A new month kicks off with a bonanza of soundtrack reissues from La-La Land and Intrada – including more planned activity from the world of James Bond. La-La Land has made three archival titles available for sale from yesterday (June 1). First is a vinyl edition of their remastered CD of John Barry’s score to Goldfinger. The third James Bond film (and the second to be scored by the British composer/arranger) scored big with the series’ first-ever title theme, co-written by Barry, Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse and sung with paint-peeling gusto by…
Out of This World: Verve Record Club Promises Heavyweight Vinyl Pressings and Rarities
Verve Label Group is getting into the subscription vinyl game with the recently-announced Verve Record Club. The new monthly venture will offer fans new vinyl pressings of classic albums from the Verve, Impulse!, Mercury, CTI, Decca and MGM label catalogues, promising titles by John Coltrane, Nina Simone, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Bill Evans, Billie Holiday, Ahmad Jamal and Sarah Vaughan, to name a few. The new pressings will all be remastered from the original analog tapes by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound. Each title will be pressed on 180-gram vinyl at…
A Cool Yule: Verve Expands Ella Fitzgerald’s ‘Swinging Christmas’ for Vinyl, Plans Gift Set with Louis Armstrong’s Christmas Collection
You’ve hung up your costumes and sorted through all your Halloween candy – now it’s time to get excited for the holiday gift-giving season, packed with great reissues under your tree and spirited carols on the stereo. Two new vinyl products from Verve Records feature both: some of the most beloved holiday hits from two of the label’s most iconic voices. Verve will release a special gift set this season: Ella & Louis Wish You a Swinging Holiday – a 2LP set that brings together a bona fide Christmas classic LP from The First…
Tops of the Pops: Verve Releases New Louis Armstrong Hits Collection
On October 16, A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical begins previews at Broadway’s Studio 54, starring Tony Award winner James Monroe Iglehart (Aladdin‘s Genie) as the titular legend. Told from the perspective of his four wives, the musical chronicles the life of one of the most significant and enduring figures in the entirety of American popular music. Today – roughly one month before the show hits New York – Verve and UMe have celebrated Armstrong’s legacy with the release of Wonderful World: The Best of Louis Armstrong on CD, LP, and…
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Release Round-Up: Week of September 13
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles in stores today! As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Louis Armstrong, Wonderful World: The Best of Louis Armstrong (Verve/UMe) CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada This 13-song sampler draws on Satchmo’s 1951-1967 recordings for the Decca, Verve, Kapp, and ABC-Paramount labels and includes many of his most beloved songs as both a vocalist and trumpeter such as “Hello, Dolly!,” “What a Wonderful World,” “A…
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Release Round-Up: Week of July 12
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today! As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. John Lennon, Mind Games: The Ultimate Collection (Capitol/UMe) 6CD/2BD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 9LP/6CD/2BD Super Deluxe Box: Official Store 2CD (includes contents of CD 1 and 6, below): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP (includes contents of CD 1 and 6, below): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada (TBD) John Lennon’s fourth solo album Mind Games will receive a deluxe box set this summer packed with new mixes of the album’s contents as well…
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What a Wonderful World: Verve Premieres Louis Armstrong’s “Louis in London” on CD, LP
Well, hello, Louis! On July 12, Verve Records will release Louis in London on CD, vinyl, and digital formats. This previously unreleased performance was recorded live on the BBC on July 2, 1968 while the legendary musician and singer was riding high thanks to the chart-topping success in Great Britain of “What a Wonderful World.” The 13-song set naturally includes that evergreen anthem penned by Bob Thiele and George David Weiss. Armstrong – a pioneer not only as a jazz trumpeter and bandleader but as a popular vocalist whose innovation is likely…
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The Weekend Stream: September 23, 2023
Welcome to The Weekend Stream, a relaxing review of notable digital-only catalogue titles. There may be no CD or vinyl, but there’s plenty of great new/old music to float you into the weekend. Enjoy a hometown birthday present from The Boss and a holiday collection first put on CD by The Second Disc – plus remixes from Madonna and The Art of Noise and so much more – all in this week’s latest round-up. Bruce Springsteen, The Live Series: Songs of New Jersey (Columbia/Legacy) (Apple Music / Amazon) In honor of Springsteen’s 74th birthday,…
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The Weekend Stream: March 18, 2023
Welcome to The Weekend Stream, a relaxing weekly review of notable digital-only catalogue titles. There may be no CD or vinyl, but there’s plenty of great new/old music to usher you into the weekend. We’ve got new remixes from David Bowie, old remixes from Madonna, an unheard Lou Reed song and much more – including another music writer who could use your help. David Bowie, Let’s Dance (40th Anniversary Remix E.P.) / Let’s Dance (Club Bolly Mixes) / China Girl (Riff & Vox Mixes) (Parlophone) 40th Anniversary Remix: iTunes / Amazon Club Bolly: iTunes / Amazon China Girl:…
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Release Round-Up: Week of November 11
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles in stores today. Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, That Holiday Feeling! (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Real Gone Music) Real Gone Music presents a newly-remastered and expanded edition of Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme’s 1964 Christmas classic That Holiday Feeling! This new edition adds eight bonus tracks including all three of Steve and Eydie’s songs from the 1969 RCA album Christmastime in Carol and Song on which they were supported by the orchestra and chorus of renowned conductor Arthur Fiedler (Steve’s “Go…
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You Make It Feel Like Christmas: New Collections Coming From Neil Diamond, Reba McEntire, Louis Armstrong, More
The Christmas season is upon us, and there are plenty of new titles coming your way to make spirits bright! Today’s round-up looks at upcoming collections from Neil Diamond, Louis Armstrong, and Reba McEntire, as well as one various-artists set filled with heavy hitters. Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and Kennedy Center Honoree Neil Diamond has been a Christmas music mainstay since the release of 1992’s The Christmas Album. The Brooklyn-born superstar, whose story is coming soon to Broadway in the new musical A Beautiful Noise, has since released three more…
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The Weekend Stream: January 22, 2022
Welcome to The Weekend Stream, a relaxing weekly review of notable digital-only catalogue titles. There may be no CD or vinyl, but there’s plenty of great new/old music to discover! A quick week brings us a great latter-day Hall & Oates track, a classic Lil Wayne mixtape, unreleased gems from The Art of Noise and more. Daryl Hall & John Oates, “Romeo is Bleeding” (U-Watch/BMG Rights Management (U.K.)) (iTunes / Amazon / Spotify) It’s been 50 years since the world’s bestselling duo put out their first album Whole Oats in 1972 –…
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Release Round-Up: Week of October 15
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! The Beatles, Let It Be: 50th Anniversary Edition [Various Formats] (Apple/Capitol/UMe) 5CD/Blu-ray: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 5LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada The Beatles’ final album, Let It Be, arrives in deluxe editions to coincide with Peter Jackson’s multi-part documentary Get Back. The 5CD/BD edition includes Giles Martin and Sam Okell’s new remix of the album; two discs of rehearsals, jams, and outtakes; one disc of Glyn Johns’ first mix of the abortive Get Back album that became Let It Be;…
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Short Takes: Acoustic Sounds Continues Verve, Impulse! Reissue Series; UMe Breaks Out Individual Traffic LPs from Box Set; Omnivore Collects Emitt Rhodes’ The Palace Guard
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…
Ain’t Misbehavin’: Mosaic Collects Louis Armstrong’s “Complete RCA Victor and Columbia Studio Sessions 1946-66”
Throughout his remarkable and influential career, Louis Armstrong recorded in a variety of styles for a number of labels. In April, some of his most significant sides for both RCA Victor and Columbia are coming to CD in a new box set from the fine folks at Mosaic Records. The Complete Louis Armstrong Columbia and RCA Victor Studio Sessions 1946-1966 is a sprawling and comprehensive 7-CD collection with all 29 of Satchmo’s 1946-47 RCA sides plus his ’50s Columbia LPs with producer George Avakian (Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy, Satch Plays Fats);…
Nobody Does It Better: ‘The Best of Bond…James Bond’ Gets Update and Vinyl Release
With a new James Bond film set to shake (not stir) audiences in November, a longtime compilation of the super-spy’s famed film themes is getting a new iteration on November 20. The Best of Bond…James Bond offers a stellar 25-track overview of the pop themes that scored nearly all of the films based on Ian Fleming’s famed British secret agent. There are 14 U.K. Top 10 hits and two Academy Award winners herein – altogether, a formidable, half-century-plus musical portrait of one of cinema’s most popular characters. First released under this title…
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Release Round-Up: Week of August 28
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! America, Half Century (America Records/Gonzo) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) The 50th anniversary celebration of America rolls on with a massive new box set. Half Century is an expansive 7-CD/1-DVD box packed with rare and previously unreleased material from the beloved band featuring Gerry Beckley, Dewey Bunnell, and the late Dan Peek. There’s a slew of unreleased demos circa 1970; a remastered full-length radio session in Bremen from 1973; rehearsals and demos for the Hideaway album; 11 unheard session recordings from 1981; a disc full of rarities…
That Old Feeling: UMe and Acoustic Sounds Team Up For New Audiophile Reissues From Verve’s Vast Jazz Catalog
Verve Label Group and UMe have announced a new collaboration with the audiophile reissue label Acoustic Sounds that finds the team offering up what’s said to be “definitive audiophile grade versions of some of the most historic and best jazz records ever recorded.” It’s set to launch this Friday, July 31, on August 28 with two classic duets albums: Stan Getz and João Gilberto’s landmark Getz/Gilberto (featuring Astrud Gilberto) and the singular Louis Armstrong Meets Oscar Peterson. Quality control is the name of the game for these issues as the Acoustic Sounds…
Review: Dr. John, “Ske-Dat-De-Dat: The Spirit of Satch” from The Last Music Company
What happens when you mix a bit of gris-gris with a touch of classic jazz? You get a party of an album such as Dr. John’s Ske-Dat-Ske-Dat: The Spirit of Satch! The late Mac Rebennack, a.k.a. Dr. John, frequently drew on the classic sounds of New Orleans as he conjured his own musical voodoo. Most appropriately, his final studio album was a tribute to one of the most significant figures to ever emerge from the Crescent City. Louis Armstrong transformed the sounds of both jazz and popular music, and on the 2014…
What a Wonderful World: Dr. John’s “Ske-Dat-De-Dat” Tribute to Louis Armstrong Returns to Vinyl
The late Mac Rebennack, a.k.a. Dr. John, frequently drew on the classic sounds of New Orleans as he conjured his own musical voodoo. Appropriately enough, his final studio album was a tribute to one of the most significant figures to ever emerge from the Crescent City. 2014’s Ske-Dat-De-Dat: The Spirit of Satch celebrated the legendary Louis Armstrong as only Dr. John and his friends could do. Now, it’s returning from The Last Music Company in a new vinyl pressing on June 5, one day before the first anniversary of Dr. John’s passing….
Release Round-Up: The Second Disc’s 2019 Record Store Day Must-Haves
Looking for our usual Release Round-Up? Alas, there’s not much new in the way of catalogue music this Friday (and we’ve already filled you in on Billy Paul and Leon Russell!), but for a very good reason: tomorrow sees releases a-plenty as part of Record Store Day! Without further ado, welcome to our annual rundown of Must-Haves for this year’s RSD event! Once you’re through reading, let us know what you’re most looking forward to picking up tomorrow at your favorite local independent retailer! Our list features just a sampling of our…
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A Granz Old Time: Verve/UMe Honors ‘The Founder’ On New Box Set
On December 7, Verve/UMe will release The Founder, a 4-CD box set in honor of Norman Granz’s centennial earlier this year (August 6, 1918). The collection will also be available as a digital download and on streaming services. The set includes 44 tracks, some appearing on CD for the first time ever. It presents a chronological overview of the first two decades of the jazz impresario’s impressive career by way of recordings of the musicians he recorded. The booklet includes new liner notes by Tad Hershorn, author of Norman Granz: The Man Who…
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Release Round-Up: Week of April 13
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! David Bowie, Changestwobowie (Parlophone) CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada David Bowie’s 1981 compilation spanning the period between Hunky Dory and Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) returns to print for the first time in three decades in a newly remastered edition. Its ten tracks include “Starman,” “Oh! You Pretty Things,” single versions of “Fashion,” “Ashes to Ashes,” and “D.J.,” and more. Available on CD, DD, and LP. The first LP run only will be…
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Release Round-Up: Week of April 6
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, and one of the biggest Release Fridays of the year to date! Chicago, VI Decades Live: This is What We Do (Rhino) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Chicago celebrates 50 years on the road with this expansive new box set featuring 4 CDs and 1 DVD of previously unreleased live music recorded between 1969 and 2014. This set includes two complete concerts – The Isle of Wight, 1970 on CD and a Rockpalast broadcast from Germany in 1977 on DVD – plus two…
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Ella, Satchmo, Aretha, Miles and The Merm Featured On Starbucks’ “Fascinating Gershwin”
When The Library of Congress established a Prize for Popular Song in 2007, one name was affixed to it: Gershwin. With no disrespect to Messrs. Berlin, Porter, Rodgers and company, George and Ira’s surname is synonymous with the gold standard in American popular song. The recipients of the award to date – Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, Burt Bacharach and Hal David, Carole King and Billy Joel – have all followed in the Gershwins’ footsteps of marrying smart, sophisticated and incisive lyrics to unabashedly melodic, sweeping musical statements. Starbucks’ recent compilation…
