Legrand Jazz
MICHEL LEGRAND AND HIS ORCHESTRA, FEATURING MILES DAVIS
LEGRAND JAZZ
180-GRAM 45RPM 2LP SET | Stereo
CATALOG: IMP6030-45
MSRP: $59.99 USD
Legrand Jazz
SUPER AUDIO COMPACT DISC/HYBRIDIMP8315
The greatest assembly of musical talent ever on one album! Features Performances by John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Ben Webster & 27 More Jazz Greats!
Academy and Grammy ® Award-winning composer/arranger Michel Legrand (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Summer of ’42, The Thomas Crown Affair) was not a household name in America in 1958, but he was renowned among musicians and a life-long fanatic of American jazz and its players. Legrand Jazz is the result of Legrand traveling to America and using his Columbia Records contract to enlist labelmates (and soon to be legends) Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Paul Chambers, Ben Webster, Hank Jones, Herbie Mann, Phil Woods, Donald Byrd, Art Farmer, Sheldon Powell, Teo Macero, Milt Hinton, Jimmy Cleveland, and others to record his fantastical reimagining of 11 jazz standards. Not merely content to lay down another Parisian hard-bop play-along, the 27-year-old worked against type and expectations at every turn, creating a moody, idiosyncratic landscape for unusual call-and-response chase solos, washes of harp and vibes, and sultry horn canvases. Davis, Coltrane, and the others manage to fall in with the diverse, mellow flow of Legrand’s arrangements while keeping their unique musical voices.
Impex’s pristine release was mastered by Chris Bellman on Bernie Grundman’s All-Tube cutting lathe from a 2-track, all-analog mix down of the original studio work prints, made especially for Impex Records by Mark Wilder at Battery Studios in New York. The results are revelatory. The large recording space is captured in every detail, while Davis’ full force dynamic variations come through with incredible veracity. The gentle ebb-and-flow of Legrand’s parts highlight microtonal fluctuations on every track. You are along for a magic carpet ride of a large jazz ensemble recording when you drop the needle into these grooves.
Packaged in a meticulously recreated outer jacket in a gatefold with an original photo montage inside honoring Michel Legrand’s masterpiece of reinvention and focused fan-boy enthusiasm. This release will be individually numbered up to 3,000!
Features:
• Numbered, Limited Edition!
• 45rpm 180 Gram Vinyl
• Double LP
• Mastered by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering
• Analog mix-down transfer of original 1958 work tapes by Mark Wilder at Battery Studios, New York, NY
• Pressed at Record Technology
• Gatefold jacket housed inside a resealable, protective plastic sleeve
• Exclusive large-format booklet with new art & an appreciation by Tom Schnabel (Rhythm Planet & KCRW)
Musicians:
Michel Legrand, conductor, arranger (All songs)
Side 1
1. The Jitterbug Waltz
2. Nuages
3. Night In Tunisia
Side 2
1. Blue and Sentimental
2. Stompin’ at the Savoy
3. Django
Side 3
1. Wild Man Blues
2. Rosetta
3. ‘Round Midnight
Side 4
1. Don’t Get Around Much Anymore
2. In a Mist
The sound of Impex’s all-analog LP preserves the wide soundstage of late 1950’s Columbia recordings while creating intimate spaces between players on the stage for maximum definition. On our 33rpm LP, this rare, highly-praised recording had never sounded so good. On our 45-rpm LP, the faster speed and deeper grooves reveal levels of detail and expanse of sound stage the 33 could only dream of.
“Jazz lovers! Do you want to support audiophile record labels that go the extra mile? Well, Impex Records does, and this is proof! Abey Fonn who runs Impex Records just gave me her personal copy of this, hot off the press, the newly cut 45 RPM version, mastered at Bernie Grundman by the handsome Chris Bellman and my long time vinyl buddy Bob Donnelly on the Bernie Grundman Mastering Studios all vacuum tube cutting system earlier this year. In fact, I think it is the first cutting using the original analog work parts since 1959. Pressed on heavy vinyl at Record Technology Inc. by Rick Hashimoto and the RTI gang, this really has to be the greatest assembly of musical talent ever on one album. Features performances by John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Ben Webster & 27 more Jazz Greats, all in glorious analog stereophonic sound. Nice booklet enclosed, layout by Impex Records jack-of-all-trades Robert Sliger. This is a true jazz sleeper album, a gem in the Columbia Records’ jazz catalog, now reissued in grand audiophile style by Impex Records. All analog mastering, (no digital anywhere in the chain), this is a real treat for jazz and jazz vinyl collectors everywhere. The sound quality is amazing as well. All in all a beautiful package, quiet vinyl, wonderful, dynamic sound, great performances, a little known jazz gem given a Legrand audiophile treatment! This is something that you should grab while you can, music lovers. A real Legrand treat for the senses! This has been on my VPI Industries Avenger turntable for a week, non-stop! Order your copy now. Best place would be Elusive Disc, Inc. Hurry before it sells out!”
– Steve Hoffman, via Facebook
“There is no question that the version I was sent for review on Impex Records is the definitive version of ‘Legrand Jazz’. And the sound quality? Second to none. Yes, to be expected, there is a bit of tape hiss in the background, it was recorded in stereo in 1958, after all. But other than that, there is not much I could say that wouldn’t sound as if I was simply reciting audiophile clichés. This album is demo disc quality with music on it that not many that I know will walk out on. Besides this double 45 rpm version Impex also pressed a version on a single 33 rpm LP, and an SACD. Those lamenting about LP’s rising prices might use the double 45 LP version as fuel for their argument, priced on Amazon at nearly $60. But really, how many audiophiles haven’t seen a single audiophile pressing priced at $30? Plus, the pressing is limited to 3000 numbered copies and packaged in a thick gatefold cover with a 14-page ‘large format’ booklet with rare photos and art, and an appreciation by Tom Schnabel. One spin should convince every audiophile who purchases this album that their money was money well spent.”
– Tom Lyle, www.enjoythemusic.com, July 2019