Sonny Red – Out Of The Blue

All-Analog 180g Vinyl LP of Sonny Red’s Out of the Blue Mastered from the Original Master Tapes by Kevin Gray & Pressed at RTI: Reference-Caliber Blue Note Reissue Helmed by Music Matters’ Joe Harley

The Detroit born alto saxophonist Sonny Red made only one album as a leader for Blue Note, but Out of the Blue remains a gem of the catalog deserving of much wider recognition. Red’s lightly swinging style shines on this 8-song set of bluesy originals and obscure standards, which was drawn from two different quartet sessions. The first session – recorded in December 1959 with Wynton Kelly on piano, Sam Jones on bass, and Roy Brooks on drums – yielded six of the album’s final cuts including the buoyant opener “Bluesville” and the stunning ballad “Stay As Sweet As You Are.” Red returned to the studio in January 1960 once again with Kelly on piano, but this time joined by Paul Chambers on bass and Jimmy Cobb on drums, a trio that was also Miles Davis’ rhythm section at the time having just recorded on Kind of Blue the year before. The album’s final two tracks feature this quartet on Red’s original “The Lope” and the ballad “Stairway to the Stars.”

Blue Note Records’ acclaimed Tone Poet Audiophile Vinyl Reissue Series continues in 2022. Launched in 2019 in honor of the label’s 80th Anniversary, the Tone Poet series is produced by Joe Harley (from Music Matters) and features all-analog, 180g audiophile vinyl reissues that are mastered from the original master tapes by Kevin Gray of Cohearent Audio. Tone Poet vinyl is manufactured at RTI in Camarillo, CA, and packaged in deluxe Stoughton Printing “Old Style” gatefold Tip-On jackets. The titles were once again handpicked by Harley and cover the crème de la crème of the Blue Note catalog along with underrated classics, modern era standouts, and albums from other labels under the Blue Note umbrella including Pacific Jazz and United Artists Records. Every aspect of these Blue Note/Tone Poet releases is done to the highest-possible standard. It means that you will never find a superior version.

“The LPs are mastered directly from the original analog master tapes by Kevin at his incredible facility called Cohearent Mastering. We go about it in the exact same way that we did for so many years for the Music Matters Blue Note reissues. We do not roll off the low end, boost the top or do any limiting of any kind. We allow the full glory of the original Blue Note masters to come though unimpeded! Short of having an actual time machine, this is as close as you can get to going back and being a fly on the wall for an original Blue Note recording session.”
– Joe Harley

Musicians:
Sonny Red, alto saxophone
Wynton Kelly, piano
Paul Chambers / Sam Jones, bass
Jimmy Cobb / Roy Brooks, drums