Yes, there are some record labels that are releasing vinyl “reissues” that are simply transfers from cds or mp3. Not Verve, who take their sounds from the original analog tapes and put them on 180 gram vinyl. This is music, as well as material, that Is made to last.
First up is a 1964 meeting with the mellifluous combo of tenor saxist Stan Getz with pianist Bill Evans, recorded over two days with the assertive drummer Elvin Jones and either Ron Carter or Richard Davis on drums. Evans is inspired by Jones on an energetic “Funkarello” and jabs well for three rounds on “My Heart Stood Still” with Getz in flowing form on “Night and Day” and the graciously classy “Grandfather’s Waltz{“. The two outdo themselves on the aria of “But Beautiful” and the pretty “Melinda”, making one wonder why this album was unreleased for so long. The standard is set for piano and tenor sax.
In 1961, Ella Fitzgerald was in her prime, having completed most of her Songbooks and releasing a pair of fantastic “live” albums. Here, she’s joined by boppers Lou Levy/p, Herb Ellis/g, Joe Mondragon/b and Stan Levey/dr for some energetic numbers like “Night In Tunisia” and “Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie” and swinging with joy on “Jersey Bounce”. She also digs deep on the more emotional pieces like “You’re My Thrill” and deeply dark “Good Morning Heartache” with Ella able to go from the frivolous “Music Goes ‘Round and ‘Round” to the pathos of “Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most”. Definitive Diva.
Possessor of one of the most distinctive sounds on the tenor sax, Ben Webster rolls like a fog on his most definitive solo album, recorded in 1958. He’s joined by Oscar Peterson and his band of Ray Brown/b, Herb Ellis/g and Stan Levey/dr and he smolders like a Cuban cigar on “Where Are You” and “Time On My Hands” while digging deep into magma on “Soulville” and the grooving “Lover Come Back To Me”. Webster roars like a lion in winter throughout, and his tone is almost felt more than heard, as on “Late Date” and the coy “Makin’ Whoopee”. Palpable textures.