The London office of Warners Jazz is reissuing for the UK a limited run of the Japanese 1000 Yen 24-bit remastered series at mid-price on CD. The sound quality in terms of the CD format is of a very high quality and is a value purchase at the knock-down price. While many are familiar and a few have even been reissued on vinyl in recent years, there are some rarities here besides the bona fide classics. Some have never been issued before on CD in the UK and these include Betty Carter's Round Midnight; Bud Powell's Bud Powell In Paris; and Carmen McRae's Portrait Of Carmen.

Originally issued on ATCO, Reprise, Embryo, Warner Bros, East-West, and by Atlantic records the series includes a huge range of classic Charles Lloyd albums chief of which are the groundbreaking albums Forest Flower and Dream Weaver. Chick Corea’s debut Tones For Joan’s Bones is included and there are three Chris Connor albums, including for the first time on CD in the UK the must-hear A Portrait of Chris. There’s a pair of Fathead Newmans, both Fathead Comes On and Straight Ahead haven't been out on CD in the UK; and trombone fans will appreciate the tragic Frank Rosolino’s Turn Me Loose! with its dramatic cover again for the first time on CD in the UK. Clare Fischer’s Thesaurus, which is hard to find, will also appeal to Herbie Hancock fans as Herbie was influenced by Fischer early in his career.

There are six John Lewis albums and eight reissues here featuring fellow MJQ man Milt Jackson plus 10 MJQ titles, while of the Keith Jarrett-associated reissues the double album with Gary Burton is worth getting as it’s not as well known as other Jarrett recordings of the period from the vantage point of 2013. 

Cool school fans will gravitate towards Lee Konitz with Warne Marsh. And Randy Weston’s African Cookbook is a must if you don’t have it, and this is a UK CD first reissue. There are three Ornette albums, all fairly easily available, the pick of which arguably is The Art of the Improvisers. Vocal highlights? Well one of these is the Velvet Fog Mel Torme’s Comin’ Home Baby.

This is the complete list: Betty Carter Round Midnight; Bud Powell Bud Powell In Paris; Carmen McRae Portrait Of Carmen; Carol Stevens That Satin Doll; Charles Lloyd Soundtrack; Forest Flower, Charles Lloyd In Europe, Charles Lloyd In The Soviet Union (first time in the UK on CD); Charles Mingus The Clown; Three Or Four Shades Of Blues; Chick Corea Tones For Joan’s Bones; Chris Connor A Portrait Of Chris (first CD UK reissue as mentioned above), Chris Connor, and Chris Craft; Conte Candoli and Lou Levy West Coast Wailers; Dave Brubeck All The Things You Are (first time out in the UK on CD); David ‘Fathead’ Newman Fathead Comes On and Straight Ahead (again a UK CD first timer); Duke Ellington Afro Bossa, Concert in the Virgin Islands, and Duke Ellington 66; Duke Pearson Prairie Dog (a first time UK CD issue); Esther Phillips Confessin’ The Blues (first UK CD release); Frank Rosolino Turn Me Loose! (first time on CD in the UK as mentioned above); Fred Kaz Eastern Exposure (a first UK CD release); Gary Burton Good Vibes (first UK CD release); Gil Evans Svengali; Helen Merrill American Country Songs (first UK CD release); Jimmy Giuffre The Jimmy Giuffre 3, The Jimmy Giuffre Clarinet, Trav’lin Light, and The Four Brothers Sound (the latter three for the first time on CD in the UK); Joe Zawinul Zawinul; John Coltrane and Don Cherry The Avant-Garde; John Lewis The Wonderful World Of Jazz, Essence, Improvised Meditations And Excursions, Jazz Abstractions, The Golden Striker, and The John Lewis Band (all six getting a first time UK CD release); Junior Mance Harlem Lullaby (first time UK CD release); Keith Jarrett El Juicio (The Judgement); Gary Burton and Keith Jarrett Gary Burton and Keith Jarrett; Kenny Clarke and Francy Boland Jazz Is Universal (first time UK CD release); Lars Gullin Baritone Sax, and Lars Gullin Swings (both gaining a first time UK CD release); LaVern Baker Sings Bessie Smith (first time UK CD release); Lee Konitz The Real Lee Konitz (first time UK CD release); Lee Konitz With Warne Marsh; Lee Konitz With Warne Marsh; Les McCann and Eddie Harris Swiss Movement; Marty Paich I Get A Boot Out Of You, and The Broadway Bit (both getting a first time UK CD release); Max Roach The Max Roach Trio, Featuring the Legendary Hasaan Ibn Ali; Mel Torme Comin' Home Baby! and Sunday In New York And Other Songs About New York; Milt Jackson The Ballad Artistry Of Milt Jackson, Vibrations, Bags and Flutes, Ballads and Blues, and Plenty, Plenty Soul (the last four of these receiving a first UK CD release); Milt Jackson and Coleman Hawkins Bean Bags (on CD in the UK for the first time); Milt Jackson and John Coltrane Bags and Trane; Milt Jackson and Ray Charles Soul Brothers; Miroslav Vitous Infinite Search; Ornette Coleman Ornette On Tenor, Ornette!, and The Art Of The Improvisers; Paul Desmond First Place Again (first UK CD release); Peggy Lee Let’s Love (first UK CD reissue); Phineas Newborn Jr. Here Is Phineas (first UK CD release); Rahsaan Roland Kirk and the Vibration Society Rahsaan Rahsaan (first time on CD in the UK); Randy Weston African Cookbook (first time UK CD reissue); Red Mitchell and Harold Land Quintet Hear Ye (first UK CD issue); Shelly Manne Boss Sounds (first UK CD reissue); Shelly Manne And His Men At Shelly's Manne Hole [Live], and Jazz Gunn (first UK CD reissue); Ted Curson The New Thing & The Blue Thing (first UK CD reissue); The Art Farmer Quartet Sing Me Softly of the Blues; The Art Farmer Quartet Featuring Jim Hall Live At The Half Note, Interaction, and To Sweden With Love (all three receiving a first UK CD reissue); The Charles Lloyd Quartet Dream Weaver, Journey Within, Love-In, and The Flowering (all four on CD in the UK for the first time); The Clare Fischer Big Band Thesaurus (first time UK CD reissue); The Dave Brubeck Quartet The Last Set At Newport (first time UK CD reissue); The Eddie Higgins Trio Soulero (first time UK CD reissue); The Modern Jazz Quartet At Music Inn: Guest Artist Sonny Rollins (first time on CD in the UK), Blues On Bach, Lonely Woman, European Concert Volume One, European Concert Volume Two (the last two gaining a first time UK CD reissue), The Legendary Profile, Plastic Dreams, The Comedy (first time UK CD release), The Last Set At Newport (first time UK CD release), Tony Fruscella Tony Fruscella; Warne Marsh Warne Marsh (a first time UK CD reissue); and Woody Herman Woody Herman's Big New Herd At The Monterey Jazz Festival (also a first time UK CD reissue). SG