundman and is pressed at RTI on 180-gram vinyl, and presented in a tip-on jacket.

Craft Recordings and Acoustic Sounds are proud to continue the Contemporary Records Acoustic Sounds series for 2023 with seven album releases from the Contemporary Records catalog, celebrating 70 years of the legendary jazz label. The releases are supervised by Chad Kassem, CEO of Acoustic Sounds, the world's largest source for audiophile recordings. Each title, originally engineered by Roy DuNann and/or Howard Holzer, features all-analog mastering from the original tapes by legendary engineer Bernie Grundman (himself a former employee of the label), as well as unsurpassed audiophile pressing on 180-gram vinyl at Quality Record Pressings, presented in a Stoughton Printing old-style tip-on jacket. The series highlights gems from Contemporary's extraordinary catalog and features artists who both defined and expanded the sound of West Coast jazz. American bassist Curtis Counce recorded the memorably-titled You Get More Bounce with Curtis Counce! in 1956 and 1957 for its release on the Contemporary label. The program features the underrated by talented Curtis Counce Quintet of 1956-1957, a group consisting of bassist/leader Counce, trumpeter Jack Sheldon, tenor saxophonist Harold Land, pianist Carl Perkins, and drummer Frank Butler. Counce contributed two originals but otherwise the band sticks to jazz standards, with some of the best moments being on "Too Close for Comfort," "Mean to Me," and Charlie Parker's "Big Foot." 4 Stars, AllMusic. Founded in 1951 by film producer, screenwriter and record collector Lester Koenig (1917-1977), Contemporary Records became the epicenter of the West Coast jazz scene, while its cutting-edge approach to sound and design attracted some of the era's most exciting artists. The Contemporary Records Acoustic Sounds series — which launched in the spring of 2022 with titles by Art Pepper, Barney Kessel and Benny Carter, among others — honors the label's rich legacy through meticulous reissues that highlight the label's influential classics, as well as its must-hear rarities. Since its initial rollout, the series has earned accolades from a slew of outlets, including JazzTimes, which spoke to the impact of the label, reflecting: "Artists, producers, and engineers alike have held Contemporary aloft...as a label dedicated to presenting jazz at its absolute purest, richest, and live-est," adding that the new reissues "are living, breathing proof of that label's hotly cutting clarity." Audiophile Review, meanwhile, marveled at the stereo pressing of Art Pepper + Eleven: Modern Jazz Classics, which it called "top-notch," elaborating that it sounds "richer and more inviting...deliver[ing] a bit more cinemascopic ‘view' of the group." Praising Hampton Hawes' Four! as "pristine," Audiophile Audition added, "Kudos to Craft Recordings for re-introducing a brilliant pianist." Musicians: Curtis Counce, bass Jack Sheldon, trumpet Harold Land, tenor saxophone Carl Perkins, pianist Frank Butler, drums

Craft Recordings and Acoustic Sounds are proud to continue the Contemporary Records Acoustic Sounds series for 2023 with seven album releases from the Contemporary Records catalog, celebrating 70 years of the legendary jazz label. The releases are supervised by Chad Kassem, CEO of Acoustic Sounds, the world's largest source for audiophile recordings. Each title, originally engineered by Roy DuNann and/or Howard Holzer, features all-analog mastering from the original tapes by legendary engineer Bernie Grundman (himself a former employee of the label), as well as unsurpassed audiophile pressing on 180-gram vinyl at Quality Record Pressings, presented in a Stoughton Printing old-style tip-on jacket. The series highlights gems from Contemporary's extraordinary catalog and features artists who both defined and expanded the sound of West Coast jazz. Released in 1959, Tomorrow Is The Question!, the second album by jazz musician Ornette Coleman, was his last for Contemporary Records before he began a highly successful multi-album series for Atlantic Records. "Shaking out of the contractual obligation forcing him to employ a pianist on his debut, Something Else!!!! (Contemporary, 1958), alto saxophonist Ornette Coleman dispensed with the instrument altogether on 1959's Tomorrow is the Question!, causing a bit of consternation on the part of the mainstream jazz media. This was Coleman's committed step forward toward a harmonically less restrictive sound, en route to the joyful chaos of Free Jazz (Atlantic, 1961). Following, in form, Gerry Mulligan's famous piano-less quartet of the early 1950s, Coleman greatly liberated his solo and rhythm instruments, taking a quantum greater advantage of this freedom compared with Mulligan, had the baritone saxophonist been so inclined." — All About Jazz Founded in 1951 by film producer, screenwriter and record collector Lester Koenig (1917-1977), Contemporary Records became the epicenter of the West Coast jazz scene, while its cutting-edge approach to sound and design attracted some of the era's most exciting artists. The Contemporary Records Acoustic Sounds series — which launched in the spring of 2022 with titles by Art Pepper, Barney Kessel and Benny Carter, among others — honors the label's rich legacy through meticulous reissues that highlight the label's influential classics, as well as its must-hear rarities. Since its initial rollout, the series has earned accolades from a slew of outlets, including JazzTimes, which spoke to the impact of the label, reflecting: "Artists, producers, and engineers alike have held Contemporary aloft...as a label dedicated to presenting jazz at its absolute purest, richest, and live-est," adding that the new reissues "are living, breathing proof of that label's hotly cutting clarity." Audiophile Review, meanwhile, marveled at the stereo pressing of Art Pepper + Eleven: Modern Jazz Classics, which it called "top-notch," elaborating that it sounds "richer and more inviting...deliver[ing] a bit more cinemascopic ‘view' of the group." Praising Hampton Hawes' Four! as "pristine," Audiophile Audition added, "Kudos to Craft Recordings for re-introducing a brilliant pianist." Musicians: Ornette Coleman, alto saxophone Don Cherry, trumpet Percy Heath, bass (1-6) Red Mitchell, bass (7-9) Shelly Mann, drums

Craft Recordings and Acoustic Sounds are proud to announce the Contemporary Records Acoustic Sounds series, which continues for 2023 with seven album releases from the Contemporary Records catalog, celebrating 70 years of the legendary jazz label. The releases are supervised by Chad Kassem, CEO of Acoustic Sounds, the world's largest source for audiophile recordings. Each title, originally engineered by Roy DuNann and/or Howard Holzer, features all-analog mastering from the original tapes by legendary engineer Bernie Grundman (himself a former employee of the label), as well as unsurpassed audiophile pressing on 180-gram vinyl at Quality Record Pressings, presented in a Stoughton Printing old-style tip-on jacket. The series highlights gems from Contemporary's extraordinary catalog and features artists who both defined and expanded the sound of West Coast jazz. One of the best of a series of showtune albums — perhaps THE best — recorded by the trio of pianist Andre Previn, bassist Red Mitchell and drummer Shelly Manne. Here the all-star group is focusing on the music of West Side Story (AllMusic notes Previn and Manne alternated leadership, and it was the drummer's good fortune to have the famous My Fair Lady alum under his own name). The album has eight of the main themes from the famous musical, including "I Feel Pretty," "Maria" and "America." As usual, the melodies are treated respectfully yet swingingly, and Andre Previn in particular excels in this setting. Recommended. Founded in 1951 by film producer, screenwriter and record collector Lester Koenig (1917-1977), Contemporary Records became the epicenter of the West Coast jazz scene, while its cutting-edge approach to sound and design attracted some of the era's most exciting artists. The Contemporary Records Acoustic Sounds series — which launched in the spring of 2022 with titles by Art Pepper, Barney Kessel and Benny Carter, among others — honors the label's rich legacy through meticulous reissues that highlight the label's influential classics, as well as its must-hear rarities. Since its initial rollout, the series has earned accolades from a slew of outlets, including JazzTimes, which spoke to the impact of the label, reflecting: "Artists, producers, and engineers alike have held Contemporary aloft...as a label dedicated to presenting jazz at its absolute purest, richest, and live-est," adding that the new reissues "are living, breathing proof of that label's hotly cutting clarity." Audiophile Review, meanwhile, marveled at the stereo pressing of Art Pepper + Eleven: Modern Jazz Classics, which it called "top-notch," elaborating that it sounds "richer and more inviting...deliver[ing] a bit more cinemascopic ‘view' of the group." Praising Hampton Hawes' Four! as "pristine," Audiophile Audition added, "Kudos to Craft Recordings for re-introducing a brilliant pianist."

Craft Recordings and Acoustic Sounds are proud to announce the Contemporary Records Acoustic Sounds series, which begins with six album releases from the Contemporary Records catalog, celebrating 70 years of the legendary jazz label. The releases are supervised by Chad Kassem, CEO of Acoustic Sounds, the world's largest source for audiophile recordings. Each title, originally engineered by Roy DuNann and/or Howard Holzer, features all-analog mastering from the original tapes by legendary engineer Bernie Grundman (himself a former employee of the label), as well as unsurpassed audiophile pressing on 180-gram vinyl at Quality Record Pressings, presented in a Stoughton Printing old-style tip-on jacket. The series highlights gems from Contemporary's extraordinary catalog and features artists who both defined and expanded the sound of West Coast jazz. 1957's The Poll Winners was the first of five all-star trio sessions featuring the dazzling interplay of guitarist Barney Kessel, drummer Shelly Manne and bassist Ray Brown. For The Poll Winners, Kessel, Manne, and Brown did not record together simply because they all happened to have won first place on their respective instruments in the Down Beat, Playboy, and Metronome polls. Their collaboration was due to mutual respect, and their sensitivity to one another's musical requirements. Here, in a set composed mainly of pop and jazz standards, they represent the ultimate in their fields, constituting a rhythm section that also provides brilliant solo interludes by all three members. Collectively, Kessel, Manne, and Brown won dozens of polls over the years; this record eloquently tells you why.

Craft Recordings and Acoustic Sounds are proud to announce the Contemporary Records Acoustic Sounds series, which begins with six album releases from the Contemporary Records catalog, celebrating 70 years of the legendary jazz label. The releases are supervised by Chad Kassem, CEO of Acoustic Sounds, the world's largest source for audiophile recordings. Each title, originally engineered by Roy DuNann and/or Howard Holzer, features all-analog mastering from the original tapes by legendary engineer Bernie Grundman (himself a former employee of the label), as well as unsurpassed audiophile pressing on 180-gram vinyl at Quality Record Pressings, presented in a Stoughton Printing old-style tip-on jacket. The series highlights gems from Contemporary's extraordinary catalog and features artists who both defined and expanded the sound of West Coast jazz. Guitarist Barney Kessel, drummer Shelly Manne, bassist Red Mitchell, and the supremely soulful Hampton Hawes, one of jazz's most appealing yet unsung pianists, fill out the quartet scorecard of the 1958 release Four!. Although much later in his career Hawes experimented with electronic keyboards and fusion music, at heart he was a bebopper, as this session makes abundantly clear. With material like Charlie Parker's "Yardbird Suite," his own "Up Blues," and Red Mitchell's "Bow Jest" (on which Mitchell plays his first recorded bowed solo), Hawes is at a creative peak here. Kessel, who played on the date, paid tribute to Hawes' "inexhaustible ideas on the blues…no one else in modern jazz plays the blues better." And nobody could tie a rhythm section together better than Shelly Manne, the fourth party in this boundingly energetic Four!

Craft Recordings and Acoustic Sounds are proud to announce the Contemporary Records Acoustic Sounds series, which continues for 2023 with seven album releases from the Contemporary Records catalog, celebrating 70 years of the legendary jazz label. The releases are supervised by Chad Kassem, CEO of Acoustic Sounds, the world's largest source for audiophile recordings. Each title, originally engineered by Roy DuNann and/or Howard Holzer, features all-analog mastering from the original tapes by legendary engineer Bernie Grundman (himself a former employee of the label), as well as unsurpassed audiophile pressing on 180-gram vinyl at Quality Record Pressings, presented in a Stoughton Printing old-style tip-on jacket. The series highlights gems from Contemporary's extraordinary catalog and features artists who both defined and expanded the sound of West Coast jazz. American bassist Leroy Vinnegar's debut album! Making up the rest of sextet are Gerald Wilson, trumpet; Teddy Edwards, tenor saxophone; Carl Perkins, piano; Tony Bazely, drums; and British import Victor Feldman on vibes (Feldman also arranged three of the seven songs). The album was produced by Lester Koenig and recorded in three 1957 sessions in Los Angeles. Six of the seven songs in this set have the word "walk" in their title, including "Would You Like To Take a Walk," "Walkin' My Baby Back Home," "I'll Walk Alone," and Vinnegar's original "Walk On." All-in-all, a fine, straight-ahead session. 4 Stars, AllMusic. Founded in 1951 by film producer, screenwriter and record collector Lester Koenig (1917-1977), Contemporary Records became the epicenter of the West Coast jazz scene, while its cutting-edge approach to sound and design attracted some of the era's most exciting artists. The Contemporary Records Acoustic Sounds series — which launched in the spring of 2022 with titles by Art Pepper, Barney Kessel and Benny Carter, among others — honors the label's rich legacy through meticulous reissues that highlight the label's influential classics, as well as its must-hear rarities. Since its initial rollout, the series has earned accolades from a slew of outlets, including JazzTimes, which spoke to the impact of the label, reflecting: "Artists, producers, and engineers alike have held Contemporary aloft...as a label dedicated to presenting jazz at its absolute purest, richest, and live-est," adding that the new reissues "are living, breathing proof of that label's hotly cutting clarity." Audiophile Review, meanwhile, marveled at the stereo pressing of Art Pepper + Eleven: Modern Jazz Classics, which it called "top-notch," elaborating that it sounds "richer and more inviting...deliver[ing] a bit more cinemascopic ‘view' of the group." Praising Hampton Hawes' Four! as "pristine," Audiophile Audition added, "Kudos to Craft Recordings for re-introducing a brilliant pianist."

Craft Recordings and Acoustic Sounds are proud to announce the Contemporary Records Acoustic Sounds series, which begins with six album releases from the Contemporary Records catalog, celebrating 70 years of the legendary jazz label. The releases are supervised by Chad Kassem, CEO of Acoustic Sounds, the world's largest source for audiophile recordings. Each title, originally engineered by Roy DuNann and/or Howard Holzer, features all-analog mastering from the original tapes by legendary engineer Bernie Grundman (himself a former employee of the label), as well as unsurpassed audiophile pressing on 180-gram vinyl at Quality Record Pressings, presented in a Stoughton Printing old-style tip-on jacket. The series highlights gems from Contemporary's extraordinary catalog and features artists who both defined and expanded the sound of West Coast jazz. Art Pepper Meets the Rhythm Section is the alto saxophone master's auspicious 1957 Contemporary debut paring him with pianist Red Garland, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Philly Joe Jones — the East Coast rhythm section for Miles Davis' nonpareil quintet. Recorded by legendary engineer Roy DuNann.