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Following its relaunch with vintage titles from Miles Davis and the duo of Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane, Craft Recordings’ Original Jazz Classics series will continue with upcoming releases from The Mal Waldron Sextet, The Bill Evans Trio, and Yusef Lateef.  These titles began rolling out on June 30.

Drawing on the vast catalogues of the Fantasy, Prestige, Milestone, Riverside, Contemporary, Pablo, Galaxy, Debut, and Jazzland labels, OJC reissues promise the highest standard in vinyl today.  All releases have had lacquers cut AAA (all-analog) from the original masters by Kevin Gray at Cohearant Audio.  They’re pressed by RTI on 180-gram vinyl and housed in tip-on jackets replicating the original album art.  The releases are additionally available to digital listeners in 192/24 HD audio.

Out now is The Bill Evans Trio’s Waltz for Debby; the late piano great’s Sunday at the Village Vanguard will follow on August 25. Evans (1929-1980) transformed the language of the piano with his introspective, sensitive, and conversational playing.  He achieved an intimacy on the instrument that remains unparalleled, deconstructing and reconstructing classic melodies and his own compositions with ceaseless invention and boundless heart.  The final two albums from this classic line-up of Evans’ trio – Evans, bassist Scott LaFaro, and drummer Paul Motian – were both recorded at New York City’s Village Vanguard on June 25. 1961.  Just ten days later, Scott LaFaro would tragically perish in a car accident.  The release of Sunday was a tribute to LaFaro, whose compositions “Gloria’s Step” and “Jade Visions” bookend the album.  Evans and producer Orrin Keepnews selected its track to showcase his masterful bass solos on each track, including renditions of Gershwin (“My Man’s Gone Now”), Porter (“All of You”), and Miles Davis (“Solar”) as well as a Disney classic, Sammy Fain and Bob Hilliard’s “Alice in Wonderland.”  Waltz for Debby picked another six songs from the five sets at the Village Vanguard including Evans’ much-loved title song, Broadway favorites from Rodgers and Hart (“My Romance”) and Leonard Bernstein. Betty Comden, and Adolph Green (“Some Other Time”).  Evans’ old bandmate Miles Davis was again represented, this time by “Milestones.”  Both albums were originally released on the Riverside label.

In between the two Evans LPs, on July 28, OJC will reissue a classic from another pianist-leader, The Mal Waldron Sextet’s Mal/2.  Waldron (1925-2002) released over 100 albums as a leader (including numerous film scores) during his five-decade-long career which also saw him support the illustrious likes of John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy, Charles Mingus, Billie Holiday, and Abbey Lincoln.  1957’s Mal/2, for Prestige Records, was Waldron’s second LP as a leader.  He was joined by the up-and-coming John Coltrane on tenor saxophone as well as trumpeter Idrees Sulieman and bassist Julian Euell (who both appeared on Mal/1).  Also appearing on horns were Sahib Shihab (alto/baritone sax), Jackie McLean (alto sax) and Bill Hardman (trumpet), while drums were played by Ed Thigpen and Art Taylor.  Waldron’s original compositions in the bop vein were joined by American standards such as Cole Porter’s “From This Moment On” and Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields’ “The Way You Look Tonight.”

On September 29, OJC offers a fusion of hard bop and Middle Eastern styles with multi-instrumentalist Yusef Lateef (1920-2013)’s 1961 Prestige/Moodsville album Eastern Sounds.  Lateef played flute, oboe, tenor saxophone, and xun (described on the record as a “Chinese globular flute”) on Eastern Sounds, his sixteenth album as a leader.  Lateef’s band included pianist Barry Harris, drummer Lex Humphries, and bassist Ernie Farrow, who also played on the rubab, an Afghani instrument which resembles a lute.  Lateef’s own compositions largely brought his innovative, multi-cultural vision to life, but he turned to the larger-than-life vistas of the movies, too, with reimagings of music from Alex North (“Love Theme from Spartacus“) and Alfred Newman (“Love Theme from The Robe“).  The one traditional standard heard on the LP is Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields’ “Don’t Blame Me” which had been introduced in 1932.  The same year Lateef recorded it, The Everly Brothers would take their version up the pop chart.

You’ll find track listings and order links for all four Original Jazz Classics titles from Craft Recordings below.

Mal Waldron, Mal/2 (Prestige 7111, 1957 – reissued Craft Recordings/OJC, 2023) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Side A

1. From This Moment On
2. M.’s Dream Doll
3. The Way You Look Tonight

Side B

4. One By One
5. Don’t Explain
6. Potpourri

The Bill Evans Trio, Sunday at the Village Vanguard (Riverside RLP 376, 1961 – reissued Craft Recordings/OJC, 2023) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Side A

1. Gloria’s Step
2. My Man’s Gone Now
3. Solar

Side B

1. Alice In Wonderland
2. All Of You
3. Jade Visions

The Bill Evans Trio, Waltz for Debby (Riverside RLP 399, 1962 – reissued Craft Recordings/OJC, 2023) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Side A

1. My Foolish Heart
2. Waltz For Debby
3. Detour Ahead

Side B

1. My Romance
2. Some Other Time
3. Milestones

Yusuf Lateef, Eastern Sounds (Moodsville MV 22, 1961 – reissued Craft Recordings/OJC, 2023) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Side A:

1. The Plum Blossom
2. Blues For The Orient
3. Ching Miau
4. Don’t Blame Me

Side B:

1. Love Theme From Spartacus
2. Snafu
3. Purple Flower
4. Love Theme From The Robe
5. Three Faces Of Balal