Continuing to reissue some of the best jazz music in bespoke audiophile editions, Craft Recordings has released Birth of Bop: The Savoy 10-inch LP Collection, a five-disc, 10-inch vinyl box set, that is easily one of the best jazz vinyl box sets of the year and which celebrates the 80th anniversary of Savoy Records.
The music included in this historic set represents the change jazz music was going through in the wake of the end of WWII. This music represents an evolving break from the big-band, swing sound of jazz that dominated the war years and, as the title of the box states, the birth of bop. The music here includes players who were part of that sound and, in some cases, the music still has the kind of exuberance inherent in swing music, but there is new-found confidence and joy and new modes of expression that paved the way for the genre’s sound for decades.
The recordings here are from 1944–49. Savoy Records was founded in Newark, New Jersey, by Herman Lubinsky in 1942. The label was independently owned until 1974 when Clive Davis of Arista Records purchased it. Since 1986 it has been part of the stable of many record labels, including the Warner Music Group, which purchased the label in 2009, others in-between, and since 2017 it has been part of the Concord label which owns Craft Recordings.
It’s extraordinary that a label so new at the time boasted such an all-star cast of jazz artists on their roster, many of whom are included here, such as Charlie Parker, Dexter Gordon, Fats Navarro, Stan Getz, and Milt Jackson, among many others. While the recordings here from Getz and Jackson are timeless classics, they also hinted at how the two would become groundbreaking artists of the future of jazz with Jackson’s place in the Modern Jazz Quartet, and the collaborations between Getz and other artists spearheading the popularization of bossa nova music.
Also included here is Kai Winding. His son Jai would go on to play on many of the key 1970s albums of the California country-rock scene from artists such as Gene Clark, Jackson Browne, Warren Zevon, J.D. Souther, Kenny Loggins, America, and Don Henley, among many others.
The music here replicates five EPs released by the label. Volumes 1 and 2 were released in 1952 and volumes 3, 4, and 5 came out in 1953. “Chase ‘n’ Lion” from Leo Parker was recorded in Detroit and “Pete’s Beat” by Roy Porter was recorded in Los Angeles. The rest of these recordings were recorded in Manhattan, including three tracks recorded at the WOR radio studios. Buck Ram produced three tracks and two do not list a producer. The rest of the tracks were produced by Teddy Reig.
The five vinyl 10-inch EPs come housed in a slip-case, with the records featuring period vintage labels in replica, die-cut heavy paper sleeves. The original covers were designed by Burt Goldblatt. The set was produced by Nick Phillips and the project was supervised by Mason Williams. There is a 30-page booklet with detailed liner notes by Neil Tesser, session notes, beautiful black and white photos, record label art, and more.
Some of the original analog tapes were obviously not available and some of the music here sounds like it may have been sourced directly from original vinyl records, not wholly uncommon with recordings this old that have been shuffled from record company to record company. But that takes nothing away from the exceptional overall sound quality of these recordings.
While jazz music from labels such as Blue Note, Verve, Prestige, Contemporary, Riverside, and Impulse, along with major labels such as Atlantic and Columbia, rightfully has been given its due in jazz histories, Savoy must be on this list and this box goes a long way toward proving why it should.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
A+
