After my first and last reissue in 2006 with the famous Nathan Davis 'Peace Treaty', i decide in 2011 to create 'Sam Records' a new Parisian label specializing in jazz vinyl reissue. In the tradition of labels wholly devoted to vinyl re-pressing, Sam Records puts out a product of top-notch musical and visual quality. The first 2 reissues are Chet Baker Quartet recorded in Paris in October 1955 and Lester Young 'Le Dernier Message de Lester Young' recorded in Paris in October 1959, both for the French Barclay label. My 3rd title is the Ronnell Bright Trio recorded in Paris in 1958 for French Polydor label. Each record is a high quality facsimile reissue using the original photo from Jean-Pierre Leloir or Herman Leonard, re-mastered from the original master tapes, limited édition 180 grs vinyl pressed by Pallas in Germany. Hope you enjoy these reissues!!! Fred Thomas For more informations, see my Tumblr: http://samrecords.tumblr.com/ Available in USA at Acoustic Sounds, Jazz Record Center & Dustygroove only.
Nice work Fred, how is the distribution in Europe? who is mastering these reissues? Any chance on a reissue of Ben & The Platano Group - Paris Soul absolute classic on Barclay records from 1971?
Hi, Thanks a lot for your support. Distribution in Europe by Bertus, a Dutch company. Also available on ebay.com with free worldwide shipping (seller: samrecordsfr). The mastering is made by a friend who have a small but really nice analog studio here in Paris.... we do it with our ears! About the Ben & the Platano Group reissue, i didn't do it.....now i only made jazz reissue. Best regards, Fred
Would love to hear some as well. I will order a couple soon...I am thinking about the Barney Wilen and Chet Baker ones...the Prez is also interesting but I am not sure I want to hear him at the end of his life....want to remember him at his peak.....
Hi, Here are some comments from my reissues. I try to do the best job as possible even if i'm not a pro in music industry. Sincerely, Fred
Hi, The Prez is reduced but the grace and genius are still there! About the Chet Baker LPs, some of the tracks of these sessions are on the 'Nato Tour' on Pacific Jazz. Sincerely, Fred
Have bought them all and they are easily among the best reissues, jazz or otherwise, vinyl or otherwise, that I own. Packaging only Music Matters matches, and sound is stellar. These are what analog reissues are supposed to be. Not cheap, but absolutely worth it.
Thanks so much for your nice comment. I'll try to continue to do the best job as possible. If you want to help Sam Records to release next reissues, you can see his crowdfunding project: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/help-sam-records-new-jazz-vinyl-reissue-series - Please share this!!! Best regards, Fred
Thanks so much for your nice comment. I'll try to continue to do the best job as possible. If you want to help Sam Records to release next reissues, you can see his crowdfunding project: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/help-sam-records-new-jazz-vinyl-reissue-series - Please share this!!! Best regards, Fred
I've got 2 of the Chet Bakers (have not opened yet) and have Barney Wilen and Ronnell Bright Trio LPs ordered.
Received the Baker and Wilen albums today. Tonight I played the Chet Baker Quartet. Mostly ballads and a couple more uptempo tunes. The jacket is very nicely done with an excellent photograph. The cardboard jacket is folded over at the back top and bottom. The print is well done and the overall look and feel of the jacket is quality stuff. The LP was packaged in a nice polylined inner sleeve which was in turn put into a larger cardboard sleeve for additional protection. These were stored outside of the jacket. The Wilen album just came with the polylined sleeve, also outside of the jacket. Both packages were put into a crystal clear outer sleeve which sealed with its folded over top. I love the textured look of the labels on the LP. Very nicely done. Furthermore one gets a wonderful fascimile re-issue of a photograph of Chet Baker. The disc itself was flat and very quiet. A couple of ticks on side two which I got rid of easily. The sound is very good with a few remarks. Chet's trumpet is of the 'he is your room' variety. Absolutely wonderful. The bass, piano and drums are all centered and somewhat bunched together in a fairly small soundstage. Again this recording shows how difficult it is to record a natural piano sound. The bass is somewhat plumb and not always well defined. The drums are ok. The overall feel of this record is a wonderful if slightly dry recording but the music makes it very easy to just forget about all that audiophile analysis and simply enjoy this quartet on very quiet vinyl as they play through 8 excellent standards: Summertime, You Got To My Head Tenderly Lover Man Small Hotel I'll Remember April These Foolish Things Autumn In New York
Barney Wilen Quintet. Again a lovingly put together package with an excellent quality sleeve, great cover photo, nice artist photo inside, poly-lined inner sleeve and beautifully reproduced 'Guilde du Jazz' LP labels. Classy. The record is flat and quiet. I love the music on this album. It's fresh, driving, rhythmic, bouncing. Just a great record overall. The sound is less wonderful in my humble opinion. I see the same bunched up soundstage as on the Chet Baker disc even though I have to say that this is not a major distraction. Assuming nothing was done wrong in the mastering I hear a metallic sheen on the brass (both Wilen's t-sax and Fol's Alto-sax) that is somewhat disappointing. But perhaps it is on the recording and this re-issue is just a true reflection of what is on the tape. From a overall sound quality perspective this album lacks a lot of air, natural timbre, warmth and brassiness. It's not bad, but it's not great either. It sounds 'old' and maybe you should just accept that for what it is. I certainly do and I am aware that the above description sounds worse than it probably is Fortunately I love the music and I will play this one a lot. It is a wonderful example of Euro jazz in the late 50's and as such this is a little gem of a record that can I can heartily recommend to any jazz fan.
There's plenty of room for more quality jazz reissues in the racks. Is there a chance that you could reissue more Nathan Davis albums? I'd love to own copies of Happy Girl, Rules Of Freedom, The Hip Walk and The Sixth Sense In The Eleventh House to mention a few.
A few days ago I received my third Sam Records re-issue, this time the second Chet Baker Quarter album. There is a short review of this album in HiFi+, CLICK HERE. I enjoy this one even more than the first Chet Baker (see post 15 above). This is a high quality record, both in terms of look&feel and sound. It has a similar sound signature as for the one I described above but a little more expansive. Like the other one this is a mono record. This session is more intricate and complex, more interesting to listen to if you like. FWIW this album of Chet’s quartet with Dick Twardzik on piano has appeared in Ben Ratliff’s book "Jazz, a Critic’s Guide to The 100 Most Important Recordings" (The New York Times Essential Library). Perhaps this makes this session more meaningful than the session with Gerard Gustin.
Dear Joel, Thanks so much for all your comments. I try to continue to do the best job as possible but sometimes it's not perfect. 2 new titles are available: Barney Wilen 'Jazz Sur Seine' - Philips - 1958 and a Bobby Jaspar 'Modern Jazz Au Club Saint-Germain' - Barclay - 1956 Best regards, Fred
In the future, i'll try to reissue more Nathan Davis......and my be a unreleased session from the 60's recorded here in Paris....... Best regards, Fred
What you are doing is absolutely fantastic. Thank you. I will keep following you and I am sure I will buy some more.
Fred - you hit another home run with the Donald Byrd releases. Hors du commun. Vraiment. The overall look & feel is perfect. The Brunswick labels, just wonderfully reproduced. The music is fantastic...a great choice. The sound is pretty much excellent: Very enjoyable, beautiful tone, direct. One of those 'you are there' recordings. I cannot say much more about this than is already written on the website, click here and here for Volume 2. I hope I don't sound like an advertisement but I am very enthusiastic about these releases - these are quality products, in limited release, and I feel you are getting more than you pay for. Recommended. Whilst researching these albums I found an interesting article with some more background on one of these Brunswick releases : click here
A few more observations about another duo from the Sam Records stable that I have been listening to lately. For a long time I hesitated getting the Lester Young album. I did not want to have a 'diminished' version of this great man. I have a Ben Webster album, 'live at the Renaissance' in which to my ears he sounds thin, out of breath and whispy. That is not how I would like to remember these wonderful players. To cut a long story short, I did end up buying it together with the Barnet Wilen 'Jazz sur Seine' album. I find the album title very touching; Le Dernier Message de Lester Young. Recorded in March 1959, it was to be his final musical communication with the world. Was he 'diminished' like Fred comments on his website. Well, yes, but I must admit it is wonderful to listen to Lester Young in this type of fidelity. Plus the vinyl looks great with that yellow Barclay label. I have some older cd's - Verve's Master Edition with the Oscar Peterson Trio, a nice sounding cd, and a Japanese SACD, The Pres and Teddy - and you can hear a clear difference between the young and the old Lester Young. Having said that I believe it is an important album. Lester Young is a legend. Almost a counter point to the Lester Young album is Barney Wilen's Jazz sur Seine. Arguably Wilen was a tenor player at the start of his career as he was about 21 when he made this album and it is a wonderful listen. Milt Jackson plays the piano which is different. The album sounds great (much better than the other Wilen I have). The music is varied with a nice ballad, Monk and Django Rheinhard tune and some more uptempo pieces. A well rounded effort overall.