Prestige Rudy

Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis & Shirley Scott - Bacalao (1959) {Prestige OJCCD-1090-2 rel 2003}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 310 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 102 Mb
Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 7 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1959, 2003 Prestige Records / Fantasy | OJCCD-1090-2
Jazz / Hard Bop / Soul Jazz / Saxophone / Organ

When it came to tenor saxophonists, the late organist Shirley Scott had excellent taste. One of the big-toned tenor men she worked with extensively was Stanley Turrentine, whom she married; another was Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis. Recorded in Rudy Van Gelder's New Jersey studio in 1959, Bacalao is among the many solid hard bop/soul-jazz albums that resulted from Davis' association with Scott. The two of them enjoyed an incredibly strong rapport in the late '50s and early '60s, and they are very much in sync on Bacalao (which unites them with bassist George Duvivier, drummer Arthur Edgehill, and two Latin percussion men: Luis Perez and salsa giant Ray Barretto).

Miles Davis - Miles Davis And The Modern Jazz Giants (1954) {2008 Prestige RVG Remasters Series}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 186 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 100 Mb
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© 2008 Concord / Prestige | 0888072306554 | Prestige RVG Remasters Series | 24-bit remaster | PRLP 7150
Jazz / Bop / Cool / Hard Bop / Trumpet

Here are four tracks from one of the classic sessions of all time when a combination of giants gathered in Rudy Van Gelder's studio for an historic meeting on Christmas Eve afternoon and early dark, 1954. With Thelonious Monk and three-quarters of the Modern Jazz Quartet (Jackson, Heath, and Clarke) as his accomplices, Miles blends sophisticated harmonic knowledge with raw, spontaneous invention to produce extraordinary music. The two takes of "The Man I Love" are quite different within their basic similarity. An added starter in "'Round Midnight" done by the great Davis quintet of 1956–Coltrane, Garland, Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones.

Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus (1956) {2006 Prestige RVG Remasters Series}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 259 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 95 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 135 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2006 Concord / Prestige | 0025218810524 | Prestige RVG Remasters Series | 24-bit remaster | LP 7079
Jazz / Cool / Bop / Hard Bop / Saxophone

“I was the engineer on the recording sessions and I also made the masters for the original LP issues of these albums. Since the advent of the CD, other people have been making the masters. Mastering is the final step in the process of creating the sound of the finished product. Now, thanks to the folks at the Concord Music Group who have given me the opportunity to remaster these albums, I can present my versions of the music on CD using modern technology. I remember the sessions well, I remember how the musicians wanted to sound, and I remember their reactions to the playbacks. Today, I feel strongly that I am their messenger.” — Rudy Van Gelder

The Miles Davis Quintet - Cookin' with The Miles Davis Quintet (1956) {2007 Rudy Van Gelder Remaster}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC+CUE+LOG -> 203 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 77 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 13 Mb
© 2007 Concord / Prestige | 00888072301573
Jazz / Bop / Cool / Hard Bop

Cookin’ With the Miles Davis Quintet is the first classic album of four total that emerged from two marathon and fruitful sessions recorded in 1956 (the other three discs released in Cookin’s wake were Workin’, Relaxin’ and Steamin’). All the albums were recorded live in the studio, as Davis sought to capture, with Rudy Van Gelder’s expert engineering, the sense of a club show á la the Café Bohemia in New York, with his new quintet, featuring tenor saxophonist John Coltrane. In Miles’s own words, he says he called this album Cookin’ because “that’s what we did—came in and cooked.” What’s particularly significant about this Davis album is his first recording of what became a classic tune for him: “My Funny Valentine.” Hot playing is also reserved for the uptempo number “Tune Up,” which revs with the zoom of both the leader and Trane.

Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus (1956) {2006 Rudy Van Gelder Remaster}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC+CUE+LOG -> 254 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 90 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 11 Mb
© 2006 Concord / Prestige | 0025218810524
Jazz / Bop / Cool / Hard Bop

Sonny Rollins’s Saxophone Colossus, consistently included on lists of the greatest jazz albums, showcases virtually every brilliant aspect of his complex musical personality.

Rollins fronted a foursome including Tommy Flanagan, the consummate accompanist and an always-engaging piano soloist, Doug Watkins, one the supreme time-players of his day, and drummer Max Roach, whose radar-eared work was nothing short of miraculous. Though by the mid-1950s he was considered the up-and-coming young tenor man, Rollins (b. 1930) hit his stride as never before, forging such epochal performances as his signature calypso “St. Thomas” (in its debut recording), the sardonically witty “Moritat” (aka “Mack the Knife”), and especially the original minor-key blues opus “Blue 7,” wherein Rollins’s “thematic improvisation” came to the fore.

Roy Haynes, Phineas Newborn, Paul Chambers - We Three (1958) {2007 Concord Rudy Van Gelder Remaster}
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Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 35 Mb
© 2007 Concord / New Jazz / Prestige | 0888072301627
Jazz / Hard Bop / Bop

We Three, recorded in a single session on November 14, 1958, was the first American studio date as a bandleader for the diminutive and legendary jazz drummer Roy Haynes, although with pianist Phineas Newborn on board (along with bassist Paul Chambers), it really is a set dominated by Newborn, whose busy, two-handed technique here works in tandem balance with Haynes' cool refinement. Newborn was all about amazing and dazzling piano runs that on some dates created simply too much flash and clutter to allow pieces to flow and breathe properly, but Haynes has always been about grace and flow throughout his career (if a drummer's style can said to be elegant, Haynes fits the bill), and here he rubs off on Newborn, who exercises just enough restraint to keep him in the proper orbit, resulting in a fine album.

Phil Woods, Gene Quill, Jackie McLean, John Jenkins, Hal McKusick - Bird Feathers (1957) {2013 Japan Prestige New Jazz Chronicle SHM-CD HR Cutting Series UCCO-5354}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 182 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 106 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 332 Mb | 5% repair rar | DSD / HR Cutting Remaster
© 1957, 2013 Prestige New Jazz / Concord / Universal Japan | UCCO-5354 | Mono | NJLP 8204
Jazz / Bop / Cool / Hard Bop / Saxophone

Reissue features the latest DSD / HR Cutting remastering and the high-fidelity SHM-CD format (compatible with standard CD player). Comes with a description. Features the original LP designs. A really great title for this classic late 50s set – as the record showcases a host of young alto players who've all come up in the generation of Charlie Parker – but who are each bringing their own sense of style to the instrument! There's hardly any "bird feathers" here – as the Charlie Parker modes are never used slavishly, but instead as a way to sprout wings and really take off in new direction – a difference that really comes through wonderfully on the tracks that feature two different altoists playing together.

Cedar Walton - Soul Cycle (1969) {Prestige OJCCD-847-2 rel 1995}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 235 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 88 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 7 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1969, 1995 Prestige / Fantasy / OJC | OJCCD-847-2
Jazz / Hard Bop / Piano

"Soul Cycle," recorded in 1969, is pianist/composer Cedar Walton's attempt to "groove those who are already tuned in, while picking up some entirely new ears along the way." In his candid liner notes, he describes a major concern for jazz musicians at that time–how to be commercial without selling out. The electric instruments featured here are a nod to the times, but sound innocent compared to Miles Davis' contemporaneous "Bitch's Brew."

John Coltrane - Lush Life (1958) {2006 Rudy Van Gelder Remaster}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC+CUE+LOG -> 244 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 84 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 10 Mb
© 2006 Concord / Prestige | PRCD-8103-2
Jazz / Bop / Cool / Hard Bop

Here is one of the musical giants of the 20th century, poised on the precipice of greatness. Between the spring of 1957 and the winter of 1958, during which time Lush Life was recorded, the music of tenor saxophonist John Coltrane (1926-1967) was developing in giant steps, thanks in great part to a six-month 1957 stint with Thelonious Monk that had much to do with sharpening Coltrane’s harmonic conception and torrential attack.
Lush Life contains Coltrane’s first recordings as sole leader, his initial date fronting a pianoless trio, and one of his first extended readings of a ballad, Billy Strayhorn’s resplendent title track. We also hear him at the helm of a quartet and quintet, featuring pianist Red Garland, with trumpeter Donald Byrd added to “Lush Life.”

John Coltrane - Stardust (1958) {2007 Prestige RVG Remasters Series PRCD-30168}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 253 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 87 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 219 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1958, 2007 Concord / Prestige | PRCD-30168 / PRLP 7268 | 24-bit remaster
Jazz / Hard Bop / Saxophone

“I was the engineer on the recording sessions and I also made the masters for the original LP issues of these albums. Since the advent of the CD, other people have been making the masters. Mastering is the final step in the process of creating the sound of the finished product. Now, thanks to the folks at the Concord Music Group who have given me the opportunity to remaster these albums, I can present my versions of the music on CD using modern technology. I remember the sessions well, I remember how the musicians wanted to sound, and I remember their reactions to the playbacks. Today, I feel strongly that I am their messenger.” —Rudy Van Gelder.