Craft Recordings Continues Jazz Reissue Series With John Coltrane, Miles Davis, More
Craft Recordings is continuing their celebrated Original Jazz Classics reissue series with John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and more.
Craft Recordings relaunched their Original Jazz Classics series last year, dedicated to preserving and restoring seminal jazz albums. Now, they’ve announced the latest records to reissued: The Red Garland Trio’s Groovy, Kenny Burrell and John Coltrane’s Kenny Burrell & John Coltrane, The John Wright Trio’s South Side Soul, and The New Miles Davis Quintet’s Miles.
Pre-order Original Jazz Classics 2024
The albums will be released from April to July 2024. The new reissues will feature lacquers cut from the original tapes (AAA) by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio (Kenny Burrell & John Coltrane and Groovy titles cut by Matthew Lutthans at Cohearent Audio), 180-gram vinyl pressed at RTI, and tip-on jackets replicating the original artwork. All titles will also be released digitally in 192/24 HD audio.
The first record available will be Groovy, on April 26th. On Groovy, the pianist Red Garland, a former boxer out of Texas who many jazz fans argue is still underrated, is joined by drummer Art Taylor and bassist Paul Chamber. This was the trio’s third album together, released in 1957.
Next will be Kenny Burrell & John Coltrane, available on May 31st. The record was recorded in 1958, but guitarist Kenny Burrell and saxophonist John Coltrane went back as far as 1951, when they both played in Dizzy Gillespie’s band. His collaboration with Burrell was Coltrane’s last traditional work before his spiritual music journey that would culminate in A Love Supreme.
June 28th will then see the release of South Side Soul from Chicago native John Wright. A self-taught pianist, Wright honed his skills playing across Europe after enlisting in the army. Upon his return to Chicago in 1955, he became a regular in the local jazz scene. He may be a lesser known figure than some contemporaries, but his talent earned him the Jazz Institute of Chicago’s Walter Dyett Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009.
Last but not least, July 26th will bring Miles, the 1956 debut from Miles Davis’ Quintet. The five-piece came together after a record executive encouraged Davis to form a group. The talent Davis assembled ended up becoming a dream team: tenor-saxophonist John Coltrane, pianist Red Garland, famed bassist Paul Chambers, and Davis’ favorite drummer, Philly Joe Jones.
