Bob Weinstock and the Prestige All-Star Sessions by Steve Siegel

 © Introduction Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.

“In January 1949, Mr. Weinstock directed his first recording session, with Konitz and pianist Lennie Tristano, for a label he first called New Jazz before changing the name to Prestige. His records, including several by Getz and Stitt and Annie Ross ' " Twisted, " were finding success on the radio and in jukeboxes. Phobic about airplane travel, Mr. Weinstock traveled around the country by bus, talking to distributors and disc jockeys, and with his father ' s help he set up an effective promotion and distribution system.

When his label was at its peak in the 1950s, he organized an average of 75 recording sessions a year.

He recruited Monk and Davis when their contracts with other companies had expired. He signed Rollins and Coltrane to Prestige, for which they recorded the monumental saxophone duet " Tenor Madness " in 1956.

In 1953, saxophonist Charlie Parker appeared on one of Rollins ' Prestige albums under the name " Charlie Chan " because of contractual issues.

Few of the recordings made money at first, but in 1952, Prestige scored a jazz hit with King Pleasure ' s vocal version of " Moody ' s Mood for Love. " With the sales of that record, Mr. Weinstock was able to keep his company afloat.

When larger record labels raided his roster, Mr. Weinstock made sure he received every last contractually obligated musical morsel from his players. Before he allowed Davis to sign with Columbia Records in 1956, Mr. Weinstock sent the trumpeter to the studio for two solid days, eventually releasing four albums from the marathon, one-take recording sessions. The albums, " Cookin ' With the Miles Davis Quintet " and its companion volumes, " Relaxin ' , " " Workin ' " and " Steamin ' , " are considered some of Davis ' finest efforts from the 1950s.

By the late 1950s, Mr. Weinstock was hiring others to sign artists and produce the sessions, and the company ' s direction changed with the music. By the mid-1960s it was moving toward soul-jazz, recording many titles by Richard " Groove " Holmes, Willis Jackson and Charles Earland.

In 1972, Mr. Weinstock sold Prestige to Fantasy Records and retired to Florida at 43. He invested in the stock market and commodities, based on formulas of his own devising.”

• Published by San Diego Union-Tribune on Jan. 22, 2006.

With previous features on pianist Wade Legge, the Great Day in Harlem Photograph “Mystery Man” - William J. Crump, drummer Frankie Dunlop, vocalist Jimmy Rushing, critic and author Nat Hentoff, and Jazz Party: A Great Night In Manhattan featuring the Miles Davis Sextet, the Duke Ellington Orchestra, the September 9, 1958 fest that Columbia Records put on at the Plaza Hotel for its executives and guests, trumpeter Dupree Bolton, and vocalist Helen Merrill, over the years, Steve Siegel has assumed the role of “unofficial” staff writer for JazzProfiles.

© -Steve Siegel copyright protected; all rights reserved; used with the author’s permission.

Bob Weinstock and the Prestige All-Star Sessions

By Steve Siegel

From August 3, 1956 to April 29, 1959, Prestige Records owner Bob Weinstock produced 21 sessions with an ever-changing group of 65 total musicians. The sessions were thematic and the iterations of musicians in their various groupings at the sessions were referred to as “The Prestige All Stars.” The albums were released under various titles.

The all-stars were mostly either current stars or emerging ones. Hand-picked by Weinstock, many of the all-stars were present at multiple sessions, with Mal Waldron leading the way with 11 appearances, Doug Watkins lugged his bass to 10 sessions with Kenny Burrell’s guitar and Arthur Taylor's drum kit present on nine each. The oldest participant was Coleman Hawkins born in 1906 and the youngest was Louis Hayes born in 1937. But the majority of the participants were in their 20s and early 30s, representing the second wave in the evolution of jazz following the Parker/Gillespie first generation of modernists. 

Weinstock most likely used the moniker “Prestige All Stars” for marketing reasons. In 1956, when the series began, most of the musicians he planned to use were relatively new to the New York scene and did not have the name recognition necessary to sell albums featuring any one musician’s name on the record’s cover. It also allowed him to use ever changing groups and still maintain an identity for the record buying public.

Actually, Weinstock’s first all-star session was the legendary 1954 Christmas Eve meeting of Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis and Milt Jackson - as legendary for the controversy generated when Davis asked Monk to "lay-out,” as for the music produced – which was two versions of Jackson's “Groovin' High.”

Weinstock took a rather unique approach to many of these sessions. Generally, any session labeled as an all-star session might merely be a rather tedious series of jam sessions featuring a “head" followed by a series of solos with each player trying to generate excitement through the use of riffs, volume and speed, perhaps explicitly or implicitly competing with other participants. The format might generate excitement but can sometimes offer successive solos with little continuity which serve up the musical equivalent of empty calories and rarely holds the listener's interest throughout the 35-to-40-minute length of an average record.

The best of these Prestige All-star Sessions hold together surprisingly well due to some of the good choices Weinstock made in terms of instrumentation and repertoire, as well as how he selected and grouped the musicians for each session. Because of this preplanning, every so often, an all-star session managed to transcend its structural limitations as “just a jam session” and could produce jazz of a high level.

Weinstock has rarely received the credit he deserves for the conception, execution and resultant commercial and aesthetic success of the series.  One possible reason for the oversight is that the series was overlooked due to the sheer volume of product that “The Big Two” - Prestige and Blue Note (as well as other smaller labels) put out in what was possibly the busiest year in the recorded history of jazz-1957. Prestige held 70 sessions that year and Blue Note held 51, for a total of 121 sessions. As a point of contrast, in 1958 Prestige held 38 sessions and Blue Note 34 for a total of 72 sessions, or 49 less than there was in 1957. So, 1957 was a great year for the record buying public, but not so good for any one album trying to stand out in such a crowded market, much less a series of 15 all-star sessions released that same year. As we sift through the written history of jazz, until recently, with Tad Richard’s well researched book, Listening to Prestige, there is surprisingly little written about Weinstock. He is essentially treated as the “Black Knight" of the industry. What has been written of him sometimes compares him to the “White Knight" of jazz, Blue Note’s, Alfred Lion.

 Weinstock was rather parsimonious in all aspects of his operation and was said to  oftentimes take financial advantage of his musicians. Lion, though not perfect, was mostly fair in his dealings. Lion provided paid rehearsal time, Weinstock none; or if provided, did not pay musicians for the time. Weinstock is even criticized for the fact that even though they both recorded at Rudy Van Gelder’s studio, the result of the overall audio quality of Blue Note recordings seem to be a bit better than Prestige’s. The argument goes that Alfred Lion was heavily involved in the sound of his productions and worked with Van Gelder to get the sound he wanted and conversely Bob Weinstock left Rudy alone and did not really have a vision for a “house" sound on Prestige. Consequently Van Gelder, would experiment and try different equipment, different microphone placements and other tweaks at the Prestige sessions, some of which worked quite well and others not so well. Weinstock generally wanted things done in one take and if any further takes were necessary, he would insist that Van Gelder tape over the first take to save money, which explains why few or no rejected takes exist in the Prestige vaults. 

Many of these criticisms are valid but for others there are apparent reasons for what Weinstock did. When listening to some of the more successful all-star sessions, it’s evident that Weinstock was able to coax some sublime solos from the participants by simply getting out of the way and letting them play - something that Alfred Lion probably would be less apt to do. Lion would most likely not give up that much control to the musicians by allowing pieces to build organically over the 15-20 minutes it took for soloists to finish their statements during these “jam" like sessions. In February 1957, uncharacteristically, Lion took a revolving group of musicians into Manhattan Towers for a three-day marathon recording session featuring Jimmy Smith's organ. Evidently, Lion was in a “jammin'” mood, as eight of the pieces recorded ran between 10 and 17 minutes.

As far as finding musicians, Weinstock was able to cast a wide net during this period. Quite possibly the largest influx of young musicians, schooled in the language of bebop  arrived in New York during the mid to late 1950s. Further, most of those jazz musicians that Weinstock might have had an interest in were not signed to long-term contracts with any labels. Generally, if they were a member of a working group that was recording, the group leader would have a contract that stated that the group as a whole were restricted to only recording for that label but the sidemen were free to record for any label that they wished. The first classic Miles Davis group was a good example of this type of structure. Davis was signed to Prestige but Garland, Chambers, Coltrane and Jones were able to individually or in combination record for other labels.  

So, Weinstock was essentially the musical equivalent of the little boy in the candy store in that he had many choices of talented musicians. Some came to Prestige based on word-of-mouth from players who had recorded for the label, some were simply brought to sessions by other musicians. Still, others who recorded for other labels were heard by Weinstock, who then contacted them.

Most record label owners and producers spent time in the clubs actually hearing the musicians, Weinstock spent little if any time in the clubs but relied on word-of-mouth recommendations from people whose judgment he trusted. So, from this pastiche of sources, Weinstock had many musicians to choose from for his sessions.

Though Weinstock did not pay well and had a reputation for economically exploiting musicians, he had no trouble finding willing participants. Despite all his personal and professional flaws, he had one characteristic that the musicians appreciated. He held loose reins on their performances which provided more artistic freedom than other labels might have been comfortable with.

Though he might have given up a great deal of artistic control during the actual sessions, there does seem to have been much thought put into the pre-planning of instrumental configurations as well as the choice of musicians for each session. 

There existed somewhat of a dichotomy between the clear pre-planned structure at the all-star sessions, with, on the one hand, Weinstock successfully putting together musicians who had a history of working together, being occasionally offset by his quest for unique combinations of instruments on some sessions. This would yield mixed results, with the overall quality of the playing being good, but the aesthetic value of the music, at times, being rather variable.

To point out two examples:

Formats such as using two baritone saxes and two French horns (Pepper Adams, Cecil Payne, Julius Watkins, Dave Amram - Modern Jazz Survey 2 / Baritones & French Horns 1957) or  four alto saxes- (Phil Woods, Gene Quill, Sahib Shihab, Hal Stein - Four Altos 1957, could be confusing to the listener as they attempt to figure out which saxophones or trumpets or horns, they were listening to. Most of these records were only available in monophonic sound, so liner notes that map out who is in which channel were useless as well as the sonority of instruments clashing.

But Weinstock's efforts also yielded a few classic sessions within the realm of all-star groups “jammin’" together. We could also go as far as to say that even though most of these very young musicians were already forming a reputation in New York City, their work on these sessions helped to further advance their solo careers. 

Examples of quality All-Star sessions which have stood the test of time and have been  reissued or at least well recognized by reviewers and/or critics over the last 70 years:

All Night Long- December 28, 1956 PR 7073

All Day Long- January 4, 1957 PR 7081

Earthy- January 25, 1957, PR 7102

The Cats- April 18, 1957 NJLP 8217 (New Jazz)

After Hours- June 21, 1957 PR 7118

*All Morning Long- November 15, 1957 PR 7130

*Soul Junction- November 15, 1957 PR 7181

  * These were not labeled as all-star sessions but under the title The Red Garland Quintet with John Coltrane and Donald Byrd. I include this as an all-star session because the Red Garland Quintet was not a working band and the albums' format is consistent with other “All-Star" sessions. By late November 1957 Garland, Coltrane and Byrd had enough name recognition to be listed on the cover as featured artists so, for marketing purposes, the “Prestige All-Stars" cover title was not necessary.

So, we might ask: “What makes the best recordings of these all-stars so special that they transcend the many other so-called ‘jam sessions’ that were rather ubiquitous in the late 1940s and early 1950s?” What factors led Art Taylor, who appears on five of the seven albums to opine: “ All Day Long and All Night Long are milestones in the careers of all the musicians involved.”

After all, similar to most Prestige sessions (at least those that didn't involve Miles Davis or Sonny Rollins or working groups) these sessions often involved disparate groupings of musicians, oftentimes material cobbled together at the session, no rehearsals, no second takes, a producer (Weinstock) who was not a musician and was willing to settle for less than perfect takes. This is obviously not the usual formula for success.

Perhaps one important reason for the quality of the all-star sessions was the presence of so many young and talented musicians from Detroit, Michigan, who had emigrated to New York City between 1953 and 1957. These Detroit musicians not only worked together in New York but came out of the same musical environment. Many even went to the same high schools, e.g., Cass Technical High or Miller High School. A list of those who appear on the all-star sessions and received their music education in the Detroit area includes; Kenny Burrell, Tommy Flanagan, Thad Jones, Paul Chambers, Doug Watkins, Frank Foster, Donald Byrd and Louis Hayes. These eight recent émigrés from Detroit to New York appear a total of 18 times on these seven albums. 

As Mark Stryker puts it in his Jazz from Detroit book:

 “The combination of exceptional music education in the public schools, thriving nightlife, and influential mentors… in the community, transformed the city into a jazz juggernaut in the 1940s and 50s.”

Stryker went on to say:  “With their hard swinging styles, affinity for the blues and polished craftsmanship, Detroit musicians were to the hard bop manner born as they migrated east. They populated the top bands, clubs and record labels the way an earlier crop of Detroit exports (did).”

We might add to this that they were all friends or at least acquaintances from the same generation and therefore were generally more amenable to collaboration than to competition with one another.

Unlike a jazz session with young musicians competing to prove themselves, the all-star sessions contained these young but musically advanced musicians who had survived jam sessions as well as the scrutiny of the very hip and very knowledgeable audiences in the Detroit of the 1950s. As tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson puts it:

 “Detroit had the best listening audience.  The audiences around Detroit were like musicians. I mean, they knew. No way to come up on the bandstand jiving. That could be injurious to one’s ego.”

So, the high musical standards and educational opportunities of Detroit jazz which served to prepare the Detroit based musicians and provided them with the skills and confidence necessary to succeed in New York City, was one factor in preparing them for the sessions at Prestige. But some of the credit has to go to Blue Note’s Alfred Lion. 

In late 1955 and into 1956 - dates that preceded the Prestige all-star sessions involving the Detroit musicians - Lion brought Thad Jones into the Van Gelder studio for sessions that produced three highly regarded albums: Detroit- New York Junction (BLP 1513), The Magnificent Thad Jones (BLP 1527) and The Magnificent Thad Jones Vol. 3 (BLP 1546). 

These three albums, though much more highly structured than the future Prestige sessions were to be (as one would expect from Alfred Lion), were anchored by Detroit musicians; Thad Jones, Barry Harris, Kenny Burrell, Tommy Flanagan, Billy Mitchell and Elvin Jones.

These sessions gave the new arrivals, all of whom-with the exception of Jones-were 26 years of age or younger, an opportunity to work together under the auspices of the #1 jazz producer and recording engineer Alfred Lion and Rudy Van Gelder.

 Perhaps we can assume that Bob Weinstock heard these recordings which may have influenced his choice of musicians for some of these All-Star sessions. After all, to flip-flop an old saying in New York retailing during this era - Macy certainly wishes to know what Gimbal is up to.

These musicians were in the early stages of their careers in the big-time of New York City. They were, at this point, reasonably well-known in the City and had previously recorded under the pressure of the New York studios. The Prestige sessions allowed them to again come together, grow, develop and in a friendly way, challenge each other.

As an example of that growth, here is what Nat Hentoff had to say about Donald Byrd in his liner notes to Soul Junction which co-featured Coltrane and Byrd:

 “Donald Byrd is one young modernist who didn't allow early attention from the critics to push him into megalomania. Since coming to New York he has continued studying both at the Manhattan school in a wide variety of playing experiences. His work as in the opening blues has grown in strength and decisiveness from the fluent hummingbird quality that characterized him during his early months in New York.”

One can detect the growth that Hentoff refers to in the 11 months between his appearance on the All Night Long session of 12/28/1956 and the Soul Junction session of 11/15/1957.

The Detroit musicians were essentially the first generation of “Young Lions," preceding the Wynton Marsalis led group who arrived in the “Big Apple” 30 years later. The Prestige sessions also provided budding jazz composition writers with an opportunity to bring new works to a session or spontaneously compose them during the session and try out the piece immediately. It was shades of Duke Ellington’s approach where he would write a piece and then at the next destination, he could hear the band perform it during a rehearsal.

Here's Art Taylor (re: All Night Long session):

 “Hank Mobley was supposed to bring in two tunes but didn't. Instead he went to a far corner of the studio after his arrival and wrote the tunes out in about 10 minutes. This is something that has always amazed me because I have seen him do this on many record dates.”

The format for these sessions followed a similar pattern. One long blues (between 10 and 20 minutes) with all musicians taking solos; shorter pieces by other participants and an occasional standard. Given how well most of these sessions turned out, it's really a tribute to the participating musicians who had to learn new compositions in a very short period of time with no rehearsal time allotted by Weinstock and rarely a second take allowed.

Because none of the all-star sessions involved a working group with a group leader, each session had a nominal leader. At the Soul Junction and the All Morning Long sessions, the nominal leader was Red Garland. The other five sessions were led by Detroit musicians: Burrell (3), Flanagan (1) and Thad Jones (1). Flanagan, Burrell and Jones were not only excellent musicians but respected by other participants and possessed the demeanor necessary to deal with the difficulty of bringing musicians together on generally new material.

Drummer Arthur Taylor on Burrell's leadership at the All Day and All Night sessions:

 “(Burrell's) relaxed way is infectious. This can be related to the way he handled himself during these recording sessions. No matter what happened he always remained relaxed. Recording can be a very tedious thing because it's not like a concert or club. What you play is on wax forever. A musician can try extra hard because he is aware of this and wants to sound his best, therefore on the playback the sound might not be as relaxed as you want it to be. I'm sure Kenny was aware of this and his way of handling these avoided any such actions.”

 Despite the various strengths that the best of the Prestige All-Star Sessions exhibited, the availability of these recordings worldwide in all formats as (lp, digital, cassette, open reel) as reissues, beyond the original issues in 1957-58, has been modest. To illustrate, the record selling site, Discogs, lists 607 versions of Kind of Blue issued worldwide in all formats since its release in 1959. In contrast, for All Night Long, one of the best-selling of the all-star sessions, Discogs lists 37 versions and for Earthy only 11.

The seven sessions presented here, as well as others in the All-Star series have, over the past seven decades, likely served as representative entry points for countless curious, but uninitiated would-be jazz fans and musicians.

Interestingly, The Cats, All Night Long, Soul Junction, All Morning Long and After Hours were recently reissued on vinyl by Craft Records who now owns the masters of many classic jazz labels such as Prestige, Riverside, Contemporary, Milestone, Pablo, Debut, Galaxy, and Jazzland. Essentially, from the perspective of growing the market for jazz, Craft has both created demand and helped satisfy that demand through their reissue efforts.

Recent data has shown that the younger generation of teens and 20 something year-olds are now purchasing vinyl records and much of this is in the jazz genre. It’s heartening to realize that music produced by artists who were in their 20s in 1957, is now being purchased by and listened to by those who are two or even three generations removed from when this music was produced. 

Let's hope that the reissue series continues, as well as the renewed interest in jazz.  

Let the circle be unbroken.

The Jazz Drummers Readers - An Unabashed Plug

 © Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.

The Jazz Drummers Readers Volumes 1 and 2, are loosely chronological anthologies and each contains an eclectic selection of articles, interviews and commentaries - some of which are very rare - about Jazz pianists whose music I’ve enjoyed over the years.

There’s the operative term - enjoyment.

And there’s plenty about Jazz Drummers to enjoy as the combined two volumes contain 106 chapters and over 750 pages for your reading enjoyment.

With everyone so busy these days, most of the chapters can be read in 15-20 minutes.

Now that the initial costs of publication for the series have been met, 50% of all royalties will be donated to the local high school and community college district to help purchase musical instruments for individual students. I have also donated $500 to the Gerry and Franca Mulligan Foundation and a full drum kit to the Jazz big band at local community college from the proceeds.

Each volume is available as a paperback for $24.99, an audio book for $14.99 and an eBook for $9.99 exclusively at Amazon.com. Just enter my name in the search box under “Books.”

You can locate the Table of Contents for each volume by scrolling the sidebar [right hand column] of my blog at JazzProfiles.blogspot.com

Thank you for your support.

Zev Feldman + Resonance + Elemental = "Abbondanza"

 © Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected, all rights reserved.

The obvious English translation of the Italian word Abbondanza is Abundance, but in the case of the six new recordings that producer Zev Feldman in conjunction with Resonance Records and Elemental Music is set to release on vinyl for the upcoming April 18th Record Store Day, the meaning goes much deeper.

For Jazz fans, the word denotes being transferred to a state of prosperity because these new releases are much more than just records; they are a wonderful gift to Jazz fans for a variety of reasons:

• They help to preserve our Jazz heritage by bringing forth more recorded in-performance music by a number of iconic Jazz masters;

• They provide us with the excitement of Jazz being performed in night club and concert settings or before a television audience which produces a vibrancy and excitement rarely captured in studio recordings;

• The quality of the music is enhanced through the use of state-of-the-art audio techniques and services

• They are superbly packaged in gatefold vinyl and multi disc sets replete with photographs, informative and booklet notes and interviews with and statements by master Jazz musicians.

• It’s music you own which you can play whenever and however you want without being dependent on streaming services.

Zev goes to great lengths to be as inclusive as possible in producing these recordings. In many cases he has established close bonds with extant family members who, as a result, assist and facilitate his efforts to make the music available. He pays performance rights fees to the musicians' families or estates.

Market rate commissions are paid to the writers of insert notes, licensing fees are granted for the use of the photographs and copyright royalties are rendered for the songs and tunes performed on the recordings.

This is no schlock operation. It’s a class act all the way.

Each album is a creative endeavor made possible by a dedicated team that Zev has assembled for the task at hand. 

The sports metaphor for this would be the Jazz equivalent of an All-Star Team.

For example, here’s what’s on offer for -

BILL EVANS TRIO AT THE BBC STUDIOS IN 1965 Limited Edition CD Digipak [Elemental 5990458]

Audio transferred from the original tapes at the BBC Featuring Chuck Israels & Larry Bunker Includes a 20-page booklet with photos by Jean-Pierre Leloir, Jan Persson, and others, liner notes by acclaimed jazz critic and author Marc Myers plus testimonies by Chuck Israels James Pearsons Jamie Cullum. Deluxe 2 LP set also available

MICHEL PETRUCCIANI'S 1987 TRIO PERFORMANCE AT KUUMBWA IN SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA! Featuring DAVE HOLLAND & ELIOT ZIGMUND [Elemental Music 5990459]

Includes a 16-page booklet with photos by Christian Rose, Tom Copi, and others; liner notes by acclaimed French jazz critic Thierry Pérémarti; plus exclusive testimonies from Alexandra Petrucciani. Eliot Zigmund, Kuumbwa's founder Tim Jackson, and Italian pianist Enrico Pierarrunzi. Deluxe 2 LP set also available.

UNISSUED PIANO ICON AHMAD JAMAL LIVE IN CHICAGO IN 1976!

AHMAD JAMAL AT THE JAZZ SHOWCASE Live in Chicago [Resonance HCD-2085]

Transferred from Joe Segal's original tapes • Featuring bassist John Heard and drummer Frank Gant; Extensive 24-page booklet with rare photos from Tom Copi, Christian Rose, K.Abe and others; Liner notes by Jamal scholar Eugene Holley, Jr.; statements by pianists Joe Alterman and Fred Hersch; plus interviews with Joe Segal's son, Wayne Segal, and more. Deluxe limited edition 2 LP set also available.

MAL WALDRON STARDUST & STARLIGHT AT THE JAZZ SHOWCASE [Resonance 2087]

Transferred from Joe Segal's original tapes; Featuring Steve Rodby (bass), Wilbur Campbell (drums) and special guest saxophone icon Sonny Stilt, Extensive 28-page booklet with rare photos from K. Abe, Christian Rose, Ozier Muhammad and others;Liner notes by journalist Howard Mandel; interviews with pianist Lafayette Gilchrist, bassist Steve Rodby and more! Deluxe 2 LP set also available.

UNISSUED TENOR TITAN JOE HENDERSON LIVE IN CHICAGO IN 1978!

JOE HENDERSON CONSONANCE LIVE AT THE JAZZ SHOWCASE [Resonance HCD-2084]

Transferred from Joe Segal's original tapes • Featuring Joanne Brackeen (piano), Steve Rodby (bass) and Danny Spencer (drums); Extensive 32-page booklet with rare photos from Raymond Ross, Tom Copi, Veryl Oakland and others; Liner notes by producer John Koenig and interviews with Brackeen, Rodby, Spencer and others. Deluxe 3 LP set also available.

 

UNISSUED MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST YUSEF LATEEF LIVE IN CHICAGO IN 1975!

YUSEF LATEEF ALIGHT UPON THE LAKE [Resonance HCD-2088]

• Transferred from Joe Segal's original tapes Featuring pianist Kenny Barren, bassist Bob Cunningham and drummer Albert 'Tootie" Heath; Extensive 24-page booklet with rare photos from K.Abe, Veryl Oakland, Tom Copi and others; Liner notes by Lateef biographer Herb Boyd; statements by woodwind master Bennie Maupin and more! Deluxe limited edition 3-LP set also available.

Another vitally important member of Zev’s All-Star team is Ann Braithwaite of the media relations firm of Braithwaite & Katz Communications and she prepared the following informative, coherent and cogent press releases for each of these new releases.

Elemental Music will release Bill Evans at the BBC, presenting a 1965 British television performance for the first time on vinyl, as a deluxe 180-gram 2-LP Record Store Day exclusive on April 18, 2026. The album will also be available on CD and digital download on April 24.

The album combines two episodes of a program entitled Jazz 625, hosted by English trumpet player Humphrey Lyttelton, and features Evans' remarkable second working trio with bassist Chuck Israels and drummer Larry Bunker.

Bill Evans at the BBC was produced for release by award-winning producer and "Jazz Detective" Zev Feldman in cooperation with the Bill Evans Estate. Audio was transferred from the original tapes at the BBC with mixing and sound restoration by Marc Doutrepont (EQuuS) and LP mastering by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab.

The album marks Feldman's 15th production with the Evans Estate, a stellar body of work that has contributed much to the legacy of the legendary pianist. The deluxe package includes an interview with Chuck Israels about his memories of Evans and of the broadcast; reflections on Evans' influence by singer/pianist Jamie Cullum and by pianist James Pearson, artistic director of the famed London jazz club Ronnie Scott's; and notes by Evans scholar Marc Myers.

"Working with the Evans family and curating these albums is an enormous highlight of my career," Feldman says. "I first became aware of these recordings of Evans in the 1990s when I worked in New York City. I purchased it on laserdisc originally and have been familiar with this material for quite some time. It's a wonderful chapter in Evans's recorded legacy, and these recordings are deserving of an official CD and LP release."

The broadcasts that make up Bill Evans at the BBC - originally aired on May 12 and December 29, 1965 -represent the pianist's sole performance at the BBC TV studios. The two half-hour sets were filmed back to back on March 19 of that year, midway through the trio's four-week stint at Ronnie Scott's. The group with Israels and Bunker had been together for two years at that point, after Evans' first trio had dissolved in the wake of Scott LaFaro's tragic death in 1961 and Paul Motian's 1963 exit to join pianist Paul Bley.

"By 1965, when the Jazz 625 shows were taped, the trio was a well-oiled machine," recalls Israels in his interview with Feldman. "We were very free in our interpretations of things because we were comfortable with the material and with each other."

That comfort level is brilliantly evidenced throughout Bill Evans at the BBC, which finds the trio exploring its repertoire with an unhurried, luxuriant, profoundly focused rapport. The repertoire will be familiar to even the most casual of Evans fans - five of the pieces are culled from Trio '65, the album that the band had recorded in February but was not yet released at the time of these tapings. They include John Carisi's "Israel" and Earl Zindars' "Elsa" and "How My Heart Sings," along with the standards "Who Can I Turn To?" and "Come Rain or Come Shine." The setlists are filled out with Evans favorites like "Waltz for Debby" and "Re: Person I Knew," and selections that he returned to often: "Summertime," "Someday My Prince Will Come," and Miles Davis' "Nardis."

Jazz 625 aired for two years, from April 1964 to August 1966, on BBC Two. The show's title is a reference to the 625-lines UHF utilized by the channel, as opposed to the more common 405-lines VHF system. The series was launched after the resolution of a years-long dispute between the UK Musicians Union and the American Federation of Musicians that allowed musicians from the U.S. to perform in Britain for the first time since the 1930s. Over the course of its run, the show aired appearances by such greats as Duke Ellington, Dave Brubeck, Thelonious Monk, the Modern Jazz Quartet and Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers.

Evans devotees may have seen these episodes in various forms in the intervening years - longtime aficionados like Feldman, they may have caught them on laserdisc in the 1990s, while others may have seen them on DVD in the early 2000s or in clips on YouTube. This release, however, isolates the music from its accompanying visuals for the first time in an official release and remastered to maximize its audio quality.

The result, Myers writes in his liner notes, "is a fascinating listen. Without the visual, you are forced to listen in a more attentive and granular way. Rather than hear the music as background to what you are seeing, you feel it and the trio's excellence more deeply. Upon listening to the music on this album, I gasped. The trio here is at its peak, playing music that is un-rushed, caressing and gorgeous."

Cullum praises the achievements of this stellar group in his conversation with Feldman, saying, "the trio with Chuck Israels and Larry Bunker really swung. I love Bunker's playing, the sound of his brushes, the feeling of swing, so propulsive. Also, Bill was swinging really hard at that time. Watching the tapes, I just couldn't believe the economy of it all, both the music and his movements at the piano. That trio was fantastic, and shouldn't be judged in the shadow of the one with Scott LaFaro and Paul Motian. It got to swing hard despite the sheer quietness you see onstage. It has a fire of its own."

Six decades after the trio converged before a reserved but appreciative audience in a British television studio, that fire continues to burn brightly via these captivating recordings. As Israels himself recognized in an interview with Marc Myers, "Yes, we were damn near perfect at the BBC."”

Elemental Music will release Kuumbwa, a superlative 1987 trio concert recorded at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz, California as an exclusive two-LP set to be released on April 18, 2026 with CD and digital versions available on April 24, 2026. The album is part of Record Store Day in the EU.

This first Petrucciani artifact among the label's many jazz treasures—produced for release by the acclaimed "Jazz Detective" Zev Feldman and available on 180-gram vinyl with mixing and sound restoration by Marc Doutrepont (EQuuS) and LP mastering by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab - was a discovery from the archives of Kuumbwa co-founder Tim Jackson. The package includes a reflection from Jackson on both Kuumbwa (a pioneer of nonprofit jazz presentation) and Petrucciani himself, along with insights on the brilliant French pianist from his son, Alexandre; his longtime drummer Eliot Zigmund, who accompanied Petrucciani at Kuumbwa; French jazz journalist Thierry Pérémarti; and Italian fellow pianist Enrico Pieranunzi.

"I've been friendly with Tim since 2006, when I was working at Concord and we released the Monterey Jazz Highlights while he was Artistic Director of the festival," producer Feldman recalls. "We've stayed in touch. He shared the Kuumbwa archives with me, and I was blown away with this recording."

The trio performance from May 11, 1987, contains much to blow listeners away. Along with Petrucciani and Zigmund, the lineup includes English bass wizard Dave Holland, all of them at the top of their respective and collective games. The 24-year-old pianist and French emigre, who had relocated to New York in 1984, had only just become familiar to wider American jazz fans with his signing to Blue Note Records in 1986. He lost no time in showing that new audience what he could do.

Despite his osteogenesis imperfecta, the genetic bone disorder that stunted his growth and left him in nearly constant pain, Petrucciani's imagination and zeal for the music are as flamboyantly on display as is his talent on the Kuumbwa recordings. They paint a portrait of the pianist "Exactly as he was in life," notes Pérémarti ""Extravagant; romantic; facetious; turbulent; sweet and gentle; impatient; funny and full of life His music never lied it is the exact mirror of his character He plays in this recording with such vigor, such ardor and energy, and at the same time like a child rapt in wonder."

"My father was a force of nature," remarks Alexandre Petrucciani. "I hope this new release conveys not only his love of jazz but also the love he gave to the world—because he was bigger than music."

His enthusiasm was clearly infectious: Both Holland and Zigmund are audibly inspired to play with uncanny levels of electricity alongside Petrucciani. "Playing with Michel was probably one of the most exciting periods of my life," says Zigmund, whose resume also boasts work with Bill Evans, Vince Guaraldi and Lee Konitz. "When I go back and listen to recordings from those times, the energy, the freshness, the desire to play are apparent.... With Michel you never knew what was happening when he got on stage, where he would go, where he would take a tune, which tune he might choose just out of the blue."

"Of course, it was striking to watch Michel play because of his physical challenges. There was always this sense of wonder to his performances," Jackson adds. "He sounded different than a lot of European pianists as he had that funky touch, yet he still had that beautiful impressionistic sound that I love so much. Michel was the same way as a person. He was a real down-home guy, and fun to hang with. His music was a beautiful mixture of cultures, melded into an intricate tapestry that speaks to people in a deep way."

Kuumbwa offers a fresh new lens onto that tapestry, at the height of Petrucciani's fame. "The performance is smoking and there's heavy enthusiasm from the audience," says Feldman. "This one is a very special release."”

“At The Jazz Showcase: Live in Chicago captures piano legend Ahmad Jamal in the first-ever release of this trio with bassist John Heard and drummer Frank Gant captured at Joe Segal's legendary club. The deluxe limited-edition 180-gram 2-LP set will be released on Record Store Day, April 18, 2026 with a 2-CD set to follow on April 24, 2026 on what would have been Joe Segal's 100th birthday.

Produced by Zev Feldman, called “The Indiana Jones of Jazz," the album was restored and mastered from the original tapes by engineer and Resonance founder George Klabin, with LP mastering by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab in Salina, KS, and pressing at pressed at Quebec's audiophile boutique pressing plant Le Vinylist.

It's an excellent follow-up to Jamal's critically acclaimed Emerald City Nights: Live at the Penthouse (Vol. 1-3), also produced by Feldman, and extends and elaborates on Jamal's seven decade-long discography, which includes several standout recordings including Chamber Music of the New Jazz, The Awakening and his 1958 masterpiece, But Not for Me: Ahmad Jamal Live at the Pershing with his hit single, "Poinciana."

The music from this live date was part of Jazz Showcase owner and founder Joe Segal's massive archives of audio recordings of legendary artists who performed at the club. Feldman first learned of the archives when he was introduced to Segal in 2011 and is now, with the blessing of Joe's son Wayne, is in the process of going through the vast treasure trove of material which the family estimates is some 8,000-10,000 tapes.

"Joe was one of the most passionate jazz fans I'd ever met and he brought the best of the best to Chicago for decades at the Jazz Showcase and other venues all around town," Feldman writes in the recording's liner notes. "Jamal is one of most prolific artists of our lifetime, and he had a longtime relationship with [Joe], who made these recordings. Jamal played the Jazz Showcase many, many times over the years at its various locations all over Chicago."

At The Jazz Showcase also features the marvelous musings of Atlanta-based jazz pianist and Jamal scholar Joe Alterman. "One of reasons I picked Joe Alterman to work on this project with me is that he knew Jamal intimately, and I felt it was important to have someone close to him be on this journey with us." Feldman writes. "All you need to do is listen to this music and you'll be transported."

For Mr. Jamal's daughter Sumayah, who also heads her father's estate, these March 1976 dates from the Jazz Showcase's address at the basement of The Happy Medium on Rush Street represent a musical homecoming to the city where her Pittsburgh-born father lived from 1947 to 1962. "My father had tremendous respect for Joe Segal and his legendary Jazz Showcase," Jamal says. "How thrilling that a treasure trove of previously unreleased recordings of my father's live performances were discovered in Joe's personal archives. My father's musical legacy was forged in Chicago, and these archival recordings reflect the sharp-edged brilliance of the musical voice that was honed in venues like the Jazz Showcase."

The music on these memorable dates reflect the evolution from Jamal's "Poinciana" trio with drummer Vernel Fournier and bassist Israel Crosby before the pianist moved from Chicago to New York City in 1962, to the terrific triad Jamal led at the Jazz Showcase with drummer Frank Gant and bassist and Pittsburgh native John Heard: the former, a valued sideman with Donald Byrd, Miles Davis and Billie Holiday, and the latter, who worked with Oscar Peterson, Pharoah Sanders and Count Basie.

Buoyed by that dynamic duo, Jamal still plays with his patented use of syncopated space that influenced everyone including Miles Davis, his Art Tatum-level technique and Errol Garner keyboard flourishes and his ingenious, on-the-spot arrangements, blended with the new influence of McCoy Tyner's profound pianisms and intricate keyboard colors inspired by Jamal's use of electric keyboards. Those old and new "Jamalisms" are heard on all the recording's nine tracks. Standards and popular songs ranging from Johnny Mandel's "Theme from M*A*S*H" and "A Time for Love," Antonio Carlos Jobim bossa nova, "Wave," and the south of the border syncopations on "Have You Met Miss Jones?" to the fusion-like interpretation of Herbie Hancock's "Dolphin Dance" and two soulful solo readings of "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square," and Duke Ellington's "Prelude to a Kiss."

For much of his career, Jamal was known for interpreting the works of other composers in his words, "beyond their wildest dreams." That changed after his move to New York, when he started performing original material, as evidenced by his near 15 minute opus "Ahmad's Song," which is reminiscent of another Jamal track, "Handicapper," and his Afrocentric-anthemed composition "Swahililand," sampled decades later by hip-hop producer/beat maker JDilla on De La Soul's classic track, "Stakes is High," with a witty reference of the English carol "God Rest ye Merry Gentlemen."

Though Mr. Jamal left us in 2023 at the age of 93, this splendid recording is an aural love letter to a Windy City that gave his music wings. "I believe that these performances are truly some of my father's best," Sumayah Jamal says. "I am grateful to Joe Segal for his dedication to the art form, and his tireless devotion to promoting the careers of generations of jazz musicians like my father."”

“Mal Waldron's uniquely penetrating music — moody, percussive, bluesy yet progressive, tempered by his formative experiences with Billie Holiday, Charles Mingus, Max Roach and Abbey Lincoln among other leading voices of his generation, burns in Stardust & Starlight: At the Jazz Showcase, a previously unissued recording of the enigmatic piano icon performing live at Joe Segal's Jazz Showcase in Chicago, IL in 1979 with bassist Steve Rodby (prior to his long tenure in Pat Metheny Group), drummer Wilbur "the Chief Campbell, and special guest saxophonist Sonny Stitt.

Released by Resonance Records and produced by noted "Jazz Detective" Zev Feldman with assistance from pianist-cultural curator Joe Alterman, Stardust & Starlight: At the Jazz Showcase comes in a deluxe 2-LP package with newly curated liner notes written by Howard Mandel, new interviews with pianist Lafayette Gilchrist, Joe Segal's son Wayne Segal and more. The vinyl set comes out on Record Store Day, April 18, 2026, with the CD to follow on April 24, 2026 which would have been Joe Segal's 100th birthday.

The limited-edition 180-gram 2-LP set was restored and mastered from the original tapes by engineer and Resonance founder George Klabin and Joe Lizzi, with LP mastering by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab in Salina, KS, and pressed at Quebec's boutique audiophile pressing plant Le Vinylist.

The album documents an August date that was Waldron's debut stand at the Jazz Showcase, Chicago's famed home of the hard-swing, bebop and post-bop music favored by the elder Segal, a devotee who launched his venue in 1947 and ran it until his death at age 94 in 2020 (Wayne Segal continues to present world class jazz at the Showcase to this very day). Waldron, then 54 years old, was kicking off the club's annual "Charlie Parker Month."

Having been a professional New York City recording artist since the mid 1950s, sympatico accompanist to Lady Day in her final years and Abbey Lincoln, Max Roach, Eric Dolphy, Steve Lacy, Waldron had overcome adversity — a 1963 total breakdown from a heroin overdose — and firmly re-established himself as a force on the international touring scene. Playing for an up-close, appreciative audience, the pianist quickly establishes his indelible sonic imprint and masterful adaptability in unaccompanied pieces, engagements with the house rhythm team and a late-set encounter with ever-challenging Sonny Stitt (on both tenor and alto saxophones).

Waldron was an "inside-outside" conceptualist, bringing urbanity and also focused intensity to classic melodies ("Stella By Starlight," Hoagy Carmichael's "Stardust," Thelonious Monk's "'Round Midnight"), songbook standards ("All God's Chillun Got Rhythm," "I Thought About You," "It Could Happen to You," "Old Folks") and his own indelible compositions ("All Alone" and "Fire Waltz").

"The thing I remember very distinctly thinking back on the Mal Waldron week," says Steve Rodby, today Artist in Residence at the School of Music, University of Washington, "was that he sounded so modern to me. His style was pre-Herbie Hancock, but post-Oscar Peterson, sort of in the Monk zone. It had an edge to it. I always felt like you could hear him exploring when he was playing, something you hear in every great player. He really did embody that premium on individuality and distinctive voice that the era favored. Probably lots of people I played with before had that, but with Mal Waldron it really stuck out and finally got my attention."

Feldman says, "Most people would be surprised to see Waldron playing a lot of bebop during this period, but if anyone would be able to pull off bringing this crew together it's Joe Segal. This is one of his gifts: to do special curation like this, putting together seemingly disparate elements, because it felt right to him. The music is absolutely wonderful, as you'll hear, and the audience really comes alive when Sonny Stitt joins in the festivities."

Mal Waldron sustained his touring and recording career, collaborating with artists including Jeanne Lee, David Murray and Archie Shepp, until his death from cancer in 2002 at age 77. He has been cited as an influence by Matthew Shipp and Ethan Iverson, among contemporary pianists.”

“Some nights don't just fade away after the last note has dissipated. They linger in the marrow, waiting for the right moment to be heard again. Consonance: Live at the Jazz Showcase is one of those nights. Recorded in February of 1978 at Joe Segal's storied Jazz Showcase in Chicago, this newly unearthed performance captures saxophone titan Joe Henderson in bracing communion with a quartet that knew how to listen as hard as it played. Nearly five decades later, the music arrives as a revelation. It feels alive, active, and fiercely contemporary.

This limited-edition, 180-gram 3-LP set marks Resonance's first-ever release from the Jazz Showcase archives, inaugurating a new chapter in producer Zev Feldman's archival mission.

"Joe's archives comprise one of the greatest libraries of previously unissued jazz recordings in existence and we're very lucky that these documents were made and preserved," says Feldman, who first discovered the treasure trove of recordings when he was introduced to Segal in 2011. The vinyl will be available for Record Store Day, April 18, 2026 with a 2-CD set to follow on April 24, what would have been Joe Segal's 100th birthday.

Mastered from the original tapes by George Klabin and John Koenig, with lacquers cut by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab in Salina, Kansas, and pressed at Quebec's boutique audiophile plant Le Vinyllst, Consonance brings Henderson's sound into the room with startling presence.

By 1978, Henderson had long since secured his place in the pantheon of jazz royalty. But categorizing him by era misses the point. His greatness wasn't static, and he had the rare ability to be of his time without being trapped by it, to absorb the currents around him and redirect them through a singular voice. On Consonance, Henderson stands at a crossroads — post-bop wisdom in one hand, a restless future in the other — testing the strength of melody and rhythm in real time.

The quartet is essential to that alchemy. Pianist Joanne Brackeen brings a crystalline intelligence to the music, her lines darting and doubling back with a logic that's as emotional as it is analytical. Bassist Steve Rodby — years before his work with Pat Metheny would bring him wider acclaim — anchors the band with a deep, elastic pulse. Drummer Danny Spencer rounds out the group with propulsion and nuance, never crowding the space Henderson leaves open, but never letting it cool either. Together, they form a unit that thrives on risk, the kind of ensemble that understands the weight of the music.

Joe Segal's Jazz Showcase, the setting for this encounter, was no mere backdrop. It was a proving ground and a listening room where seriousness was a prerequisite and flash alone wouldn't save you. Segal, a tireless advocate for the music, built a sanctuary for artists to stretch out and work through ideas in front of an audience that knew how to hold silence. The room's intimacy sharpened the exchange between band and crowd, a feedback loop of concentration and release that's palpable on tape.

Consonance is the sound of Henderson responding to that environment — probing, pressing, then laying back just enough to let the music breathe. His tenor carries that unmistakable mix of muscle and mercy: a burnished tone that can cut through steel, then soften into a whisper without losing authority. He phrases like someone telling the truth slowly, not leaving room for interruption. There's urgency here, but also patience, and confidence that will give you everything.

The deluxe package deepens that story with newly curated liner notes by co-producer John Koenig, alongside interviews with Brackeen, Rodby, Spencer, and Wayne Segal, son of Joe Segal. Their reflections sketch a fuller portrait of the night and the ecosystem that made it possible: the trust between musicians, the discipline of the room, and the sense that something important could happen if everyone stayed present long enough.

For Brackeen, the date stands as a testament to Henderson's generosity as a bandleader; his willingness to invite ideas rather than dictate them. Rodby recalls the elasticity of the set, how the music seemed to lengthen and contract in response to the moment. Spencer speaks to the balance required to drive the band without overwhelming it. And Wayne Segal situates the performance within his father's lifelong commitment to creating space for artists to be fully themselves. These voices don't annotate the music so much as echo it, extending the conversation across time.

Consonance feels especially vital now as it reframes Henderson as both a monument and collaborator. It reminds us that Henderson's brilliance wasn't just in his compositions or his resume, but in his capacity to meet musicians where they were, and then push them somewhere new.

The sound quality honors the performance as well. Klabin and Koenig's mastering preserves the dynamic range and tonal depth of the original tapes, while Lutthans' lacquers translate that fidelity into a vinyl experience that rewards close listening. Le Vinylist's pressing completes the chain with quiet surfaces and weighty presence, the kind that invites you to drop the needle and stay awhile.

As Resonance's first release from the Jazz Showcase archives, Consonance sets a high bar and signals a future rich with possibility. These recordings are dispatched from rooms where the music was still being figured out, night by night. And to hear Henderson in that context is to understand jazz as a living practice that resists closure even as it accumulates history.

In the end, Consonance: Live at the Jazz Showcase isn't about nostalgia. It's about the kind of continuity that resonates long after the last note fades. Through his work, Henderson asked questions with rigor and grace, and on this Chicago night in 1978, he found answers that still ring true. For listeners willing to meet the music on its own terms, the reward is profound: a front-row seat to a master at work, listening forward.””

“With Alight Upon the Lake: Live at the Jazz Showcase, Resonance Records has unearthed a rare and stunning treasure featuring an adventurous and wide-ranging jazz master in a scintillating set at one of the music's most beloved spaces. The previously unissued live recording captures the iconic saxophonist and flutist Yusef Lateef at the height of his mesmerizing powers in mid-1975, leading a superb quartet with pianist Kenny Barron, bassist Bob Cunningham and drummer Albert "Tootle" Heath at Joe Segal's legendary Jazz Showcase in Chicago.

The limited-edition 180-gram 3-LP set was restored and mastered from the original tapes by engineer and Resonance founder George Klabin, with LP mastering and lacquer cutting by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab in Salina, KS, and pressed at Quebec's boutique audiophile pressing plant Le Vinylist. The deluxe package includes newly curated liner notes by Lateef biographer Herb Boyd, plus interviews with multi-instrumentalist Bennie Maupin reminiscing about his former mentor. 

Co-produced by "Jazz Detective" Zev Feldman and Michael Velasco, the album was prepared for release with the full cooperation of the artist's widow, Ayesha Lateef. The vinyl edition will be available on Record Store Day: April 18, 2026, with the 3-CD release to follow on April 24.

"Yusef Lateef was and still remains a legend and towering figure in the legacy of this music, or 'autophysiopsychic music' as he called it," says Feldman. "Mr. Lateef was an amazing artist and I'm so impressed with how he straddled the inside and outside, covering so many different styles. There are so many personal aspects to him, someone always searching for knowledge, learning, gathering information. He put his time on this planet to great use and he is an inspiration to me.”

That inspiration stretches back to Feldman's earliest days in the music business. The producer got to know Lateef briefly when he was in his 20s, through his role as music director of his college radio station. "He'd send me promo copies of his albums, and we had some wonderful conversations,” Feldman recalls. "Any Yusef Lateef project I can do is very personal to me, and I'm pleased to see his flag waving amongst the fans of this music. We're so fortunate to have this wonderful music that's never been available before. These tapes from 1975 are a total delight for me to listen to, to put it mildly. To have all these different styles of music contained in this 3LP and 3CD set is just an amazing example of his artistry.”

Alight Upon the Lake is particularly fascinating in light of a previous Feldman-produced Lateef release, Atlantis Lullaby: The Concert from Avignon. Featuring the identical quartet and some of the same repertoire as that 1972 concert from France, Alight finds the band three years further along their collective path and back on home turf. The result is a more raucous and freewheeling set, throughout which the group digs deep into material that veers into several of the divergent directions where Lateef’s passions often led - from rapturous spiritual excursions to down-home blues romps, angular abstractions to funky standards and sensual poetic recitations.

In an interview included with the package, Bennie Maupin recalls meeting Lateef in their shared hometown of Detroit, and reflects on the lessons he gleaned from the master's teaching. "The most important things I learned from him were how to be truthful, to speak your mind creatively and how to live cleanly," Maupin says. "He was a wonderful person. Brilliant. Forever learning, forever seeking, forever gracious... The music he left us speaks for itself and for him. I do my best to reflect on many of the things that he gifted me with."

The album opens with Kenny Barron's "The Untitled," a ferocious tune that opens out into a nearly thirty-minute meditation that in itself encompasses a spectrum of Lateef's moods and methods. It's followed by the darting workout of "Mutually Exclusive," a keen-edeed Tranesque time on the "Giant Steps" model. Roy Brooks' "Eboness" is a feature for Lateef's eloquent flute playing, weaving sinuous melodies over the rhythm section's dark-hued simmer. Barron also contributed "Inside Atlantis," a burner propelled by Heath's relentless swing that takes a deep breath in order to showcase Cunningham's shimmering arco bass.

With "I Remember Webster," Lateef pays homage to one of his mentors, the late tenor giant Ben Webster, with a soulful ballad luxuriating in his own husky tenor tone. Lateef returns to the flute for Barron’s “Opus 1 & 2,” which progresses from

stark minimalist composition to swaggering R&B. On "Golden Goddess" Lateef offers a romantic ode in the guise of the wind, in one moment a window-rattling paramour, the next an impassioned tempest. The band has an obvious blast playing with the Nat King Cole classic "Straighten Up and Fly Right" before concluding with the blues, engaging the Chicago crowd in a spirited singalong during the bluesy "Yusef s Mood."

There’s little doubt that Lateef felt comfortable at the Jazz Showcase. He was one of the Windy City venue’s most frequent headlines, even playing a handful of New Year’s Eve concerts at the storied club. As Feldman points out in his notes, Lateef shared a close relationship with the club’s owner, Joe Segal. “They had a deep friendship which became clear to me as I began working through Joe Segal’s archives. Joe Segal is not here, but I know he’d be tickled to death to have a Yusef Lateef release from his archives come out. This release celebrates Lateef, Segal and their friendship.”