Thank you for buying this record. What follows is its documentation: the pressing identified, the matrix / runout transcribed by hand from the dead wax, and the condition as assessed before it was listed. It is yours to keep with the record.

— Paul, Vinyl Curator

Kai Winding And J. J. Johnson

K + J.J.

c. 1956 · Bethlehem Records BCP-6001 · Mono · US · LP · 33 1/3 RPM

Kai Winding And J. J. Johnson - K + J.J.: Front Cover

Pressing details

Label	Bethlehem Records
Catalogue number	BCP-6001
Year	c. 1956
Mono / Stereo	Mono
Country	US
Format	LP
Speed	33 1/3 RPM
Genre	Jazz - Cool/Hard Bop (twin trombones)
Producer	Creed Taylor
Musicians	Kai Winding (trombone), J. J. Johnson (trombone), Dick Katz (piano), Milt Hinton (bass), Wendell Marshall (bass), Al Harewood (drums)

Matrix / Runout

Side A:  BCP6001-A XTV22907-1B GBPAT#713.418 US PAT#RE23 24X
Side B:  BCP-6001B XTV22908-1B S4X

Condition

Cover: VG+
Vinyl: NM

Variant chronology

1955 - original issue as Bethlehem BCP-13, red deep-groove label
c. 1956 - reissued under the renumbered Bethlehem BCP-6001, red leaf-cluster deep-groove label, same underlying lacquers as the BCP-13 issue  <- this copy
late 1950s - Bethlehem flat-edge label pressing of BCP-6001

This Pressing

Early mono pressing (c. 1956) on the renumbered Bethlehem BCP-6001 red leaf-cluster label, deep groove, carrying the same underlying matrix as the original BCP-13 issue.

The Album

Kai Winding and J. J. Johnson had already demonstrated the appeal of a two-trombone frontline on earlier Savoy and Prestige dates, and this Bethlehem session cemented their partnership as one of the era's most distinctive small-group identities in jazz. Recorded in New York in January 1955, the record pairs Johnson's crisp, bop-schooled precision against Winding's warmer, more legato attack across a set of standards and originals contributed by both leaders. The rhythm section is unusually deep for a working group, drawing on bassists Milt Hinton and Wendell Marshall alongside pianist Dick Katz and drummer Al Harewood, giving the two horns a supple, swinging cushion. The program mixes Broadway standards from Rodgers and Hart, Cole Porter and Noel Coward with hard-swinging originals contributed by both trombonists, built as much for two horns in tandem as for either player alone. The album stands as a high point of the mid-1950s “Jay and Kai” vogue and remains a touchstone for the twin-trombone format in jazz.

Tracklist

Side 1

1. Out Of This World (Mercer-Arlen)
2. Thou Swell (Rodgers-Hart)
3. Lover (Rodgers-Hart)
4. Lope City (Johnson)
5. Stolen Bass (Johnson)

Side 2

1. It's All Right With Me (Porter)
2. Mad About The Boy (Coward)
3. Yes Sir, That's My Baby (Kahn-Donaldson)
4. That's How I Feel About You (Winding)
5. Gong Rock (Winding)

The Label

Both sides carry Bethlehem's red leaf-cluster design - a laurel wreath enclosing a treble clef centred at the top of the label, the arced BETHLEHEM logotype above it, the East Coast Jazz Series #7 / K & J.J. credit line beneath, and the rim reading BETHLEHEM MUSIC CORP. TRADE MARK REG. and A HI-FIDELITY RECORDING / LONG PLAY 33-1/3 - with a visible deep groove on both sides. This is the label style Bethlehem used from the label's 1954 founding through the end of 1956, before it moved to a flat-rim design. The album first appeared in mid-1955 as catalogue BCP-13 and was pulled from that slot in late 1956 to be renumbered BCP-6001, the number on this cover and both labels, and the runout prefix on this copy reads the renumbered BCP-6001 form while carrying the same underlying matrix as the original BCP-13 lacquers, placing it as an early pressing made soon after the renumbering rather than a later remastered reissue.

Fidelity

The record was cut from the January 1955 New York session tapes for Bethlehem's in-house Hi-Fidelity series. Collectors generally rate the twin-trombone frontline as vividly captured for a mid-1950s independent jazz label, with good separation between Winding and Johnson's horns, though mastering and surface quality vary noticeably between pressing generations. This deep-groove, early-stamper BCP-6001 copy, sharing its matrix with the original BCP-13 lacquers, ranks above the later flat-edge Bethlehem pressings of the same catalogue number.

Notes

This copy carries the BCP-6001 catalogue number on cover and labels, the number Bethlehem assigned to the album in late 1956 after pulling it from its original BCP-13 slot. The runout prefix on both sides reads the BCP-6001 form while the underlying matrix suffixes match the original lacquers, placing it as an early pressing made soon after the renumbering rather than a later remastered reissue. Both sides show a deep groove and the red leaf-cluster label design Bethlehem used from its 1954 founding into 1956.

Documenting collections

I do this work for other people’s collections too — documenting a collection record by record, researching individual pressings, and preparing collections for sale or for insurance. If you have a collection you would like documented, or a record you want identified properly, get in touch: email

This record’s page: https://vinylcurator.net/albums/kai-winding-and-jj-johnson-k-jj/