Dreyfus Jazz/Sony BMG announce 14 reissues from the JAZZ REFERENCE collection Available for the first time on vinyl (and CD) with brand new artwork by Seb Jarnot

Featuring Billy Holiday, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis & John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, Django Reinhardt, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Errol Garner, The Gerry Mulligan Quartet with Chet Baker, Lester Young, Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole, Sarah Vaughan and Stan Getz

Due out 19th October 2019 via Sony BMG

The JAZZ REFERENCE series was originally created by Francis Dreyfus at the very start of the 21st century. This incredible catalogue regrouped the biggest names in Jazz at a ground-breaking sound quality.

Almost twenty years later it is still perceived as one of the best ever created. To help a new generation rediscover this amazing collection, BMG is releasing a first selection of 14 titles: from Louis Armstrong’s trumpet or Django Reinhardt’s guitar to the voices of Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan, only the very best has been kept.

Now, this collection will available for the first time on vinyl, and all formats display a brand new artwork from Seb Jarnot, exclusively created for this special reissue.

Speaking about the collection on it’s original release, the late Francis Dreyfus, said:

“Since my early childhood, I’ve been crazy about Jazz. This childhood fascination is what inspired me to create Dreyfus Jazz. I am releasing these masterpieces in order to discover, through another perspective, a collection of the most beautiful tracks ever recorded before 1960 by the biggest and most renowned creators of the lively and flawless language of jazz.”

Who is this anthology for?

It’s for those who already love Jazz, and for those who will find great pleasure in re-discovering it, thanks to the sound quality that is unexpected and unequalled. It’s also for the younger generation who don’t yet realize that they are going to love this music that burnt down from its creative violence and its jubilant swing throughout the entire twentieth century.

“First, I had to achieve the near impossible: “Break the wall of sound” in order to enhance the already sublime tracks of yesterday… to make them sound as though they’d been recorded yesterday. Thanks to technological information storage and the resolute research of exceptional sound engineer René Ameline (with never ending passion and patience) it was possible to give a “new youth” to the voice of Ella and Billie, and to offer an unheard freshness to formidable improvisations by Louis Armstrong and Coleman Hawkins. We have included the best sources, the best songs, the best documents and there were no “second takes” or “false starts”.”

“I wanted to start from the original signals inscribed deeply in the wax, to enlarge and enrich the entire sound spectrum until it was inaudible and mute. It was necessary to carefully clean each chosen song, meaning that every useless scratch and annoying click had to be wiped, whilst avoiding stripping away the original grainy sound. With this we were able to achieve a more spacious sound, offering more depth and fullness compared to the original 78 record collection. The result is spectacular!”

This collection is truly unique. From the will of a passionate perfectionist who manifested its conception like bearing a child, it was championed by a team of specialists who are lovers of jazz in all its dimensions: Claude Carrière, Noël Hervé and Daniel Nevers.

To really define the spirit of this adventure, which has lasted almost two years, I cannot think of a better way to conclude but to quote Claude Debussy: “Finally, a savage music with modern comfort”!”

Full list of 14 titles:

Billy Holiday – You Go To My Head
Charlie Parker – Now’s The Time
Miles Davis & John Coltrane – Trane’s Blues
Dizzy Gillespie – Cubana Be, Cubana Pop
Django Reinhardt – Echoes of France
Duke Ellington – Ko-Ko
Louis Armstrong – C’est Si Bon
Nat King Cole – Route 66
Stan Getz – Lullaby Of Birdland
Sarah Vaughan – Lullaby Of Birdland
Ella Fitzgerald – Love For Sale
Erroll Garner – Trio
The Gerry Milligan Quintet with Chet Baker – Soft Shoe
Lester Young – Just You, Just Me

https://www.sonymusic.co.uk/