Had already linked that one in What releases are you looking forward to - #2507 by gjvoosten and didn’t want to cross-post 
Branford’s first BlueNote release from March 2025 is very good!
“a full album reinterpretation of Keith Jarrett’s 1974 ECM album of the same name…”
Marsalis – sax
Justin Faulkner – drums
Eric Revis – bass
Joey Calderazzo - piano
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I played this yesterday, it is a great album.
‘Compared to What’ 
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Yes it is very good @TheKevster
Hooe you’re doing well
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This piece by Richard Williams prompted me to have a listen, on Tidal. Less far out than I expected.
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Interesting - for such a prolific player there isn’t that much of his music available.
Jazz In Britain is very pleased to announce that it’s partnered with Resteamed in order to help support Clark Tracey in his efforts to issue as much of his father’s musical legacy on CD or digital as possible.
Resteamed Records was formed in 2007 to release recordings exclusively by the late, great Stan Tracey, CBE. It not only focusses on reissues from Stan’s back catalogue (previously only available on vinyl LP) but also looks in depth at Stan’s extensive archive to result in a programme of releases of hard-to-find and previously unissued recordings.
The first release under the Jazz In Britain/Resteamed co-label will be an album previously released on vinyl only and with very little hullabaloo at the time… ‘Stan Tracey – Spectrum: Tribute to Monk’… featuring a stellar line-up of Stan, Kenny Wheeler, Art Themen, Peter King, Roy Babbington and Clark. It was made at Lansdowne Studios in 1982 and comprises exclusively Thelonious Monk compositions. It’s basically ready to go… BUT we are currently thinking about whether we should add a bonus disc of material recorded live by (almost) the same band… as the original Spectrum album was very short, just under 40 minutes… as vinyl LPs were I those days. As, of course, we’re all about value for money!
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It’s a real shame JIB moved away from vinyl releases as the music they have released has been quality I was hoping this partnering with Clark Tracey might produce some vinyl but sadly it seems not.
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True - I suspect they have had pressing capacity and logistical issues in the past and maybe there isn’t enough demand for this material. TBH as their raison d’etre is to get the music out there CD and digital is the pragmatic route. More music on CD too - the recent Bobby Wellins/Kenny Wheeler Endangered Species set would have been a 5 LP box set. Some gems like the recent Tubbs Antibes '62 would have been perfect tho.
They seem to make very small quantities of physical media (500 copies). I managed to get a copy of Kaleidoscope of Rainbows live, by Niel Ardley before it sold out.
Digital 24bit downloads are fine too, if you miss the CD. It is a very cost effective way to have a top quality source.
They are working in a very specialised sector of the musical world, and seem to be going strongly. I would say vinyl must be more difficult to shift compared to other formats.
Some of their early releases such as Group Sounds 4/5 were on very limited vinyl or CD (in fact the first few were vinyl only or download I think) but after a year or two they switched to CD or download only. Their ‘business model’ seems to be based on this and it also allows them to put out a lot of music in a single release e.g. 4 hours over 3 CDs, which gives a much more comprehensive survey of an artist/project than a single LP ever could, especially where they can draw upon both artists archive and radio recordings, which with various estate donations they can. Case in point the recent Wellins/Wheeler and ‘Fingers Remembers Mingus’ sets.
Gets my vote completely ! I also have a copy of the Ardley - essential stuff.
I also suspect that vinyl might be logistically problematic for them, also given that they now operate from Hebden Bridge, Yorks (images of Nora Batty packing mailers…) I know that they were also hit with big delays from the pressing plant that they used for those early vinyl reissues.
Off topic, but the Kaleidoscope of Rainbows in the original studio album version is one of my all time favourites. It would be great if a decent reissue was made available of this little masterpiece.
It is an album that has aged well, Some of the British Jazz of the Sixties and Seventies sounds dated now.
‘Kaleidoscope’ has been reissued in recent times on CD (Dusk Fire possibly? - I’ve forgotten) and also had a recent audiophile reissue on LP. I’ve still got my original issue LP. Personally, I think the other 2 LPs (‘Greek Variations’ and ‘Symphony of Amaranths’) are his best.
It’s pretty obvious why Jazz in Britain doesn’t release vinyl anymore they are non profit and vinyl isn’t financially viable perfectly understandable but still it’s a shame it isn’t and especially for those of us who don’t own a CD player or store digital music.
