The Poll Winners - The Poll Winners (1LP Vinyl) [CRAFT Recordings]

The Poll Winners by The Poll Winners.

There are records that document a band, and there are records that document a conversation. "The Poll Winners" belongs firmly in the second camp, a session built around the simple, irresistible premise of putting the finest players of the moment in a room together and letting them talk. Captured over two days on March 18 and 19, 1957, it carries the easy confidence of musicians who have nothing left to prove and everything left to say.

The program is a beautifully balanced mix of standards and originals, and it opens with a statement of intent. "Jordu" arrives first, all forward motion and interlocking rhythm, before the mood softens into the sly elegance of "Satin Doll." From there the record moves through the tender, unhurried romance of "It Could Happen To You" and the lightly swinging ache of "Mean To Me," closing out the first side with a sense of shape and pacing that never feels accidental.

Turn it over and the conversation deepens. "Don't Worry 'Bout Me" sets a reflective tone, followed by the shimmering, much loved changes of "Green Dolphin Street," a vehicle that gives everyone room to stretch and reason together. "You Go To My Head" lingers in that late night, after hours space where a ballad becomes something closer to a confession, phrased with patience and restraint.

The final stretch shows off the group's range and its sense of humor. "Minor Mood" leans into a cooler, more introspective color, a study in understatement, before "Nagasaki" sends the whole thing off with a bright, spirited flourish, the kind of closer that leaves you reaching to play the side again. It is a sequence that rewards listening straight through, each track setting up the next.

This pressing treats the music with the respect it deserves. Cut with all-analog mastering directly from the original tapes, it preserves the warmth, air, and dynamic detail of the 1957 sessions without any digital detour in the chain. The result is a presentation that lets the interplay breathe, keeping the players present and dimensional in the room with you.

Pressed on 180g vinyl and made in the U.S.A., with etched runouts in the dead wax, it is the kind of edition collectors and listeners return to again and again. For anyone drawn to the golden age of small group jazz, when taste and technique met in equal measure, "The Poll Winners" remains an essential and endlessly replayable document, and this careful reissue is a fitting way to bring it home.

Pressing Details:
Recorded March 18 and 19, 1957.

All-analog mastering from the original tapes, and pressed on 180g vinyl.

Made in U.S.A.

Runouts are etched.

Track Listing:
A1. Jordu
A2. Satin Doll
A3. It Could Happen To You
A4. Mean To Me
B1. Don't Worry 'Bout Me
B2. Green Dolphin Street
B3. You Go To My Head
B4. Minor Mood
B5. Nagasaki

Artist: The Poll Winners

Format: 1LP

Genre: Jazz

Label: Stereo Records (4)

Catalog Number: CR00386

Series: CRAFT Recordings

Release Year: 2022

Country: Germany

Condition: Sealed (New)