Places where record collectors hang out online are full of threads about “grey market” European pressings of Jazz from the 50s and early 60s. Many of these take advantage of some “loopholes” in coverage of copyright and press vinyl sourced from CDs or existing records ripped to digital.

When I picked this up, I worried that Jazztwin was one such label: a 180g vinyl compilation of Chet Baker from the 50s with artwork drawn from Getty Images and Archive Cameraphoto. There’s even a misprint on the spine: “Deep n a Dream.”

I still don’t know anything, really, about Jazztwin – a Spanish label with a focus on Jazz recordings from this era. All I know is for me, on my system, this sounds fantastic and I’m really glad I picked it up. It may be digitally sourced – there’s very little information about the sources of the tracks – but it is well pressed, quiet, and sounds great to me.

These were all recorded between 1952 and 1959 with various groups including Gerry Mulligan, Bill Evans, Herbie Mann, Russ Freeman, and other luminaries.

My copy via Cheapo Records in Minneapolis MN