Record Store Day 2018: 10 jazz records you need to know about

MATT MICUCCI PUBLISHED ON JAZZIZ APRIL 5, 2018 

Record Store Day (RSD) is the annual internationally celebrated day of vinyl records dedicated to supporting local independent record stores. This year’s edition will take place on April 21. Here are ten jazz RSD 2018 releases you need to know about.

SNARKY PUPPY – “Shark Tank”
Label: Ground UP Music; Quantity: 1350

This record was requested for release by fans. “Shark Tank” is the bonus track from Snarky Puppy’s 2016 album, Culcha Vulcha. It has never been released and has only been played by the band at live shows.

WYNTON MARSALIS SEPTET – “Night Life” b/w “I’m Gonna Find Another You”
Label: Blue Engine Records; Quantity: 1000

This RSD Exclusive captures two performances by the Wynton Marsalis Septet at two different Lincoln At Jazz Center annual galas, the project in support of the Center’s education programs: a 2003 rendition of “Night Life” featuring Willie Nelson and a 2006 take on “I’m Gonna Find Another You” with John Mayer.

THELONIOUS MONK – Monk
Label: Columbia/Legacy; Quantity: 2500

Closing the centenary of pianist Thelonious Monk, the reissue of one of his overlooked gems: his fourth album for Columbia Records, originally released in 1964, newly remastered at high resolution from the original master tapes.

MILES DAVIS – Rubberband
Label: Rhino Records; Quantity: 2300

A 4-track EP of previously unheard Miles Davis music, originally recorded in 1985. The music originates from a project titled “Rubberband of Life,” which remained unfinished until its original producers, Randy Hall and Zane Giles, recruited Davis’ nephew, drummer Vince Wilburn Jr., and vocalist Ledisi to complete it.

ORNETTE COLEMAN – An Evening With Ornette Coleman, Part 2
Label: ORG Music; Quantity: 1600

The second of a two-part series, this record documents an Ornette Coleman concert from 1965 at Fairfield Hall in Croydon, England. At this time, the saxophonist experimented with contemporary classical forms. The recordings on this collection have been previously released in various forms, though their last U.S. vinyl pressing is now over forty years old.

ROBERT GLASPER x KAYTRANADA – The ArtScience Remixes
Label: Blue Note; Quantity: 1200

Pianist and composer Robert Glasper and producer KAYTRANADA join forces to reimagine ArtScience, the 2016 album by the Robert Glasper Experiment. The set features cameos by Don Cheadle, Talib Kweli, Alex Isley, and Iman Omari.

VAN MORRISON – Alternative Moondance
Label: Rhino; Quantity: 5300

An alternative version of Van Morrison’s 1970 album, Moondance. It features alternative versions from its 2013 deluxe edition and unreleased alternative mixes of the tracks “And It Stoned Me” and “Crazy Love.”

BUNK JOHNSON – Rare and Unissued Masters: Volume One (1943-1945)
Label: ORG Music; Quantity: 1000

A collection of over a dozen rare and unissued tracks by trumpeter Bunk Johnson. The music presented here is of surprisingly high-quality thanks to the digital technology employed to rid it of the imperfections that prevented it from being released seventy years ago.

JOHN COLTRANE – “My Favorite Things”
Label: Atlantic; Quantity: 1000

Only previously available in the Coltrane Mono box set, this replica of the original “My Favorite Things I & II” hit single from 1961 comes in a reproduction of the original Atlantic Records sleeve and with remastered mono audio from the Atlantic Records vaults.

SUN RA – Astro Black
Label: Modern Harmonic; Quantity: 1350

The rarest of four Sun Ra RSD 2018 releases and the first proper reissue of Astro Black, one of a handful of albums the bandleader released on the Impulse! label in the 1970s. Here, the Arkestra draw to the end of their ultra-free period and begin to investigate more traditional jazz forms, even on the fringes of funk.

For a full list of Record Store Day 2018 releases and more information, go to https://recordstoreday.com/