Prestige Records

08/02/2024

23/11/2023

The Prestige Records album 'Miles: The New Miles Davis Quintet' opens with the sound of Red Garland’s piano, which leads into the midtempo ‘Just Squeeze Me’, co-written by Duke Ellington.
Find out more about the trumpeter's work for an iconic label in this uDiscover article

By Miles Davis’ own estimation, the group that recorded the album ‘Miles: The New Miles Davis Quintet’ made the jazz trumpeter ‘a legend.’

07/11/2023

‘Blue Monk – first recorded on the 1954 Prestige LP Thelonious Monk Trio – dazzled with its complex prismatic architecture but was built on a relatively simple 12-bar blues framework. It was second only to “Round Midnight” in terms of the number of versions Monk recorded.’
Check out this uDiscover pick of 20 Jazz Classics from Thelonious Monk

Thelonious Monk’s incredible career saw him pioneer a uniquely percussive approach to the piano and write several jazz standards.

03/11/2023

Saxophonist Azar Lawrence, who was born on 3 November 1952, was a sideman to McCoy Tyner, Miles Davis and Freddie Hubbard.
He appeared on Hubbard's 1977 album Bundle of Joy.
Lawrence's third solo album, recorded in March 1976, was 'People Moving', issued on Prestige Records.
You can read more about this jazz-soul classic at uDiscover

Craft Recordings has shared a reissue of the legendary Azar Lawrence’s seminal 1976 jazz-fusion album ‘People Moving.’

02/11/2023

Rudy Van Gelder did so much great work for Prestige Records.
Find out more about the legendary producer at uDiscover

Thanks to a forensic attention to detail, sound engineer Rudy Van Gelder’s studio was instrumental in creating the legendary Blue Note sound.

01/11/2023

‘Hey Now!’
Let's start November with some great piano playing from Red Garland, in a tune recorded for Prestige Records…

https://open.spotify.com/track/1WO72qHBQSSlY8AV8afrtI?si=mU46yPnkRgSrnPlTcf0N6w

Red Garland Trio · Song · 2009

27/10/2023

‘Cookin’ With The Miles Davis Quintet’ was sourced from a marathon recording session at Rudy Van Gelder’s Hackensack studio in New Jersey, this week in 1956, a session that also provided some material for the subsequent Prestige albums Steamin’, Workin’ and Relaxin’, a themed sequence of albums dubbed by jazz critic Ira Gitler as “The Famous Four.”
Find out more at uDiscover

‘Cookin’ With The Miles Davis Quintet’ was one of several albums that brought immortality to the trumpeter’s pioneering group.

26/10/2023

Miles Davis and John Coltrane were at Rudy Van Gelder’s Hackensack studio for a marathon recording sessions on 26 October 1956.
Davis treated the session as if he were playing a gig, calling out the song titles and counting in the band. They quickly went from one song to another without any fuss or second takes. What resulted was eventually sequenced by Weinstock into four different albums: Cookin’, Relaxin’, Workin’, and Steamin’ for Prestige Records.
The albums not only helped to establish Miles Davis as an intrepid jazz pathfinder, but also established his quintet as one of the most significant small groups in jazz.
Read the full story at

Recorded in a burst, the Miles Davis Quintet’s Prestige Sessions found the trumpeter running ‘a masterclass in working the tunes.’

23/10/2023

In 1960, conga drummer Ray Barretto became a house musician for the Prestige Records.
He appeared on albums with Gene Ammons, Red Garland and Sonny Stitt among many others.
During a varied career he also recorded regularly with Kenny Burrell, Dizzy Gillespie and Wes Montgomery.
The salsa king's album ‘Barretto Power’ gets a 50th anniversary edition release on 23 October 2020.
Find out more at

Salsa king Ray Barretto will have his 'Barretto Power' album released in a 50th anniversary vinyl edition by Craft Latino on October 23.

16/10/2023

The music of the Chet Baker Quintet for Prestige Records is included in this brilliant uDiscover guide to the best work of the trumpeter.

Chet Baker's elegant style and rhythmic grace on the trumpet, as well as his fragile singing voice, made him a jazz celebrity.

10/10/2023

Saluting the great pianist and composer Thelonious Monk, who was born on 10 October 1917 in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.
Prestige Records boss Bob Weinstock, who founded the New York-based label in 1949, was intrigued by Monk when he heard him play with saxophonist Coleman Hawkins, and brought the pianist to the label in 1952, signing him to a three-year contract. Read more in this uDiscover article

Recorded between 1952 and 1954, the Thelonious Monk Prestige albums capture the maverick jazz pianist on some of his most important sessions.

28/09/2023

was a true innovator - helping define so many styles than in jazz.
The trumpeter pioneered 'cool jazz', hard bop, modal playing, free-form explorations and the use of electronics. Davis died on 28 September 1991, aged 65. This classic was recorded for Prestige Records.
Find out more at uDiscover

Recorded in 1956, ‘Relaxin’ With The Miles Davis Quintet’ remains one of the Dark Magus’ most highly regarded Prestige albums.

21/09/2023

Test your jazz music knowledge with the uDiscover Jazz Music Quiz! Do you know your Miles from your Dukes? Your Thelonious from your Coleman… Can you get 10/10? It’s hard but fun!

Test your jazz music knowledge with the uDiscover Jazz Music Quiz! Do you know your Miles from your Dukes? Your Thelonious from your Coleman.

08/09/2023

RIP bass player Richard Davis, who died on 6 September 2023, after two years in hospice care.
His career reads like a who's who of jazz and he recorded regularly for Prestige Records, including with Booker Ervin.
Read this uDiscover tribute by Charles Waring.

Richard Davis, the versatile bass player has died at 93. Davis worked with everyone from Frank Sinatra to Bruce Springsteen.

26/08/2023

‘Soul Battle’ is an album by American saxophonists Oliver Nelson, King Curtis and Jimmy Forrest.
Recorded in 1960 and originally released by the Prestige label in 1962, it was reissued on CD in 1991, featuring one additional track, the Forrest composition 'Soul Street'.
Forrest, best known for his recording of 'Night Train', died on 26 August 1980 at the age of 60 from heart failure. He also recorded with Miles Davis, Count Basie and Grant Green.

https://open.spotify.com/track/1exXQtZbYPahDhqU3e8RvN?si=WbIXTeV9S8WTm0bA2xsJ3A

Oliver Nelson · Song · 2018

24/08/2023

FANTASTIC GIVEAWAY!

Your chance to win a selection of vinyl from the Fania Records label, including albums by Héctor Lavoe, Tito Puente, Ray Barretto and Fania All Stars.
Find out out how to enter at uDiscover

We're giving away a selection of vinyl from the Fania Records label including albums by Héctor Lavoe, Tito Puente, and Ray Barretto.

21/08/2023

Prestige Records boss Bob Weinstock, who founded the New York-based label in 1949, was intrigued by Thelonious Monk when he heard him play with saxophonist Coleman Hawkins, and brought the pianist to the label on 21 August 1952, signing him to a three-year contract.
Find out more in this uDiscover article

Recorded between 1952 and 1954, the Thelonious Monk Prestige albums capture the maverick jazz pianist on some of his most important sessions.

20/08/2023

Tomorrow is the 95th anniversary of the birth of trumpeter Art Farmer. Did you know that when Quincy Jones was barely 20, he was both co-arranger and one of the trumpeters on the Art Farmer Septet’s self-titled album for Prestige Records?
Find out more at uDiscover

Our tribute to the lifetime in recording of Quincy Jones, born in Chicago on March 14, 1933 as Quincy Delight Jones Jr.

06/08/2023

Chicago jazz tenor saxophonist Gene Ammons, who was only 49 when he died of cancer on 6 August 1974, made ‘My Way’ the title track of a 1971 album for Prestige Records. He retooled the song as a soulful, after-hours ballad (complete with strings and a horn section) riven with powerful bluesy inflections. Read more about it in this uDiscover feature

From soul to punk, classical to country, a wide array of ‘My Way’ covers have taken Frank Sinatra’s masterpiece into new realms.

04/08/2023

'Original Jazz Classics served as a home for the label’s impressive jazz catalog, which had grown to include thousands of celebrated titles from labels such as Prestige'
Find out more about the upcoming releases in the series via uDiscover

Craft's 'Original Jazz Series' continues with 'The Tony Bennett Bill Evans Album,' plus titles by Dave Brubeck and more

03/08/2023

"The songs weren't long enough for a whole album so I said let's do a slow blues to finish it out."

invited Bob Weinstock to write a song on the spot, but he didn't know music, so Coltrane replied, "Just tell me what you want me to play. Should it go like this?" and he would play some notes. After having played a rough melody, he'd say "Okay, you wrote it." That was the genesis of "Sweet Sapphire Blues"
Weinstock talking about the track that appeared on ‘Black Pearls’, John Coltrane’s album was released by Prestige Records in August 1958 and featured Donald Byrd on trumpet. Find out the full story at

Black Pearls was recorded by John Coltrane in May 1958, but not released until 1964 – it was well worth the wait!

26/07/2023

On 26 July 1971, saxophonist Gene Ammons released the album 'My Way' on the Prestige label. His version of the famous hit makes it on this uDiscover guide to the best 'My Way' covers

From soul to punk, classical to country, a wide array of ‘My Way’ covers have taken Frank Sinatra’s masterpiece into new realms.

25/07/2023

Saluting singer and actress Annie Ross, who was born 1930 in Surrey, England, on 25 July 1930. She made records with Prestige Records and made albums with Gerry Mulligan and Zoot Sims. She also toured with Lionel Hampton. You can read about her in this uDiscover article on the history of vocal groups:

As musical styles have come and gone, vocal groups have never lost their popularity. Nothing moves listeners more than the human voice.

21/07/2023

RIP Grammy-winning jazz singer and actress , who died on 21 June 2020 in her Manhattan home at the age of 89.
In 1953, Prestige Records released the album 'New Sounds From France', which included Ross on vocals, Jack Dieval on piano and James Moody on tenor saxophone.
You can read a tribute to her at uDiscover

Annie Ross, one-third of Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, passed away at 89 in her Manhattan home. The singer was best known for her song, Twisted.

19/07/2023

''One night, Dizzy and Bird came in with their instruments, unpacked them and swooped up on the stand and started playing 'Shaw Nuff' or some damned thing. I'd been following Dizzy on records, but it was the first time I'd ever heard Bird. I knew they were auditioning me because they were so businesslike. They unpacked their horns like they were machine guns.''
Remembering bebop pianist Al Haig, who recorded with Gillespie, Stan Getz – including ‘Intoit’ for Prestige - and Chet Baker. Alan Warren Haig was born on 19 July 1922 in Newark New Jersey.
https://open.spotify.com/track/157sD1KLOUlzhz7Tix1dlH?si=2gZVsSXiSVGEywIV1P0XRQ

Miles Davis, Stan Getz · Song · 2007

10/07/2023

Amazing jazz collection of late star Charlie Watts to go up for auction.
Story via uDiscover

Two of the renowned collections owned by the late Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts are to be auctioned by Christie's.

06/07/2023

A great guide to all the top and music festivals for 2023... via uDiscover

As countries across the world continue to re-open, music festivals have been roaring back, with organizers eager to bring live music back to audiences.

03/07/2023

Saluting trumpeter Johnny Coles, who was born 3 July 1926 in Trenton, New Jersey.
Coles played on the 1965 Prestige Records album 'Afro-Soul/Drum O**y.
Coles features in this uDiscover guide to ‘Underrated Blue Note Musicians: 12 Artists Worth Rediscovering:

The jazz label boasts many groundbreaking artists, but there are plenty of underrated Blue Note musicians that deserve their place in the sun.