Jazz

No matter how deeply it’s been mined before, the Blue Note vault is still a rich source of reissue gold. In what amounts to a relaunch of the XRCD audiophile format, Audio Wave has begun with a clutch of soul jazz classics. Soul Station has Mobley’s old Jazz Messengers boss Art Blakey on drums, with Paul Chambers on bass and bluesy pianist Wynton Kelly. This seemingly carefree album marked a turning-point for the light-toned tenor player, as 1961 would see him briefly and not very happily joining Miles Davis. Also in the first Audio Wave are Sonny Clark’s Cool Struttin’ (1958), Tina Brooks’ True Blue and Horace Parlan’s Speakin’ My Piece (1960). 

Sound Quality: 90%