Lee Morgan - Lee Way

Analogue Productions' Blue Note and Nat "King" Cole Reissues WIN A Positive Feedback 2010 Brutus Award!
"...if you haven't picked up every one of the Blue Note and Nat King Cole reissues from Chad Kassem and company at Acoustic Sounds, you're really missing out!" - David W. Robinson, Positive Feedback, Issue 52

"I must compliment you not just on the choice of labels and titles, but also on the team working on these. As someone who has been collecting records for over 30 years, these are some of the best sounding masterings that I have heard. I hope you are able to keep this team together for future projects." – Pat Piotrowski, Acoustic Sounds customer

"These are simply amazing pressings. I have no regrets whatsoever about signing up for this subscription. The folks I'd invited over last Saturday are by no means audiophiles, but they couldn't believe that they were listening to vinyl, or that recordings that were 40+ years old could sound so good. I'm working hard to turn them into vinyl converts. These discs are the icing on the cake!" – Tim Bingaman, Acoustic Sounds customer

"…How do these new deluxe re-issues stack up to the alternatives?…Not surprisingly, the big difference comes from the 45-RPM cutting. The faster cutting speed creates greater dynamic range and the sense of more air around the instruments, which stand out in better relief and give that you-are-there feel. The tradeoff requires you to flip the record twice as often, a small price to pay for this level of enhanced realism…These new issues maintain that timbral accuracy and at the same time bring out the piano sound like never before…for the first time Blue Note re-issues sound right." – Dennis D. Davis, Hi-Fi+, Issue 57

"…As much as I'd love to relay all kinds of anecdotes about the challenges Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray encounter during the mastering sessions, I witness none. These boys know the sound of the facility and the Van Gelder masters like the backs of their hands…Back home a month later, I unpack some test pressings Chad Kassem has sent me…I hear the most realistic-sounding drums ever reproduced by my system. It's as though I'm sitting at the point of creation, experiencing the same high that brought such gifted musicians together as one. Steve Hoffman, Kevin Gray, Chad Kassem, and Don MacInnis have done Rudy Van Gelder and his Blue Note artists proud." – Jason Victor Serinus, Stereophile, April 2008

"...these first five Acoustic Sounds Blue Note re-issues are pure bop genius...The best news is that Kevin Gray and Steve Hoffman were keen enough to do nothing more than gently clean up the masters, bringing us even closer to the hard bop edge. The 45 rpm pressings that I received were all super quiet with every last drop of resolution from the master tapes. I had almost forgotten just how good Paul Chambers and Phil Joe were together as the backbone of these groups. I've always loved this music but I didn't remember it sounding this good! Hank Mobley offers us some brilliant sax bits on one of Kenny Dorham's finest recordings, Whistle Stop and Dexter Gordon's performance blew me away as well. The biggest surprise were the Lee Morgan records. I suggest turning these up loud, since they possess unlimited energy and some hooks that will knock you out. Amazing! Just a small warning: Once you start playing these Blue Note recordings you will be hooked. The good news is that Acoustic Sounds is working on at least 20 more of these jazz gems. So make sure your turntable has a setting for 45 rpm, clean your stylus occassionally, and get ready to be transported to nirvana." - Dan Babineau, Tone Audio, No. 14 2008, www.tonepublications.com

This album is unique within Lee Morgan's vast and rich Blue Note discography. With then current employer Art Blakey, band mate Bobby Timmons on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Jackie McLean on alto saxophone, the trumpeter abandons time constraints and stretches out on four, soulful, hard-bop compositions (the first and the last are by Cal Massey). These hard bop masters are constantly inspired by Blakey's explosive grooves.