Credits:

Barney Kessel

Description:

Founded in Los Angeles in 1951 by Lester Koenig, Contemporary Records established the West Coast jazz sound (a subgenre of cool jazz, more laid-back than hard bop or bebop), and the label's staff engineers Howard Holzer and Roy Dunant ( The recording skills of the label's staff engineers, Howard Holzer and Roy Dunant (Roy was the mentor of legendary mastering engineer Bernie Grundman), have made Contemporary Records a favorite of audiophiles for over 70 years, and to celebrate their 70th anniversary, the label is releasing their most popular recordings on high-resolution CD for the first time! The recordings by legendary engineer Roy Dunant were mastered from the original tapes by Bernie Grundman, who has spent his career at Contemporary and looks up to Dunant as a mentor, and the latest remastered sound sources were used in 2022. The Pole Winners" was formed by the members who won the first prize in their respective instrumental categories in Downbeat, Metronome, and Playboy magazine's jazzmen polls. This 1957 recording features the three members, all of whom possess outstanding technique, performing with a sophisticated and smart performance that is unmistakably West Coast. Bernie Kessel (g), Ray Brown (b), Sherry Mann (ds) ★Recorded in Los Angeles, March 18 and 19, 1957