The Oscar Peterson Trio’s seminal 1964 release We Get Requests features his classic trio at a creative peak. This fine recording is an especially fantastic listen in a pristine new Verve Records/Acoustic Sounds Series 180g 1LP presentation that’s coming out August 19 via UMe. This reissue delivers on so many levels, and is in every way better than my original 1960s-era vinyl pressing. Read on to learn why this new edition is worth pre-ordering right now. . .

ZZ Top’s RAW – That Little Ol’ Band From Texas’ Original Soundtrack is a 180g 1LP release born and bred from an intimate performance that took place for the band’s June 2019 documentary. ZZ Top guitarist/vocalist Billy F Gibbons exclusively tells Analog Planet how RAW came to pass, why physical proximity can lead to better performances, and what records are never too far from his vintage Thorens turntable. Read on for the full ZZ story. . .

Gregg Allman left his mark on the music world at large as a natural-born blues-hewn vocalist, insightful and revelatory songwriter, and a consummately influential keyboardist. To properly fete him in style, a multi-generational all-star lineup of musicians from the worlds of rock, blues, and country joined together at Atlanta’s historic Fox Theatre on January 10, 2014 for All My Friends, a once-in-a-lifetime concert event tribute. Eight years later, All My Friends: Celebrating the Songs & Voice of Gregg Allman will finally be made available on vinyl via a 4LP box set that will be released on September 30, 2022 by Rounder Records. Read on to learn more about this historic release, and all its color-vinyl variants. . .

John Coltrane’s all-time hard-bop classic, January 1958’s Blue Train, is coming back around the vinyl bend. To mark the 65th anniversary of the album’s recording, Blue Train will be released in two special editions on September 16, 2022, as part of Blue Note’s Tone Poet Audiophile Vinyl Reissue Series. Read on for further Trane/Train info and pressing details. . .

Fleet Foxes’ new live and mostly acoustic A Very Lonely Solstice LP leans more toward the full-album concert experience I was hoping for on record. There is a nice sense of the church ambiance — this performance was recorded live at St. Ann & The Holy Trinity Church in Brooklyn, New York in December 2020 — that wonderfully captures the woody essence of Fleet Foxes bandleader Robin Pecknold’s strummy nylon-string guitar. Read on to learn more. . .

Jim Davis, president of Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab, posted an official statement yesterday about the company’s mastering process, following a recent spate of customer concerns about the possibility of digital steps in said mastering process. We are including his statement here verbatim, and invite your Comments below.

To slightly modify a line from “Let the Good Times Roll” . . . hey y’all, tell everybody Ray Charles is back on wax — and this time, he's got the Count Basie Orchestra with him. To wit: Tangerine Records will re-release the October 2006 album Ray Sings, Basie Swings on September 23, 2022, in a 140g 2LP collection pressed by IRP.

There is never a bad time for a roundup of current turntable offerings, so today’s the day! We’ve compiled ten new and notable ’tables that span a range of MSRPs, from the instantly affordable to the champagne-budget compatible. There’s something here for everyone in our ever-expanding Analog Planet universe, so read on, and spin on. . .

The prospect of reviewing a new, ultra-deluxe 180g version of the March 1958 hard-bop classic Relaxin’ With The Miles Davis Quintet has been simultaneously daunting and exciting. It is the first time I’ve gotten my hands on one of these tasty, fancy editions that’s an upstanding member of Craft Recordings’ popular and acclaimed Small Batch series. This series uses RTI’s noted one-step vinyl manufacturing process, which effectively delivers a pressing made off a first-generation metal mother made from the original lacquer. Good news: The Craft Relaxin’ LP is nicely centered, fairly flat, and RTI’s special Neotech’s VR900 vinyl formulation is especially quiet and transparent. Read on to glean more. . .

“I’m a bit of a restless soul, and I’m interested in trying new ways and new approaches to things,” says pianist/vocalist Bruce Hornsby, quantifying the artistic scope of the even-dozen tracks that comprise his current, and quite vibrant, May 2022 studio release, ’Flicted (Zappo Productions/Thirty Tigers). ’Flicted is now available on 180g 1LP vinyl pressed by IRP in Bordentown, New Jersey, with lacquers cut by Chris Muth. Recently, Bruce Hornsby and Mike Mettler got on Zoom together to discuss why ’Flicted is perfectly suited for vinyl, why Hornsby was so meticulous about the album’s sequencing, and how he and his longtime engineer Wayne Pooley figure out what sounds work best for him in the studio.