Kind of Blue from Miles Davis may be the most examined and re-examined album in jazz music history. The biggest-selling and most popular album in jazz history has been reissued countless times over the years in a myriad of formats. Oddly enough, both the stereo and mono issues of the album have major problems.

The original 1959 mono master tapes no longer exist, making original pressings through the 1960s the only true way to listen to the album in mono on vinyl. The stereo issue has been plagued by problems from the start, as one of the tape machines used at Columbia’s 30th Street studio ran too slowly, causing speed issues and pitch anomalies on the three tracks on side one.

The Analog Productions UHQR Edition, released in 2021, digitally corrected the problem with the later mono pressings. The original list price of that now out-of-print reissue was $150. Thankfully, for the stereo version fix, a more affordable option now exists at around $65. This new, all-analog reissue is sourced from an out-of-print, speed-corrected edition released by Classic Records in 1995, mastered by Bernie Grundman, and includes the late music critic Robert Palmer’s liner notes from that reissue.

This new two-LP set features the full album on disc one with the new speed-corrected side one version. The second album includes side one without the speed correction. The first three sides are 33 1/3. Side four, at 45 RPM, includes a previously unreleased take of “Flamenco Sketches.”

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I recently spoke with Sally Timms, co-lead singer of The Mekons since 1985, the year she stepped into the band on their breakthrough album Fear and Whiskey.

The Mekons formed in Leeds in 1976 under Jon Langford and Tom Greenhalgh and have outlasted nearly every other band to emerge from that same British punk explosion, shapeshifting through country, folk, dub, and art-punk without ever settling into one shape for long. Before joining, Timms recorded the experimental film score Hangahar with Pete Shelley of Buzzcocks in 1980 and fronted the all-female outfit the Shee Hees.

Timms has run a parallel solo career the whole time, moving between lo-fi electronics and alt-country with releases including Someone’s Rocking My Dreamboat, To the Land of Milk and Honey, Cowboy Sally’s Twilight Laments for Lost Buckaroos, and In the World of Him, a record of songs written by men, sung from their perspective. Her song “Horses” was later covered by Will Oldham.

The Mekons are currently touring behind Horror, a new record on Fire Records built around what they’re calling horror-folk, tackling imperial legacies with the same nerve they’ve had since 1976. Catch them in the UK this fall at The Prince Albert in Brighton on October 22 and The Garage in London on October 23. She and Langford also just played Mini-Mekons at Solid Sound Festival, stripped down and acoustic, mining the deep dark Mekonic lake for classics and rarities.

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Bassist, singer, songwriter, and sound editor for films, Kira Roessler is best known for filling the bass position in Black Flag in their post-My War stretch and for forming dos, the two-bass duo with Mike Watt. But she also released a sharp eponymous solo debut in 2021, and now she’s following it up with Enigma, which is available July 10 on vinyl, compact disc, and digital through ORG Music. Assisting her in this effort are brother Paul Roessler as co-producer and instrumentalist, and Petra Haden as backing vocalist. The bass is large, the songs are highly accomplished, and the emotional thrust is mature but defiant.

The era of Black Flag that featured Kira Roessler on bass is the storied band’s most contentious (setting aside Greg Ginn’s numerous 21st-century lineups, of course). Much of this is directly due to Henry Rollins’ transformation of the singer’s role in the band, but there are also those who champion or disdain the musical shift toward a bruising, hard rock-sludgy metal approach. I’m not one of the naysayers, having long considered Kira’s playing crucial to the Black Flag’s success in studio and live (as documented on Live ’84 and Who’s Got the 10 1/2?).

Even better was dos, her bass partnership with Mike Watt, a project that went a long way in broadening the musical landscape of the underground far beyond the rock paradigm. Kira’s first solo LP did something similar in boundary-pushing terms, and without losing a handle on the best qualities of rock and pop.

Enigma continues the march of growth. Her vocals throughout the album are pretty but substantial and without strain. There’s a touch of jazz singing in her lines, and it’s miraculously unaffected. Her bass is prominent in the mix, but there’s no grandstanding as the playing is always expressively functional and properly weighted with the drums.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MoFi), the leader in high-fidelity audio reissues, is honored to announce an extensive, multi-year reissue series dedicated to the legendary catalog of Rush. This ambitious collection marks the first time these definitive works from the Rock & Roll Hall of Famers have been granted audiophile treatment, including most as UltraDisc One-Step sets, and all as Hybrid SACDs, offering an unparalleled listening experience for one of the most sophisticated discographies in rock history.

Spanning the band’s first decade of innovation—from the raw, hard-rock energy of their 1974 self-titled debut to the synth-layered mastery of 1985’s Power Windows—this series celebrates the technical precision and sonic depth that defined the trio. MoFi has aimed to capture every nuance of Geddy Lee’s complex bass lines, Alex Lifeson’s textured guitar work, and the late Neil Peart’s iconic percussion with a level of clarity never before released.

Underscoring the archival significance of the project, the original master tapes for the initial 2026 releases were hand-delivered by Anthem Records A&R representative Andy Curran to MoFi’s Sebastopol, California, mastering studio.

To achieve its aural goals, the label utilized its own mastering studio, outfitted with custom handcrafted Tim de Paravicini equipment, allowing its engineers to execute the cutting process in-house and ensure no artifacts are added to the final product. This direct collaboration ensures the transfer process begins with the most pristine analog sources available, preserving the recordings with the clinical accuracy and sonic transparency that Rush devotees deserve.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Craft Recordings and Bluesville Records are excited to announce the release of two peerless album reissues from a pair of blues heavyweights, Jimmy Reed and Skip James. A studio LP despite its name, the Jimmy Reed title is the first disc of his classic 1961 double album, Jimmy Reed at Carnegie Hall, which spawned the enduring hit song “Bright Lights Big City.” Devil Got My Woman is James’ 1968 swan song, released just a year before the Delta blues legend’s death; its title track became his signature recording.

As with all titles in the Bluesville reissue series, Jimmy Reed at Carnegie Hall and Devil Got My Woman are both (AAA) remastered from the original analog tapes by GRAMMY®-nominated engineer Matthew Lutthans (The Mastering Lab) and pressed on 180-gram vinyl in partnership with audiophile leader Acoustic Sounds. Additionally, each LP has been fitted with tip-on jackets and obis with album reflections penned by GRAMMY-winning producer, songwriter, and bluesman Scott Billington. Both albums also appear newly remastered in crystal-clear hi-res and standard digital audio.

Ahead of their August 21 release, both titles are available for pre-order and pre-save today, while newly remastered versions of Jimmy Reed’s “Bright Lights Big City” and Skip James’ “Devil Got My Woman” are available to stream now as advance singles.

Jimmy Reed, Jimmy Reed at Carnegie Hall | Born in Dunleith, Mississippi, Jimmy Reed (1925–1976), a Blues and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, is best known for his electric blues style, which went on to influence some of the rock world’s biggest names, including Elvis Presley, Van Morrison, and the Rolling Stones.

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Remembering Lee Hazlewood in advance of his birthday on Thursday. —Ed.

If Lee Hazlewood lingers in the contemporary cultural memory, it’s easily due to his work with Nancy Sinatra. On The LHI Years: Singles, Nudes & Backsides (1968-71), the Light in the Attic label collects a bunch of his post-Nancy collaborations and a welcome helping of his solo shots, and the results are highly recommended not just for Hazlewood’s fans but for anyone with an inclination for well-crafted oddball pop.

Though his music never wavered from its thoroughly commercial designs, Lee Hazelwood was still a truly strange duck. And the undeniable datedness of his work can really add to the overall weirdness factor, though that’s in no way a bad thing; if often possessing production values and orchestrations that are accurately assessed as “middle of the road” (not the same as “mainstream”), his songs almost always avoid falling into simple kitsch.

But Hazlewood was more than just a bizarro/sophisto cowboy that blended Vegas-inclined pop with a country-inflected folksiness both on his own and in a collaboration with Sinatra that still comes off like a Swingin’ ‘60’s reaction to Dolly and Porter. Indeed, while loads of folks are familiar with the string of late-‘50s hits that he produced and co-wrote with Duane Eddy, it’s also true that most of those listeners aren’t cognizant of Hazlewood’s actual involvement with those songs, a short flowering of creativity that stands amongst the finest instrumental rock music ever recorded.

He was also the impresario of Lee Hazlewood Industries, a fleeting subsidiary label of ABC Records. Naturally, a fair portion of LHI’s relatively slim discography is dedicated to its namesake; both his solo album Forty and The Cowboy and the Lady, credited to the duo of Hazlewood and actress Ann-Margret were released in 1969, and Cowboy in Sweden came out the following year. Back around 1999 or so, Steve Shelley’s Smells Like Records began admirably reissuing some of Hazlewood’s harder to find stuff on compact disc. This program included both the Ann-Margret collab and Cowboy in Sweden, but plenty of worthy bits and pieces slipped through the cracks.

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The Michael Marcus Quartet’s new recording, Next Stop Down, is an inspired set of originals that are steeped in the tradition but consistently straining against genre constraints. Featuring Marcus on tarogato, soprano sax, and on one selection, tenor sax (he also bangs a gong), plus Rod Williams on piano, Ricky Rodriguez on bass, and Allan Mednard on drums, the music thrives through an inviting familiarity, but the band is unafraid to get loose, and the compositions brandish some welcome edge. It’s available now on compact disc and digital through the indefatigable ESP-Disk of New York City.

He can navigate jazz’s outer regions with aplomb, but Michael Marcus got his start backing blues heavyweights Albert King and Bobby “Blue” Bland. Moving into the jazz realm, Marcus debuted as a leader with Under the Wire in 1991 for the Enja label with trumpeter Ted Daniel, trombonist Joseph Bowie, bassist William Parker, and drummer Reggie Nicholson in the band.

Since then, Marcus has recorded a ton, including nine releases with saxophonist Sonny Simmons, a fellow Bay Area guy, leading the Cosmosamatics, cut five with Ted Daniel as Duology, and has over 15 under his own name with a variety of players on numerous labels. A key early collaborator was the pianist Jaki Byard, with whom Marcus recorded two albums, both for the Justin Time label.

He also cut two records with the Jus Grew Orchestra, assembled by saxophonist Jemel Moondoc, one for the Ayler label and one for Eremite. More recently, Marcus has been part of the Blue Reality Quartet with horn man extraordinaire Joe McPhee, vibraphonist-percussionist Warren Smith, and drummer Jay Rosen.

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TERRE HAUTE, IN | There are certain artists you suffer through an extreme heat advisory for, and for me, Wynonna Judd is one of those. The Raised on Radio tour rolled into The Mill on July 3rd with Wynonna and Melissa Etheridge co-headlining and Maggie Rose opening the night, and somehow thousands of us willingly stood outside in what felt like the surface of the sun.

Maggie Rose kicked things off with a set that deserved more attention than opening acts usually get. Soulful, powerful, and completely unfazed by the heat, she set the tone perfectly for the night.

Melissa Etheridge then took the stage and owned it. Her voice has raw grit and power that makes every song hit hard. She sounded incredible all night, and the crowd was hanging onto every word. Melissa has always had a way of making huge outdoor venues feel strangely personal, and that was absolutely true at The Mill.

Then Wynonna came out and somehow matched that same energy note for note. Wynonna doesn’t just sing, she commands a stage in a way very few artists can anymore. Her voice is still enormous, emotional, and effortlessly powerful live. Even in temperatures that should honestly qualify as a hostile work environment, she never missed a beat.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Craft Recordings’ Original Jazz Classics (OJC) series returns with a pair of seminal releases from two jazz icons. Continuing the year-long celebration of the centennials of Miles Davis and John Coltrane, OJC will reissue The Miles Davis Quintet’s Cookin’ with the Miles Davis Quintet and John Coltrane’s Coltrane on August 14.

Originally released on Prestige in 1957, both albums capture pivotal moments in the careers of two of jazz’s most influential artists. These new editions feature all-analog (AAA) mastering from the original tapes by Cohearent Audio, 180-gram vinyl pressed at RTI, and Stoughton Tip-On jackets with obi strips. Both are available for pre-order today and will also be released digitally in 192/24 hi-res audio.

The Miles Davis Quintet, Cookin’ with The Miles Davis Quintet | The quintet—which also featured John Coltrane (tenor sax), Red Garland (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), and Philly Joe Jones (drums)—stands among the most celebrated groups in jazz history. Music critic Ralph Gleason, a founding editor of Rolling Stone magazine and co-founder of the Monterey Jazz Festival, once gushed, “The intricacy of the linkage between the minds of these musicians has never been equaled in any group, in my opinion.” Cookin’ is one of the four albums to emerge from the Quintet’s legendary 1956 sessions at the storied Van Gelder Studio.

Recorded without rehearsals and in a single take, the fittingly titled Cookin’ features Davis at a pivotal moment in his artistic evolution, unleashing the full dynamic range of his trumpet. As All About Jazz observed, “He plays his ass off… ranging high and low with Olympian poise and, at times, unprecedented ferocity.”

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Remembering Larry “Rhino” Reinhardt in advance of his birthdate tomorrow. —Ed.

For the past week or so, I’ve been walking around singing “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” in a resonant voice, pretty much nonstop. I don’t sing all 19 minutes of it, mind you. You can’t sing a drum solo. Still, my significant other is threatening divorce, and we’re not even married.

A monolithic monument of molten metal sung by a guy with enunciation problems, Iron Butterfly’s 1968 “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” (on the LP of the same title) hit the charts at the dawning of the progressive rock era, when 19-minute song cycles with titles like “Crystals Medusa” or “King Arthur’s Gelatinous Sceptre” were beginning to blight the musical landscape. There is nothing “progressive” about the 19 minutes of “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida”–the song’s a regressive return to the primitive simplicity of “Louie Louie” and anybody–even me–could play it, for hours if the mood struck.

“In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” is all primal force, an implacable juggernaut that grinds exceedingly fine–you don’t listen to it as much as get out of its way. Forget the Age of Aquarius–to quote Blue Öyster Cult, “This ain’t the garden of Eden… and this ain’t the summer of love.”

No, it’s the most ominous song about Adam and Eve’s playground ever–guitarist Erik Braun’s repeated fuzz-guitar riff, keyboard player/vocalist Doug Ingle’s ominous church organ, and Lee Dorman’s speaker-shuddering bass are all menace, and the only problem I have with the song–and it’s a serious one–is the way its forward motion is interrupted by a couple of lengthy solos–the first (unconscionably) by Ron Bushy on drums and the second by Ingle on organ. I’d have preferred an impregnable wall of heavy metal noise with no exits, no interruptions, no let up—the West Coast’s retort to the Velvet Underground’s “Sister Ray.”

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Today, 4x GRAMMY® Award-winner Shooter Jennings announces the release of Diamonds, a new album of previously unheard songs by his legendary father, Waylon Jennings. The title track was featured on a special CBS Sunday Morning story on Shooter and Waylon Jennings.

Diamonds is the second in a series of albums featuring previously unknown recordings by Waylon Jennings that his son, Shooter Jennings, recently unearthed. Diamonds is heralded by the title track out today. The song features a surprise appearance by the late great Glen Campbell, who joins Gordon Payne, Jerry Bridges, Carter Robertson, Barney Robertson, Rance Wasson, the collective known as the Waylors, in backing Waylon Jennings.

“This track eluded me,” says Shooter Jennings. “I kept finding it across three different sessions while I was going through my father‘s work. At first, I was very confused because of the sound of the guitar as to what it was. Suddenly, upon listening to the whole thing, I realized Glen Campbell had stopped by the studio and they recorded this little gem on a late December night in 1978. The remaining members of the Waylors helped put the picture together. It quickly became one of my favorite recordings that my dad ever made and I knew I had to have a whole album centered around it.”

Shooter shared the first installment of newly uncovered songs last year with Songbird, which was met by widespread acclaim from such publications as NY Times, the Tennessean, Rolling Stone, Consequence of Sound, Billboard, Stereogum, Variety, American Songwriter, Parade, Whiskey Riff, Holler Country and many more.

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Celebrating Ringo Starr in advance of his 86th birthday tomorrow. —Ed.

News flash! Critic declares Ringo Starr greatest ex-Beatle! Rioting breaks out in hipster enclaves! Brooklyn in flames! Incensed Lennonites carry signs: “Michael Little = Dingbat!” Hairy Harrisonoids counsel karmic calm: “This too shall pass!” McCartney maniacs attempt to sooth selves with “Silly Love Songs”! NME headline reads: “Panned on the run!”

In my dreams. But it’s what I really believe. I really believe that Ringo Starr, who never got no respect and was the comic foil and clown of the legendary Fab Four has—over the almost four-and-a-half decades since the Beatles went the way of the Ono, er make that Dodo—produced far more genuinely likeable pop songs than any of his “genius” fellow Mop Toppers.

But first, a sordid confession. I’ve never cared much for Ringo’s old band. I can count on one hand the number of Beatles songs I really love (“Helter Skelter,” “She Said She Said,” “Hey Jude,” “Tomorrow Never Knows,” and “Let It Be”). As for most of the rest of their oeuvre, it could vanish into the void and I would never miss it.

And there are plenty of songs (the dreadful “Long and Winding Road,” the hideous “Something,” and the unpalatable “Got to Get You Into My Life”) whose disappearance would make me very happy. As for the post-Beatles work of John, Paul, and George, I can think of maybe one or two (at most) songs I love by each of them. Shit, Ringo matched them with ONE single, 1971’s “It Don’t Come Easy” backed by “Early 1970,” a very funny series of good-natured jibes about his former band mates.

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