Blue Note Classic Vinyl Reissue Series All-Analog 180g Vinyl LP Mastered by Kevin Gray Directly from the Original Master Tapes and Manufactured at Optimal in Germany

The Classic Vinyl Reissue Series is the continuation of Blue Note's acclaimed Blue Note 80 Vinyl Reissue Series, which was created in celebration of the 80th anniversary of Blue Note Records in 2019. The series presents affordable, high-quality reissues in standard packaging that are mastered by Kevin Gray of Cohearent Audio and manufactured on 180g vinyl at Optimal Media in Germany. The pressings are all-analog whenever an analog source is available, with Gray mastering directly from the original master tapes.

Blue Note Records has recorded the legends of Jazz and has traced the entire evolution of the music from the early days of Boogie Woogie, Hot Jazz and Swing, through the innovations of Bebop, Hard Bop, Post-Bop, Soul Jazz, Avant-Garde, and 70s Fusion, and into the vibrant sounds of Jazz's many modern-day incarnations. The Classic Vinyl Series is curated by Don Was and Cem Kurosman and is broad in its scope. The series reissues the best-known Blue Note classics from the 1950s and 60s, but also goes deeper, exploring the many different eras and styles of the legendary label's eight-decade history with the aim of telling their story and fully representing the Blue Note motto: The Finest In Jazz Since 1939.

Born in Kingston, Jamaica, the trumpeter Dizzy Reece moved to London at age 17 and began working across Europe, frequently in Paris, where he played with the likes of Don Byas and Kenny Clarke. Reece also made fans of Miles Davis and Sonny Rollins who spread the word about a hot new trumpeter on the European scene. So when Donald Byrd and Art Taylor came through Paris on tour in 1958 they sought out Reece and even found their way into the recording studio together for what would become Reece's Blue Note debut Blues In Trinity.

Encouraged by Alfred Lion, Reece would move to New York City the next year where Lion quickly put him back in the studio with a first-rate hard bop band including Hank Mobley on tenor saxophone, Wynton Kelly on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Taylor once again on drums. The resulting album Star Bright is a hidden gem of the Blue Note catalog with Reece shining brightly on a 6-song set that included several of his own bluesy originals like "The Rake," "Groovesville," "The Rebound," and the Thelonious Monk inspired "A Variation On Monk." Two standards round out the offering with swinging takes on "I'll Close My Eyes" and "I Wished On The Moon," both of which showcase Reece's sublime delivery of a melody.

Musicians:
Dizzy Reece, trumpet
Hank Mobley, tenor saxophone
Wynton Kelly, piano
Paul Chambers, bass
Art Taylor, drums

Features:
• Blue Note Classic Vinyl Reissue Series
• All analog 180g vinyl LP
• Mastered by Kevin Gray directly from the original master tapes
• Manufactured at Optimal in Germany
• Standard packaging