Impulse! Records' 60th anniversary celebration continues all year with Verve/UMe and Acoustic Sounds' ongoing series of deluxe audiophile reissues drawn from the label's storied catalogue.  The full 2021 slate of releases - 2-3 per month through December - has been announced.  It features some of the heaviest hitters from the Impulse! discography including Ray Charles, Gil Evans, Sonny Rollins, Charles Mingus, and John Coltrane.  A number of titles from the Verve catalogue will also be reissued including classic LPs from Bill Evans, Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, and others.  All titles in the series have been remastered from the original tapes by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound with the exception of Ray Charles' Genius + Soul = Jazz, out now, which has been remastered by Kevin Gray.  Each release is pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Quality Record Pressings and housed in a Stoughton-printed jacket.

You'll find the full list of upcoming Impulse! and Verve releases below with order links from Acoustic Sounds.

Out Now

Ray Charles - Genius + Soul = Jazz (Impulse!, 1961)
Gil Evans Orchestra - Out Of The Cool (Impulse!, 1961)

June 25

Oliver Nelson - The Blues and the Abstract Truth (Impulse!, 1961)
Sonny Rollins - On Impulse! (Impulse!, 1965)

July 30

Bill Evans - Trio 64 (Verve, 1964)
Bill Evans - Trio 65 (Verve, 1965)

August 20

Charles Mingus - The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady (Impulse!, 1963)
Charles Mingus - Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus (Impulse!, 1964)

September 10

Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Wishes You A Swinging Christmas (Verve, 1960)

September 24

Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong - Ella & Louis (Verve, 1956)
Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong - Ella & Louis Again (Verve, 1957)

October 22

Bill Evans - At Town Hall, Volume 1 (Verve, 1966)
John Coltrane - "Live" At The Village Vanguard (Impulse!, 1962)
John Coltrane - Crescent (Impulse!, 1964)

November 19

Duke Ellington & Coleman Hawkins - Duke Ellington Meets Coleman Hawkins (Impulse!, 1963)
Oscar Peterson - Night Train (Verve, 1963)
Oscar Peterson - We Get Requests (Verve, 1964)

December 10

Duke Ellington & John Coltrane - Duke Ellington & John Coltrane (Impulse!, 1963)
John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman - John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman (Impulse!, 1963)
Roy Haynes - Out Of The Afternoon (Impulse!, 1962)

UMe and Island Records have also broken out the contents of 2019's Traffic - The Studio Albums 1967-1974 for individual release.  The 2004 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees left behind a rich legacy of music touching upon psychedelia, prog, blues-rock, folk, and pop.  Founded by Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood, and Dave Mason, Traffic recorded seven studio albums for Island Records between 1967 and 1974.  Six of them are included here:

• Mr. Fantasy (1967);
• Traffic (1968);
• John Barleycorn Must Die (1971);
• The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys (1971);
• Shootout at the Fantasy Factory (1973); and
• When the Eagle Flies (1974).

1969's half-live/half-studio odds and ends collection Last Exit hasn't been included; the band's two live Island LPs Welcome to the Canteen (1971) and On the Road (1973) are also left out.  Each album in this campaign has been remastered from the original tapes and replicates the original, first-edition Island pressings with appropriate gatefold sleeves, labels, and other packaging details.  These six LPs are out today and can be ordered at the above links!

And tomorrow, look out for a special treat from Omnivore Recordings.  In 2016, the label released Rainbow Ends, the sublime final album by pop wunderkind Emitt Rhodes (who sadly passed away in July 2020).  Now, Omnivore is returning to the earliest days of Rhodes' career with The Palace Guard's All Night Long: An Anthology 1965-1966.  Rhodes, who would burst onto the major-label scene with A&M's 1967 release of The Merry-Go-Round from his band of the same name, formed The Palace Guard out of the ashes of local band The Emerals.  Emitt, on drums, was joined by Rick Moser, Mike Conley, Chuck McClung, and brothers David, John , and Don Beaudoin.  The Palace Guard, all clad in the manner of the Queen's Guards, never reached the same level of fame as that other band from their hometown of Hawthorne, California, but they did release six singles that went on to become highly-coveted collectors' items.  Following Rhodes' departure to join The Merry-Go-Round, the group pressed on as house band of The Hullabaloo Club and continued to gig until disbanding in mid-1970.  All Night Long brings together all twelve Palace Guard sides (originally released on Orange-Empire and Cameo/Parkway and including their lone single backing Don Grady of My Three Sons fame) as restored and remastered by Michael Graves.  Rick Moser shares memories of the Guard in his new liner notes as well as photos from his personal collection.  This slice of SoCal pop-rock history is out tomorrow from Omnivore!

The Palace Guard, All Night Long: An Anthology 1965-1966 (Omnivore OV-424, 2021) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

1. All Night Long (Orange-Empire single OE-331, 1965)
2. Playgirl (Orange-Empire single OE-331, 1965)
3. A Girl You Can Depend On (Orange-Empire single OE-332, 1965)
4. If You Need Me (Orange-Empire single OE-332, 1965)
5. Falling Sugar (Orange-Empire single OE-400 (A-side), 1966)
6. Oh Blue (The Way I Feel Tonight) (Orange-Empire single OE-401 (B-side), 1966)
7. Saturday's Child (Parkway P-111, 1966)
8. Party Lights (Parkway P-111, 1966)
9. Calliope (Parkway P-124, 1966)
10. Greed (Parkway P-124, 1966)
11. Little People - Don Grady and The Palace Guard (Orange-Empire single OE 9164-7, 1965)
12. Summertime Game - Don Grady and The Palace Guard (Orange-Empire single OE 9164-8, 1965)