Pablo Records via Granz and Kassem

Way back in my ignorant youth I thought that Pablo Records, the label of jazz producer/promoter legend Norman Granz, was where jazz artists went to fade away, where they were put out to pasture.

- KEN MICALLEF

I thought the black discs inside Pablo's black-and-white jackets, which depicted jazz greats tracking sessions in their twilight years, couldn't compete with the music of younger jazz guns. I didn't want to hear medium-tempo swing grooves in cocktail-softened blowing "jams," or moldy standards like "Satin Doll." I wanted flamethrowers. Blazing jazz-rock tempos. Acetylene solos scorching my eardrums.

Not much that's good comes with age, but wisdom does at least some of the time, for listeners and musicians alike.

Many years on from my jazz-drumming youth, I'm a more knowledgeable collector, of jazz vinyl especially, and I'm a better listener. I know what to listen for. Analogue Productions' Chad Kassem knows, too. Years beyond his wild youth, Kassem is a shrewd purveyor of jazz reissues. His ongoing Pablo Records reissue campaign is evidence of his good ear and his dedication to all things jazz vinyl.

(Another example: The recent Miles Davis title Birth of the Blue was Kassem's idea.)

The latest additions to Kassem's Acoustic Sounds web store include four new Pablo albums, part of the scheduled reissue of 30 limited-edition titles from the 350 original Pablo releases, remastered from the original analog master tapes by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab, pressed on 180gm vinyl at Quality Record Pressings, and housed in Stoughton tip-on jackets.