Resonance Records Samplers

© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.

“I met the wonderful graphic artist Takao Fujioka on my first trip to Japan in 2014. After some days in Tokyo hosted by eminent jazz executive, Shigeko Sekiguchi, I visited Osaka where celebrated Coltrane scholar, Yasuhiro Fujioka, introduced me to an insiders' jazz mecca, the Lighthouse Record Shop. That night, I met the owner Hironori Muranaka and a cast of characters who gather regularly for jazz shopping, good conversation and, if you're lucky, a choice libation.

One night as we chatted. Takao Fujioka, whom I'd never met, arrived with the latest issue of his monthly jazz magazine, Way Out West, whose title references Sonny Rollins's famous 1957 album (plus in Japan, it's how the western part of the country is known). Way Out West represents Takao's major contribution to jazz in Japan.

I'm always looking for ways to introduce the world to Resonance's records — both historical issues and also our tremendous current artists. I liked the idea of a sampler, but I wanted something more. The artwork had to be striking — looking at it, listeners would be drawn into the music. I knew Takao was the guy to bring the visual excitement I'd want to see in such a sampler.

For years, Takao's work has been featured at galleries and in published form. I am moved by it: others are, too. New York City's Jazz Record Center's owner, the legendary Fred Cohen, said. "[Takao] is the most distinctive artist in jazz since David Stone Martin. He's created a style which is strange in that with a minimal amount of line he's able to capture the musician in a way that is all his own."

I'm proud to call Takao my friend. He's introduced me into the Japanese jazz scene: Lighthouse Records, Tower Records, Disk Union, Rubic Records, the finest jazz kissas like Kobe's Jam Jam Cafe — the greatest jazz culture of Japan. We share a passion for other designers like David Stone Martin and Burt Goldblatt. Collaborating with him seemed like a dream, but now I'm thrilled to be able to introduce the Resonance Records Takao Fujioka collection.”

- ZEV FELDMAN Los Angeles, March 2019

Under the leadership of co-Presidents George Klabin [also the label’s Founder] and Zev Feldman, there’s always a lot going on at Resonance Records and the purpose of this post is to help bring you up to speed on some of it.

Of course, you always have recourse to the information directly by visiting Resonance on their website which you can access via this link. In addition to order information for all of its releases, the site also offers videos and detailed commentaries to help you better familiarize yourself with it artists.

I found three things to be particularly noteworthy about their latest “Fully Altered Media” products and services and wanted to bring these to your attention in this feature.

First off, with the exception of its 2019 releases, the label’s catalogue is going to be available for streaming.

Secondly, the illustrations of designer Takao Fujioka will be used as cover art for a designated collection under his name.

And thirdly, the first four CDs under the “Takao Fujioka Collection” will be issued as samplers representing holdings from the Resonance Records archive featuring the music of the label’s vocal Jazz artists, piano Jazz artists, and selections from its Bill Evans and Wes Montgomery catalogue.

The following excerpts from its media releases explain in my detail Resonance’s intentions with its new “Fully Altered Media” initiative.

RESONANCE RECORDS CELEBRATES 10 YEARS OF ACCLAIMED JAZZ WITH STREAMING LAUNCH, LABEL SAMPLERS

First Round of Distinctively Designed Takao Fujioka Collection Samplers of Pianists and Vocalists Arrive Physically & Streaming on May 31, 2019.

21 Previously Released Titles by Artists Featured on Vocal Jazz and Piano Jazz Samplers, To Be Available for Streaming May 31

Compilations Devoted to Resonance's Award-Winning Bill Evans & Wes Montgomery Sets To Be Released June 21

All Seven Full Albums of Evans & Montgomery To Available for Streaming on June 28, Except 2019 Releases

Resonance Records, one of the most highly acclaimed independent labels in jazz today, is celebrating 10 years in business by ushering in a new chapter: streaming. For the first time all major streaming platforms will feature the label's diverse catalog of great contemporary artists and award-winning archival discoveries, including unheard works by pianist Bill Evans and guitarist Wes Montgomery.

Resonance co-president Zev Feldman notes that the label's entry into the world of streaming opens an exciting new chapter for the vibrant jazz imprint. "We've been one of the last jazz label holdouts on streaming," Feldman says, "but we can no longer deny that streaming our back catalog will allow us the opportunity to reach a whole new audience. We're still as dedicated and committed as ever to putting out our deluxe physical releases on LP and CD, but we're going to make this leap on this streaming opportunity and see what kind of difference it can make for us.

On May 31 [2019] two new 12-track collections drawn from the Resonance archives will be launched from Sing a Song of Jazz: The Best of Vocal Jazz on Resonance, devoted to the label's vocal releases, both living singers like Polly Gibbons and Aubrey Logan and archival releases by legends such as Sarah Vaughan and Shirley Horn, and Jazz Piano Panorama: The Best of Piano Jazz on Resonance, offering a range of keyboard stylings from living greats John Beasley and Dado Moroni to icons from the Resonance catalog such as Tommy Flanagan, Gene Harris and Jaki Byard. Complete track listings appear below.

On June 21, Resonance will issue two more Fujioka Collection packages featuring the cream of the label's bestselling sets devoted to previously unheard works by Evans and Montgomery. On June 28, the balance of the seven Evans and Montgomery albums represented on the compilations, will be released on all streaming platforms.

The remainder of Resonance's catalog — nearly 30 titles from Eric Dolphy to Grant Green to Charles Lloyd to Joe Lovano & Dave Liebman — will become available for streaming on July 19, with the exception of this year's Record Store Day releases: Bill Evans' Evans in England and Wes Montgomery's Back on Indiana Avenue.

George Klabin, Resonance's founder and co-president, and the producer of the label's many contemporary jazz recordings, notes that the company's new compilations afford a deep look into the breadth of its catalog offerings, from its modern signings to the giants whose hitherto unreleased music it has unearthed.

"I'm hopeful these compilations will give people the opportunity to discover or rediscover some of these amazing artists that I've recorded, as well as all the jazz legends from our catalog, like Sarah Vaughan and Joao Gilberto, and Tommy Flanagan and Gene Harris."

Resonance's new collections mate a wealth of brilliant music to some of the most dynamic and eye-popping jazz visuals in recent memory. Artist Takao Fujioka is a jazz connoisseur and the editor of the Osaka-based monthly Way Out West (named in homage to Sonny Rollins' classic 1957 Riverside LP).

"When it comes to album cover art, there are so many different and wonderful creators in this field. From David Stone Martin to Don Schlitten to Reid Miles, and so many others. Takao Fujioka is someone who inspires me to the same depth as all those greats that came before him. It was a complete pleasure and joy to collaborate with him on this collection." -Zev Feldman

The Takao Fujioka Collection compilations are produced for release by Zev Feldman and executive produced by George Klabin.                                                                           

Jazz Piano Panorama: The Best of Piano Jazz on Resonance:

1.   Dado Maroni. "Ghanian Village" (from Live in Beverly Hills)

2.   Donald Vega. "You Never Tell Me Anything!" (from Spiritual Nature)

3.   Bill Evans, "Come Rain or Come Shine" (from Evans in England)

4.   Marian Petrescu. "Cakewalk" (from Thrivin' - Live at Jazz Standard)

5.   Tommy Flanagan, "Something to Live For" (from The Magic of 2)

6.   The Three Sounds featuring Gene Harris, "Girl Talk" (from Groovin' Hard: Live at the Penthouse 1964-1968)

7.   John Beasley, "Positootly!" (from Positootly!)

8.   Gene Harris, "There is No Greater Love" (from Live in London)

9.   Jaki Byard, "Send One Your Love" (from The Magic of 2)

10.  Mike Garson, "Jenny's Waltz" (from Conversations with My Family)

I1.  Tamir Hendelman, "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams" (from Destinations)

12. Marian Petrescu, "A Little Jazz Exercise" (from Resonance Big Band Plays Tribute to Oscar Peterson)

Sing a Song of Jazz: The Best of Vocal Jazz on Resonance:

1.   Sarah Vaughan, "The Man I Love" (from Live at Rosy's)

2.   Polly Gibbons, "Ability to Swing" (from Is It Me?)

3.   Stan Getz/Joao Gilberto, "E Preciso Perdoar" (from Getz/Gilberto '76)

4.   Shirley Horn, "Just For a Thrill" (from Live at the Four Queens)

5.   Angela Hagenbach, "Slow Hot Wind" (from The Way They Make Me Feel)

6.   Cathy Rocco, "Daydreaming" (from You 're Gonna Hear from Me)

7.   Aubrey Logan, "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" (from Your Mom's Favorite Songs)

8.   Greta Matassa, "Chan's Song" (from / Wanna Be Loved)

9.   Wes Montgomery featuring Debbie Andrews, "I Should Care" (from In the Beginning)

10.  Kathy Kosins, "November Twilight" (from To the Ladies of Cool)

I1.  Polly Gibbons, "So Good" (from Many Faces of Love)

12. Claudio Roditi, "Ligia" (from Bons Amigos)

Resonance Records, the leading archival jazz specialists, will share previously unreleased recordings by pianist Bill Evans and guitarist Wes Montgomery under their recently inaugurated series of samplers, the Takao Fujioka Collection, on June 21, 2019.

Smile With Your Heart: The Best of Bill Evans on Resonance brings together standout tracks from the company's four sets of hitherto unheard material by the lyrical keyboard master: Live at Art D'Lugoff's Top of the Gate (2012); Some Other Time: The Lost Session from the Black Forest (2016); Another Time: The Hilversum Concert (2017); and Evans in England (2019).

Each full album, except Evans in England, will be available on all streaming platforms on June 28.

In his liner notes to Smile With Your Heart, Bill Evans' son Evan writes, "The lovely work that Zev Feldman, George Klabin and everyone at Resonance Records have done in finding these treasure troves of beauty from my father's legacy is beyond words...Resonance has accomplished something very admirable with this release; they've created a compilation album with its own soul and authenticity. It's as tender and divine as it is brilliant and swinging."

The Los Angeles label's collections of rare, unheard music by Evans and Montgomery have garnered international acclaim. Evans' Some Other Time, a stunning Dutch radio date featuring a short-lived trio with bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Jack Dejohnette, was named one of the year's top historical releases by DownBeat, JazzTimes, Jazzwise, and the NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll and topped Billboard's Jazz Albums chart for weeks.

All of Resonance's albums devoted to Evans and Montgomery have been released with the full cooperation of the musicians' estates. Zev Feldman, Resonance co-president and producer, says, "It's been an honor to work so closely with Evan and Robert of the Evans and Montgomery estates over the course of the last 9 years to bring these incredible, unearthed treasures to light. These artists are really in the bedrock of our label, and it's been remarkable to see the kind of excitement our releases generate in the press and with our fans."

Like Resonance's first two compilations in the Takao Fujioka Collection - Sing a Song of Jazz: The Best of Vocal Jazz on Resonance and Jazz Piano Panorama: The Best of Piano Jazz on Resonance, released in May  - the newly released Evans and Montgomery samplers feature the eye-catching artwork and design of Takao Fujioka, editor of the Japanese jazz journal Way Out West. Fujioka has history with the label as the artist behind the cover art for Resonance's 2016 Stan Getz release Moments in Time.

The remainder of Resonance's catalog — nearly 30 titles — will be available for streaming on July 19, with the exception of this year's Record Store Day releases, Bill Evans' Evans in England and Wes Montgomery's Back on Indiana Avenue, which will be available later in the year.

Smile With Your Heart: The Best of Bill Evans on Resonance:

1.    Someday My Prince Will Come (from Live at Art D 'Lugoff's Top of the Gate)

2.    Yesterdays (Version 1) (from Live at Art D 'Lugoff's Top of the Gate)

3.    Mother of Earl (from Live at Art D'Lugoff's Top of the Gate)

4.    You're Gonna Hear from Me (from Some Other Time)

5.    Baubles, Bangles and Beads (trio) (from Some Other Time)

6.    My Funny Valentine (from Some Other Time)

I.    Nardis (from Another Time: The Hilversum Concert)

8.    Very Early (from Another Time: The Hilversum Concert)

9.    Turn Out the Stars (from Another Time: The Hilversum Concert)

10.   Polka Dots and Moonbeams (from Evans in England)

I1.   Re: Person I Knew (from Evans in England) 12.   Waltz For Debby (from Evans in England)

Wes's Best: The Best of Wes Montgomery on Resonance:

1.    Jingles (from Smokin' in Seattle)

2.    Mr. Walker (from Back on Indiana Avenue)

3.    West Coast Blues (from Smokin' in Seattle)

4.    Four on Six (from Back on Indiana Avenue)

5.    Once I Loved (O Amor em Paz) (from Smokin' in Seattle)

6.    Wes' Tune (from In the Beginning)

I.    Li'l Darling (from One Night in Indy)

8.    Going Down to Big Mary's (from In the Beginning)

9.    Diablo's Dance (from Echoes of Indiana Avenue)

10.  Nica's Dream (from Echoes of Indiana Avenue)

I1.  Give Me the Simple Life (from One Night in Indy) 12.  'Round Midnight (from Back on Indiana Avenue)