Since its initial 1961 releases produced by founder Creed Taylor, Impulse! Records has been synonymous with excellence in jazz.  “The House That Trane Built” was stylish both in packaging (with its distinctive orange-and-black color scheme and exclamation point) and content, with a remarkable artist roster boasting not only John Coltrane but Charles Mingus, Ray Charles, Archie Shepp, Alice Coltrane, Quincy Jones, McCoy Tyner, Gil Evans, Oliver Nelson, Duke Ellington, Johnny Hartman, and Pharoah Sanders.  On Friday, Impulse! and UMe announced a 60th anniversary celebration of the still-active label encompassing a new box set in CD and LP formats; the wide-release debut of a rare recording from the late Alice Coltrane; audiophile vinyl releases of Impulse! classics, and more multimedia offerings.

Impulse Records: Music, Message & The Moment is the name of the box set due May 14 on 4 LPs or 2 CDs.  It follows 2011’s box set First Impulse: The Creed Taylor 50th Anniversary Box which compiled the label’s first six LPs (all released in 1961) plus rare bonus tracks.  This set takes a different approach, charting the label’s history from 1961-1976 with a selection of tracks that explore the sounds of Impulse! during the societal and cultural revolutions of the 1960s – a time which shares much in common with the present day.  Its 25 often-lengthy tracks reflecting on politics, social upheaval, spirituality, and the African-American experience are put into context via new essays by A.B. Spellman and Greg Tate.  The label’s boldface names are all here including John and Alice Coltrane, Quincy Jones, Charlie Haden, Max Roach, Stanley Turrentine, Earl “Fatha” Hines, Ahmad Jamal, and Albert Ayler.  The sequence also details the label’s development away from traditional sounds and into adventurous and avant-garde free jazz realms.

The vinyl box set appears to be more elaborate than the 2-CD edition.  While the music is the same, the vinyl box takes the form of an “archival portfolio” with a “museum drop front,” a magazine-style booklet, and a slipmat.

Next, in the summer, the label will issue a work by Alice Coltrane with which many fans are likely to have never heard.  Turiya Sings is a record of devotional chants recorded by Coltrane (who accompanied herself on organ) in the early 1980s at her ashram.  This record was only available at the ashram though in 1982, a cassette release added overdubbed strings and synthesizer.  It’s been unavailable in any format since.  Now, Alice’s son Ravi Coltrane is producing Turiya Sings: Deluxe Edition, featuring both versions of the album, newly remixed and remastered for release on digital, CD, and LP.

Additionally, Acoustic Sounds will continue mining UMe’s jazz vaults with an Impulse! series of 180-gram audiophile vinyl pressings.  Expect to see reissues of such landmark titles as Ray Charles’ Genius + Soul = Jazz, Gil Evans’ Out of the Cool, Oliver Nelson’s The Blues And The Abstract Truth, Sonny Rollins’ On Impulse!, and more throughout the year.  All of the LPs will be pressed at Quality Record Pressings, mastered from the original tapes, and packaged by Stoughton in tip-on jackets.

Impulse! continues to release new music in the spirit of the label, too, with releases planned in 2021 from Sons of Kemet (Spring 2021), Brandee Younger (Summer 2021), and Pino Palladino and Blake Mills (March 2021).

In the meantime, Impulse Records: Music, Message & The Moment is available now for pre-order.  You’ll find those links and the track listing below!  It’s due on May 14.  Visit AcousticSounds.com for more information and to pre-order its Impulse! vinyl titles.

Various Artists, Impulse Records: Music, Message & The Moment (Impulse!/UMe, 2021)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

CD 1 or LP 1 &2

1. Africa – The John Coltrane Quartet
2. Garvey’s Ghost – Max Roach
3. Hard Sock Dance – Quincy Jones and His Orchestra
4. Up ‘Gainst the Wall – John Coltrane
5. Just Us Blues – Elvin Jones/Jimmy Garrison Sextet
6. Alabama – John Coltrane
7. Better Get Hit in Yo’ Soul – Charles Mingus
8. Freedom Dance – The Shirley Scott Trio
9. Sister Mamie – Yusef Lateef
10. Malcolm, Malcolm – Semper Malcolm – Archie Shepp
11. Good Lookin’ Out – Stanley Turrentine
12. Black and Tan Fantasy – Earl Hines
13. The Rights of All – Oliver Nelson

CD 2 or LP 3 & 4

1. The Creator Has a Master Plan (Edit) – Pharoah Sanders
2. Reverend King – John Coltrane and Alice Coltrane
3. The Awakening – The Ahmad Jamal Trio
4. Music Is the Healing Force of the Universe – Albert Ayler
5. We Shall Overcome – Charlie Haden
6. Blue Nile – Alice Coltrane
7. Astral Traveling – Pharoah Sanders
8. Blues for Brother George Jackson – Archie Shepp
9. Lament (Mankind) – Michael White
10. Imani – Dewey Redman
11. Bismillahi ‘Rrahmani ‘Rrahim – Marion Brown
12. Hard Work – John Handy

CD 1, Track 1 from Africa/Brass, Impulse! A-6-S, 1961
CD 1, Track 2 from Percussion Bitter Sweet, Impulse! AS-8, 1961
CD 1, Track 3 from The Quintessence, Impulse! AS-11, 1963
CD 1, Track 4 from Impressions, Impulse! AS-42, 1963
CD 1, Track 5 from Illumination!, Impulse! AS-49, 1963
CD 1, Track 6 from Coltrane at Birdland, Impulse! AS-50, 1964
CD 1, Track 7 from Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus, Impulse! AS-54, 1964
CD 1, Track 8 from For Members Only, Impulse! AS-51, 1964
CD 1, Track 9 from Live at Pep’s, Impulse! AS-69, 1965
CD 1, Track 10 from Fire Music, Impulse! AS-86, 1965
CD 1, Track 11 from Let It Go, Impulse! AS-9115, 1966
CD 1, Track 12 from Once Upon a Time, Impulse! AS-9108, 1966
CD 1, Track 13 from The Kennedy Dream, Impulse! AS-9144, 1967
CD 2, Track 1 – full-length version from Karma, Impulse! AS-9181, 1969
CD 2, Track 2 from Cosmic Music, Impulse! AS-9148, 1969
CD 2, Track 3 from The Awakening, Impulse! AS-9194, 1970
CD 2, Track 4 from Music Is the Healing Force of the Universe, Impulse! AS-9191, 1970
CD 2, Track 5 from Liberation Music Orchestra, Impulse! AS-9183, 1970
CD 2, Track 6 from Ptah, The El Daoud, Impulse! AS-9196, 1970
CD 2, Track 7 from Thembal, Impulse! AS-9206, 1971
CD 2, Track 8 from Attica Blues, Impulse! AS-9222, 1972
CD 2, Track 9 from The Land of Spirit and Light, Impulse! AS-9241, 1973
CD 2, Track 10 from The Ear of the Behearer, Impulse! AS-9250, 1973
CD 2, Track 11 from Vista, ABC Impulse ASD-9304, 1975
CD 2, Track 12 from Hard Work, ABC Impulse ASD-9314, 1976