Newborn

This CD reissue adds an alternate take and an unissued selection to the original program. Pianist Phineas Newborn's only recording of the 1963-68 period, the trio outing with bassist Leroy Vinnegar and drummer Frank Butler, finds Newborn's virtuosic style unchanged from the late '50s. As is usual on his Contemporary recordings, the pianist explores superior jazz compositions, in this case interpreting a song apiece by Benny Carter, Russ Freeman, Hampton Hawes, Art Pepper, Ornette Coleman ("The Blessing"), Carl Perkins, Frank Rosolino, Leroy Vinnegar, Jimmy Woods and Barney Kessel. Newborn's remarkable control of the piano was still unimpaired, and he is heard giving Oscar Peterson a run for his money.

Scott Yanow

It’s fitting that Calvin Newborn recorded his latest album at the same Sam Phillips studio in Memphis where he did his first recording in 1950, backing B.B. King along with his talented father and brother, Finas and Phineas Newborn. In fact, it was B.B. who helped the young Calvin pick out his first guitar.Now in his seventies, Calvin Newborn’s new disk features a seamless blend of eight jazz and blues originals, with his superlative guitar work shining through, especially on the third track, “Newborn Blues.” Although the disk is basically jazz, there are enough bluesy riffs, and one song - the above-mentioned “Newborn Blues” - to make it work for all but the most ardent blues purist…

In the mid-fiftees, word had been getting around the jazz circles of New York City about the "discovery" of a 24 year old musical phenon. In fact, Phineas Newborn, Jr. had been playing professionally in and around Memphis since his teens. The word on the East coast streets was that he could play faster than just about anyone with an incredible command of the keyboard.

Robert Burko

Roy Haynes, Phineas Newborn, Paul Chambers - We Three (1958) {2007 Prestige RVG Remasters Series}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 262 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 94 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 181 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2007 Concord / Prestige New Jazz | 0888072301627 | Prestige RVG Remasters Series | 24-bit remaster
Jazz / Hard Bop

This was not a working trio, except for a series of Mondays at the Five Spot Café in the fall of 1958, but it is a unit that is made up of three powerful parts whose sum is even greater than its whole. What they do with two Ray Bryant orginals, Avery Parrish’s classic blues, "After Hours,” Tadd Dameron’s "Our Delight,” and Phineas Newborn’s "Sugar Ray,” is memorable music from an all-star trio that would never get together again.

Phineas Newborn Jr. - The Newborn Touch (1964) {Contemporary OJCCD-270-2 rel 1993}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 282 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 109 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 10 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1964, 1993 Contemporary Records / Fantasy | OJCCD-270-2
Jazz / Hard Bop / Mainstream Jazz / Piano

This CD reissue adds an alternate take and an unissued selection to the original program. Pianist Phineas Newborn's only recording of the 1963-1968 period, the trio outing with bassist Leroy Vinnegar and drummer Frank Butler, finds Newborn's virtuosic style unchanged from the late '50s. As is usual on his Contemporary recordings, the pianist explores superior jazz compositions, in this case interpreting a song apiece by Benny Carter, Russ Freeman, Hampton Hawes, Art Pepper, Ornette Coleman ("The Blessing"), Carl Perkins, Frank Rosolino, Leroy Vinnegar, Jimmy Woods and Barney Kessel. Newborn's remarkable control of the piano was still unimpaired, and he is heard giving Oscar Peterson a run for his money.