Harold Land – The Fox

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

“Underground classic” is what mid-1960s jazz aficionados called Harold Land’s The Fox. If you knew about this under-the-radar 1960 release you were hip. That’s still true today. The underground designation is appropriate because of the rarely heard trumpet player on this release, Dupree Bolton, who blows out a stunning performance, signaling a major emerging voice on trumpet. But then, a few short years later, Bolton tragically disappeared into the prison system. Want proof of his skills? Listen to his performance on the opening tracks of this excellent vinyl reissue. The first cut, “The Fox,” is taken at breakneck speed that few can match, yet the quality of improvisation is stunning and logical. And track two, “Mirror-Mind Rose,” is a beguiling ballad played gorgeously by Mr. Bolton and his associate Harold Land. In fact, all the musicians on this straight-ahead, hard-swinging date are a perfect match for the music and each other, including drummer Frank Butler, who displays serious chops, boldly accenting and rhythmically driving the proceedings. Craft has done a fastidious job on this all-analogue 180-gram vinyl reissue, both the mastering (Bernie Grundman) and the pressing (QRP), putting to shame the CD version I have. Trust me, this is a musical gem.” — Music = 5 Stars, Sonics = 4 Stars — Jonathan Horwich, The Absolute Sound, November 2024

The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings states Harold Land is an “underrated composer with a deep feeling for the blues.” Tracks such as this albums title track, the breathless “The Fox,” which makes stellar use of the unforgettable Dupree Bolton, the mythically talented trumpeter out of Oklahoma City whose career tragically derailed, as well as legendary pianist Elmo Hope, who penned four of the album’s six tracks, highlights this. The surprisingly moving, honey-like “Mirror Mind Rose” also showcases Land’s range and is an extraordinary exercise in expression and restraint. This album, writes the New Yorker, is “well worth savoring.”

This new edition, released as part of the Contemporary Records Acoustic Sounds Series, features (AAA) lacquers cut from the original analog tapes by Bernie Grundman and is pressed on 180-gram vinyl at QRP, and presented in a Stoughton Printing tip-on jacket.