Hearing a classic R&B song like “Money (That’s What I Want)” originally by Barrett Strong in 1959, the Beatles in 1963 & quirky in 1979 by the Flying Lizards, it’s amazing to hear a bluesy rendition in 1960 by blues-great John Lee Hooker (1912-2001). But here it is. Hooker’s voice is the attraction, with its deep tones & dark storytelling manner. “Come and See About Me” is nearly a whisper, but with John’s presence, it resonates as a tune he could sing personally to you if you’re wearing headphones.
This 12-track studio set was recorded in Feb.1960 as That’s My Story: John Lee Hooker Sings The Blues produced by Orrin Keepnews, who also wrote the liner notes. Despite the blues tag, the songs are recorded with a whispery personal application.
Tag Archive: Craft Recordings
Making music that’s jittery, neurotic, darkly comical, but also powerfully catchy, the Violent Femmes are a pillar of the American underground movement, and one of the best early examples of alternative rock.
40th anniversary reissue of their long out of print third album The Blind Leading the Naked. Features fan favorites “I Held Her In My Arms” and “Old Mother Reagan” along with their classic cover of the T-Rex song “Children Of the Revolution.”
A more mainstream effort courtesy of producer Jerry Harrison (Talking Heads). Gordon Gano returns to his troubled teen persona and the Violent Femmes rock harder than on their previous two releases. A nice cover of the T. Rex classic “Children of the Revolution”…
Few artists are as closely tied to the foundation of country music as Willie Nelson. Before the outlaw movement, before the braids and bandanas, Nelson was a Nashville songwriter absorbing the work of Hank Williams, Ernest Tubb, and Merle Travis.
Originally released in 2010 and produced by T Bone Burnett, Country Music is his direct salute to that lineage. It was his first album made entirely of country standards, a tribute to the songs that shaped him before he became a household name.
The current reissue from Craft Recordings and HighTone Records gives the album renewed focus. HighTone’s relaunch has centered on core Americana titles, and this record fits squarely within that tradition. Country Music opens with Nelson’s own 1959 single…
By 1962, Wes Montgomery had already changed the way jazz guitar sounded. A self-taught player from Indianapolis, he built his style around his thumb instead of a pick, creating a warm, rounded tone that cut through without ever sounding harsh. His use of octaves became a signature, but what really set him apart was his sense of structure; his solos felt organized, intentional, and grounded in melody. Full House, recorded live at Tsubo in Berkeley, captures Montgomery in a straight-ahead setting, backed by Johnny Griffin on sax, Wynton Kelly on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Jimmy Cobb on drums. It’s one of the clearest documents of his small-group strength. As part of Craft Recordings ‘ Original Jazz Classics series, Full House is being reissued on 180-gram vinyl…
Craft Recordings mark the tenth anniversary of The Record Company’s Grammy®-nominated debut with an expanded deluxe edition of Give It Back to You. The reissue pairs the original 10-track album featuring the chart-topping “Off the Ground,” alongside fan favorites “Rita Mae Young” and “On the Move” with a newly unearthed live document: the band’s legendary Living Room concert, recorded in bassist Alex Stiff’s Los Feliz home in 2013.
Heard today, Give It Back to You still lands with the same immediacy that helped launch the band a decade ago. The songs are built on tight interplay, gritty textures, and a lived-in blues-rock feel that favors momentum over excess polish. There’s a directness to the writing and performance that makes the album easy to return to-hooks…
At just 51 years old, Evans left behind an inimitable musical legacy-one that included more than 50 albums as a leader. During his three-decade-long career, Evans earned seven GRAMMY® Awards and 31 nominations, among other honors, while in 1994, his contributions were recognized with a GRAMMY® Lifetime Achievement Award. Today, Evans’ work continues to inspire new generations of musicians around the globe.
Haunted Heart: The Legendary Riverside Studio Recordings brings together the complete studio recordings by the Bill Evans Trio featuring Scott LaFaro and Paul Motian. Included are the albums Portrait in Jazz and Explorations, plus 26 alternate takes – 17 previously unreleased – with audio is newly remastered by Paul Blakemore.
Perception is the 1973 second album by Catalyst, the Philadelphia jazz-funk quartet whose blend of soul jazz, fusion, and avant-garde set them apart as a cult phenomenon. Featuring Zuri Tyrone Brown (bass), Onaje Sherman Ferguson (drums, percussion), Nwalinu Odean Pope (tenor saxophone, flute), and Sanifu Eddie Green (electric piano), the album stretches from spacious, electric fusion to driving, groove-forward funk and episodes of free improvisation. Recently reissued to renewed acclaim, Perception is recognized for its raw, inventive energy and genre-defying musicianship that prefigures later jazz fusion movements.
Emerging from the fertile musical landscape of early-1970s Philadelphia, Catalyst…
VA – Jazz Dispensary Presents: Dream a Dream with Studio G: Cratedigger’s Archive (1970-2009) (2025)
Established by John Gale in London in 1966, Studio G produced a wide range of genres and styles, geared toward local TV, sports programming and adverts. As Ryan Jebavy, producer of Dream a Dream, explains in his liner notes, it unleashed “pastoral folk, maniacal horror, funk-spat jazz, quixotic pop, alluring electro and the usual novelty side spells of national anthems, children’s music and whatever other utilitarian cues society demanded of the moment” upon the commercial space. Even as more sizable outfits such as KPM, Bruton, De Wolfe and Chappell consumed the majority of the marketplace, Studio G offered a truly fetching alternative-sleek, hip art not previously seen on mostly unremarkable album covers released by neighboring companies…
Recording for the Fantasy label, his singles regularly scaled the upper reaches of Billboard’s club chart, truly breaking through with the ecstatic Top 40 crossover hits “Dance (Disco Heat)” and “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real),” both of which drove the 1978 album Step II to a gold certification.
Sylvester’s genre-defining disco album Step II arrives on CD for the first time ever, as a bonus-filled Deluxe Edition featuring Tonic Funk’s never-before-heard “Space Funk” Club Mix of “Dance (Disco Heat)”, plus Bright Light Bright Light’s fresh take on “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)”, and new liner notes from Joshua Gamson. Described by Pitchfork as “a formative record in the queer canon,” Step II took Sylvester’s from a Bay Area icon, to a national disco superstar whose…
Craft Recordings commemorates the 60th anniversary of Joan Baez’s bestselling sixth studio album, Farewell, Angelina, with its first wide vinyl reissue in nearly four decades. A pivotal release in Baez’s catalog, the album blends traditional folk standards with contemporary covers, marking a notable stylistic evolution-including the singer-songwriter’s first use of electric guitar.
Set for release on October 3rd, Farewell, Angelina returns with all-analog mastering by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio and is pressed on 180-gram vinyl (via Fidelity Record Pressing). An old-school style tip-on jacket, meanwhile, replicates the LP’s original cover. Singer, songwriter and activist Joan Baez (b.1941) is one of modern music’s most influential and enduring voices…
Craft Recordings proudly celebrates the 50th anniversary of J.D. Crowe & The New South’s self-titled album—a landmark collection that helped shape the future of contemporary bluegrass—with an expanded reissue on CD.
Long revered by musicians, fans and the press, J.D. Crowe & The New South (or, “Rounder 0044,” as it is lovingly referred to), which was recently inducted into the GRAMMY® Hall of Fame and added to the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry features such classic tracks as “Old Home Place,” “Cryin’ Holy” and “Rock Salt & Nails.” The lineup of musicians on the album brought Crowe and his longtime bassist Bobby Slone together with three young players who were on their way to becoming bluegrass legends: Tony Rice, Jerry Douglas…
Following last year’s release of Miles ’54: The Prestige Recordings, collecting the legendary trumpeter’s 1954 sessions, Craft Recordings is turning the clock forward to Miles Davis’ 1955 with – what else? – Miles ’55. Miles ’55 bring together sixteen recordings cut by Davis at Rudy Van Gelder’s studio in Hackensack, New Jersey for the Prestige label.
Ashley Kahn (author of Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece) observes in the new liner notes for this release, “There was a particular sound that had defined the ’50s. It was an approach that balanced a modern, post-bop feel with echoes of a simpler time. And it belonged to one trumpet player in particular.” Though Davis would famously go on to break new ground in jazz…
“Jazz is my religion,” once declared beatnik poet Ted Joans. “I know and feel the message it brings.” Throughout its expansive and enduring history, jazz has attached itself to countless different styles; it has been torn apart and reinvented in countless different ways. But that message has always remained the same, and it has always resonated with the hearts and souls of audiences across the world. Jazz, at its core, is the music of freedom, and Bill Evans’ 1962 work Interplay is as captivatingly, inventively free as they come.
Recorded in New York City in the summer of 1962, Interplay expertly captures the exciting spirit of that period in the city’s musical progression. Rising from its vibrant concrete streets, a seemingly endless array of inventive jazz…
Moon Beams marked an important moment for Bill Evans. Recorded in 1962, it was his first trio album following the sudden death of bassist Scott LaFaro, whose intuitive style had shaped much of Evans’ earlier sound. Rather than returning with something bold or experimental, Evans chose a softer approach-an album built almost entirely around ballads. It’s reflective and unhurried, showing a pianist more interested in exploring emotion than making a statement. As part of Craft Recordings – Original Jazz Classics series, Moon Beams is being reissued on 180-gram vinyl from lacquers cut from the original stereo tapes (AAA) by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio.
From the opening track, “Re: Person I Knew,” you can sense the quiet intimacy Evans was chasing.