Craft Recordings has announced a group of reissues for their Original Jazz Classics series. The latest reissues include Cannonball Adderley & Bill Evans’ Know What I Mean?, Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers’ Caravan and Ron Carter’s Where?

These new reissues feature lacquers cut from the original tapes (AAA) by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio, 180-gram vinyl pressed at RTI and tip-on jackets, replicating the original artwork.

All titles will also be released digitally in 192/24 HD audio. Original Jazz Classics was created in 1982 by Fantasy Records and relaunched in 2023. Since its inception, the audiophile series has reissued 850+ Jazz albums which included titles from Prestige, Galaxy, Milestone, Riverside, Debut, Contemporary, Jazzland and Pablo.

Craft says to stay tuned for announcements regarding more titles from the series coming in 2024.

More about Cannonball Adderley & Bill Evans’ Know What I Mean? (Available March 1, 2024):

2024 kicks off with the reissue of Cannonball Adderley & Bill Evans’ Know What I Mean? dropping on March 1. Adderley and Evans were famed for being part of the Miles Davis Sextet. But they also worked together on a series of albums, with Know What I Mean? from 1960 being their last and most meaningful collaboration. Cannonball—his nickname a twist on “cannibal,” a nod to his healthy appetite—was so compelling as an alto sax that many considered him the next Charlie Parker. Meanwhile, Davis once commented that Evans’ piano abilities were a “quiet fire . . . like crystal notes or sparkling water cascading down from some clear waterfall.”

More about Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers’ Caravan (Available March 1, 2024):

As a bandleader for four decades, Blakey was a drummer’s drummer, adored for his pioneering solos, many referencing African rhythms. The Pittsburgh native, recognized by the Smithsonian, would go on to mentor everyone from Lee Morgan to Wynton Marsalis.

Caravan opens with one such percussive drive in its title track (a Duke Ellington co-write) and spreads out from there to spectacular effect. Greedy listeners won’t regret bee-lining to the nuanced yet invigorating “This Is for Albert,” where Blakey’s drums entwine effortlessly with Cedar Walton’s keys. The song contrasts satisfyingly with the balladic, honeyed song that precedes it, “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning,” previously popularized by Frank Sinatra.

More about Ron Carter’s Where? (Available March 29, 2024):

The three-time GRAMMY winner is famously the most recorded jazz bassist of all time. And for good reason. The Michigan native started out playing with Thelonious Monk, went on to join Herbie Hancock in the Miles Davis Quintet and was even sampled by A Tribe Called Quest on their seminal album The Low End Theory.

Where? is a collection of unpredictable, almost cerebral tracks, such as the explosive “Rally,” and in contrast, the twangy, minimal “Bass Duet.” His work here with Eric Dolphy—his buddy from Chico Hamilton’s group—on sax, flute and clarinet delivers on cuts such as the sprightly, levitating “Saucer Eyes.” Where? is Carter’s debut album as a band leader and presages the visionary musician’s long and influential career.