2019 Positive Feedback Writers Choice Award!
Voted The LA & OC Audio Society 2019 Audiophile Recording of the Year Award for Reissue LP!
Numbered, Limited Edition!
Only 3000 Numbered Copies!
100% Analog 180g 45rpm Vinyl!
Mastered by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering!
Pressed at RTI!
Steve Hoffman Says: "Order your copy now. Best place would be Elusive Disc, Inc. Hurry before it sells out!"
This item not eligible for any further discount offers!
We're beyond excited and proud that our definitive Legrand Jazz 45-rpm LP set was voted The LA OC Audio Society ARYA Award for reissue LP. Despite our Herculean efforts to design and secure the best parts for every project, we can't make award-winning records without an award-winning team and we work with the best: Stoughton Printing, Record Technology, BGMastering, G and M Printing Co and Publishers Engraving make the solutions that make great LPs! Thanks to our dream team and Thank YOU to everyone who supported Legrand Jazz 45 and continue to show us love on every release.
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!Pressed at Record technology for silent surfaces and true fidelity to the analog source.
Exclusive large-format booklet with new art and an appreciation by Tom Schnabel (Rhythm Planet & KCRW).
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 label mates (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 large jazz ensemble recording when you drop the needle into these grooves.
Packaged in 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!
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 33rpm, this rare, highly-praised recording had never sounded so good. Now that it's on 45rpm double LP? Even Better!!! Go big with Legrand Jazz.
"With superb performances, exquisite surfaces, perfect LP cutting and pressing, and Impex Records' extremely high production standards, Legrand Jazz is in my current estimation the ultimate reissue ever. Legrand Jazz is a true reference LP and worth including in any top-notch record library for the jazz aficionado or devoted audiophile." - Robert H. Levi, Positive Feedback Online, August 29, 2017 (about 33rpm version)
"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
"This is the 45rpm version of IMPEX's 2017 33 1/3 all-analog reissue of Michel Legrand's somewhat overlooked musical and sonic treasure featuring many of the greatest jazz artists of the era. Nothing other than Legrand's passing has changed since the original reissue review, so I'm just repeating it, other than to add that it sounds even 'Legrander' at 45rpm, though if you already own IMPEX's 33 1/3 version, it's not really necessary to buy it again, unless you must! An enticement might be the now glossy laminated jacket and gatefold booklet with a very useful and informed essay by KCRW's Tom Schnabel. This IMPEX reissue is sourced from an 'analog mix-down transfer of the original 1958 work tape by Mark Wilder at Battery Studios' and cut by Chris Bellman and Bob Donnelly at Bernie Grundman Mastering on Grundman's all-tube mastering system. I have a clean, original 6-Eye pressing that this superbly pressed reissue betters in every way. This will make both your stereo and your heart sing. Some of the greatest jazz musicians of that or any era wailing and clearly having a Legrand time. Limited to 3000 [numbered] copies. Don't miss it!" - Michael Fremer, Analog Planet, Music 10/11, Sound 11/11
"I'm very much falling in love with 45 RPM LPs. I'm also very much falling in love with IMPEX Records and their recent series of vinyl releases. Merge this format and this label together and you have a real winner: Legrand Jazz. This is a pressing that could possibly take its place as one of the crown jewels in your entire jazz LP collection. Legrand Jazz is the very essence of what audiophile records can be and should be!
"Yes, 45 RPM LPs might be a pain to flip through, but my goodness they are certainly worth it in my humble opinion. The latest and greatest from IMPEX, Mobile Fidelity and Analogue Productions continue to set new bench marks as in some cases they are difficult if not impossible to differentiate from their reel to reel counterparts (when available for comparison). With the latest surge of incredible sounding reel to reel tapes hitting the market, I did consider reel to reel as the gold standard right behind the master tapes. These new 45 RPM releases are now in the team picture too.
"IMPEX has a long respected legacy in the audiophile vinyl market and thanks to the business and production leadership of Abey Fonn and the distribution support of Kevin Berg over at Elusive Disc, they continue to step up their game. This includes the fairly recent 33 RPM releases of Another Time, Another Place by Jennifer Warnes, Lo Que Dice Mi Cantar by Trio Palabras and Friday Night In San Francisco by John McLaughlin, Al Di Meola, and Paco De Lucia.
"Now we have Legrand Jazz in 45 RPM. Released in 1958 on the Columbia label and recorded at the renowned Columbia Records 30th Street Studios, it was arranged and conducted by the French jazz enthusiast Michel Legrand. Musicians included Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Paul Chambers, Hank Jones, Art Farmer, Donald Byrd, Phil Woods, Ben Webster, Herbie Mann, Milt Hinton, Frank Rehak, Jimmy Cleveland, and Joe Wilder amongst many more superstars.
"This IMPEX stereo reissue is sourced from the original 1958 work tape by Mark Wilder at Battery Studios and cut by Chris Bellman and Bob Donnelly at Bernie Grundman Mastering. This was an end to end all analog effort including an all tube mastering system. The icing on the cake is the latest and greatest 180 gram vinyl utilized by RTI. Talk about low noise and black backgrounds!
"Most of these tracks are fairly familiar jazz standards with a very laid back and soothing emphasis, but you will be hard pressed not to immediately fall in love with the arrangements and the subtle but addictive way that Legrand brings out all the skills and powerful voices of these iconic musicians.
"There are so many highlights that its difficult to point to any track in particular. However, one of my favorites is "Blue and Sentimental." Ben Webster (tenor sax) stands stage left and Frank Rehak (trombone) stands stage right in a very expressive if not alluring duet of alternating solos. The instruments are so three dimensional and rich with proper timbre and weight that your eyes might just swell up as you imagine the rye whiskey and cigarette smoke whirling around you. Yep, it's a studio but the quality of this recording and your imagination will take you to another place.
""Django" is still another slice of French Kharma. Miles Davis and Bill Evans float through this track with as much cool and refinement as you will ever hear from them in their quintessential albums together or on their own. That classic muted trumpet sounds better than ever with no edge or tilted emphasis--just layers of wonderful harmonic bloom and foggy ease. Piano is weighty and detailed with plenty of rhythmic expression and subtle bursts of life. Circling and swirling throughout is Betty Glamann on harp that provides another interesting mix and counter to that provided by Davis and Evans. Just exquisite stuff.
"Legrand Jazz is an absolute keeper and deserves to be in every music lover's collection. This goes for both the jazz aficionados out there and even those with other interests but who love to dabble with something very special. Production is limited so I'd jump on the purchase before its too late." - Robert S. Youman, Positive Feedback, October 28, 2019
Impex released the reissue in a 33 RPM platter, and we gave it the highest ratings for recording and music back in Issue 153. This new 45 RPM two-disc set demonstrates that all top ratings are not created equal. Instrumental texture is the biggest beneficiary of the new mastering by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering - Ben Webster should always sound juicy, but here he is downright succulent. Add a more seamless soundstage and this is a perfect artefact of Columbia's wedding of the best recording engineers, decks, microphones and hall. In addition, the new fold-out cover embraces a handsome booklet.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)
For "The Jitterbug Waltz," "Django," "Wild Man Blues" & "'Round Midnight" Recorded June 25, 1958 (New York City)
Herbie Mann, flute
Betty Glamann, harp
Barry Calbraith, guitar
Miles Davis, trumpet
John Coltrane, tenor sax
Phil Woods, alto sax
Jerome Richardson, baritone sax, bass clarinet
Eddie Costa, vibes
Bill Evans, piano
Paul Chambers, bass
Kenny Dennis, drums
For "Nuages," "Blue And Sentimental," "Rosetta" & "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" Recorded June 27, 1958 (New York City)
Ben Webster, tenor sax
Herbie Mann, flute
Frank Rehak, trombone
Billy Byers, trombone
Jimmy Cleveland, trombone
Eddie Bert, trombone
Major Holly, bass, tuba
Don Lamond, drums
Hank Jones, piano
George Duvivier, bass
For "Night In Tunisia," "Stompin' At The Savoy" & "In A Mist" Recorded June 30, 1958 (New York City)
Ernie Royal, trumpet
Art Farmer, trumpet
Donald Byrd, trumpet
Joe Wilder, trumpet
Frank Rehak, trombone
Jimmy Cleveland, trombone
Gene Quill, alto sax
Phil Woods, alto sax
Seldon Powell, tenor sax
Teo Macero, baritone sax
James Buffington, French horn
Don Elliot, vibes
Milt Hinton, bass
Osie Johnson, drums
Nat Pierce, piano
Selections:
1. The Jitterbug Waltz (Fats Waller)
2. Nuages (Django Reinhardt)
3. Night In Tunisia (Dizzy Gillespie)
4. Blue And Sentimental (Count Basie)
5. Stompin' At The Savoy (Benny Goodman)
6. Django (John Lewis)
7. Wild Man Blues (Jelly Roll Morton)
8. Rosetta (Earl Hines)
9. 'Round Midnight (Thelonious Monk)
10. Don't Get Around Much Anymore (Duke Ellington)
11. In A Mist (Bix Beiderbecke)
