The Fabulous Fats Navarro Volume 1 - Fats Navarro (1LP Vinyl) [Classic Vinyl Series]

The Fabulous Fats Navarro Volume 1 by Fats Navarro.

Few names in the story of bebop trumpet carry the weight of Fats Navarro, and "The Fabulous Fats Navarro Volume 1" makes a persuasive case for why. This is a collection that gathers some of the most vital work he committed to tape in the late 1940s, capturing an artist whose brilliance burned briefly but left a mark that generations of players would chase.

The bulk of the record reaches back to a single day, September 26, 1947, at WOR Studios in New York City, where tracks A1 through A6 along with B4 and B5 were recorded. This is the heart of the album, and it is a treasure for anyone fascinated by how a session actually unfolds. Here you get "Our Delight," "The Squirrel," "The Chase," and "Dameronia" each presented alongside its alternate master, a rare chance to hear the music breathe and shift between takes, to catch the small decisions and variations that separate one performance from the next.

Those pairings are the real gift of this pressing. Placing the alternate master of "Our Delight" next to the issued take, then doing the same for "The Squirrel," "The Chase," and "Dameronia," turns the listening experience into something close to a study session. You can trace the phrasing, the tempo, the way ideas are tested and refined, all from a single afternoon of inspired playing.

The second side widens the frame in time. "Wail" and "Bouncing With Bud," both presented as alternate masters, come from an August 9, 1949 session at WOR Studios, offering a glimpse of Navarro closer to the end of his short career. Tucked between the WOR material is "Double Talk," recorded at the Apex Studios in New York City on October 11, 1948, a nice contrast in setting and a welcome change of scenery on an album otherwise anchored to WOR.

Everything here sits squarely in the classic bebop idiom, the music that redefined jazz in the postwar years and demanded a new kind of virtuosity from the horn. Navarro's tone, full and clean and utterly assured, is the through line across every track, whether he is tearing through the changes or shaping a melody with that unmistakable poise.

The runouts are etched, a detail collectors will appreciate. For the listener who wants to understand where modern jazz trumpet came from, and for the collector building a serious shelf of bebop essentials, "The Fabulous Fats Navarro Volume 1" is a cornerstone record and a document of an artist at the peak of his powers.

Pressing Details:
Recorded at the WOR Studios, NYC, on September 26, 1947 (tracks A1 to A6, B4, B5), on August 9, 1949 (tracks B1, B2) and at the Apex Studios, NYC, on October 11, 1948 (track B3).

Runouts are etched.

Track Listing:
A1. Our Delight (Alternate Master)
A2. Our Delight
A3. The Squirrel (Alternate Master)
A4. The Squirrel
A5. The Chase (Alternate Master)
A6. The Chase
B1. Wail (Alternate Master)
B2. Bouncing With Bud (Alternate Master)
B3. Double Talk
B4. Dameronia (Alternate Master)
B5. Dameronia

Artist: Fats Navarro

Format: 1LP

Genre: Jazz

Label: Blue Note

Catalog Number: 5507712

Series: Classic Vinyl Series

Release Year: 2023

Country: United States

Condition: Sealed (New)