Thursday, November 13, 2008

Mosaic Records Plots a Return to Vinyl


The great jazz and blues reissue label Mosaic is re-entering the vinyl business after releasing only one LP title since 2000 - the 1957 Carnegie Hall concert by the Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane that was issued in 2005.
And they're already talking "Lucky Thompson Meets Oscar Pettiford," one of my absolute favorite jazz albums ever.

Label head Michael Cuscuna explains the HQ Vinyl Series that will be launched early next year.

"Vinyl has become a media story with large chains selling reasonably-priced turntables to 20-somethings and major labels judiciously releasing old and new titles. And of course, the audiophile labels are still plugging away with 'I-told-you-so' Cheshire cat smiles on their faces.

While preparing the Ahmad Jamal CD box set due next spring, it occurred to us that an eight-CD set doesn't have to give birth to a back-busting box of 12 180-gram LPs; it can also give birth to a double-album reissue of both LPs of Ahmad Jamal at the Pershing, the groundbreaking albums that generated such influential hits as 'Poinciana.'

Freed from thinking that Mosaic LPs have to mirror out large CD sets, we've engaged in a treasure hunt coming up with new title ideas like reissuing those two magnificent Lucky Thompson-Oscar Pettiford albums on ABC-Paramount or Duke Ellington's 1963 masterpiece 'Afro Bossa.' How about the complete Thelonious Monk 'Live At The It Club' on LP for the first time, beautifully remixed from the original three-track masters? We've only just begun."

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