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

Lester Young

The Master's Touch

c. 1956-1958 · London-Savoy (Savoy, licensed Canadian pressing) MG 12071 · Mono · Canada (London-Savoy custom pressing, distributed by London Records of Canada Ltd.) · LP · 33 1/3 RPM

Pressing details

Label	London-Savoy (Savoy, licensed Canadian pressing)
Catalogue number	MG 12071
Year	c. 1956-1958
Mono / Stereo	Mono
Country	Canada (London-Savoy custom pressing, distributed by London Records of Canada Ltd.)
Format	LP
Speed	33 1/3 RPM
Genre	Jazz - Swing / Mainstream (Kansas City big-band alumni)
Producer	Ozzie Cadena
Musicians	Lester Young (tenor sax, all tracks), Jesse Drakes (trumpet, A1-A2, A4-A7), Jerry Elliott (trombone, A1-A2, A4-A7), Junior Mance (piano, A1-A2, A4-A7), LeRoy Jackson (bass, A1-A2, A4-A7), Roy Haynes (drums, A1-A2, A4-A7), Count Basie (piano, A3, B1), Roy Eldridge (trumpet, A3, B1), Freddie Green (guitar), Billy Butterfield (trumpet, B2-B6), Hank D'Amico (clarinet, B2-B6), Johnny Guarnieri (piano, B2-B6), Dexter Hall (guitar, B2-B6), Billy Taylor (bass, B2-B6), Cozy Cole (drums, B2-B6), Buddy Tate (tenor sax, B7-B8), Harry Edison (trumpet, B7-B8), Al Killian (trumpet, B7-B8), Ed Lewis (trumpet, B7-B8), Joe Newman (trumpet, B7-B8), Dickie Wells (trombone, B7-B8), Louis Taylor (trombone, B7-B8), Theodore Donnelly (trombone, B7-B8), Rodney Richardson (bass, B7-B8), Jo Jones (drums, B7-B8)

Matrix / Runout

Side A:  MG 12071A RVG P
Side B:  MG 12071B RVG

Condition

Cover: VG
Vinyl: EX+

Variant chronology

1956 - US Savoy red/maroon label, deep groove, RVG stamp
1956-58 - Canadian London-Savoy pink label, "LONDON SAVOY RECORDS" arc, note logo, distributed by London Records of Canada, Made in Canada rim text, RVG stamp carried over from US metal parts <- this copy
1976 (and later) - Savoy "Lester Young Memorial" reissue, maroon label, same MG 12071 number - lower band, no documented sale in evidence
1993 - Japanese pressing

This Pressing

Canadian London-Savoy custom pressing (c. 1956-58) of Savoy MG 12071 - pink London-Savoy label, RVG etch carried from the US Van Gelder lacquers.

The Album

The Master's Touch anthologizes Lester Young's 1944 Savoy studio dates, drawing together alternate and master takes from the sessions that produced some of his most enduring small-group sides just before his induction into the Army disrupted his career. Young was already the defining tenor stylist to emerge from the Count Basie band, and these sessions capture him at the peak of his light, floating, harmonically advanced tenor conception, alongside fellow Basie-ites like Basie himself, Buddy Tate, Jo Jones, Freddie Green and Harry Edison, as well as swing contemporaries such as Roy Eldridge, Cozy Cole and Billy Butterfield. Compiling both issued masters and rejected alternate takes side by side, the set gave listeners an unusually intimate look at Young's improvisational process, letting them hear how a phrase or solo shifted from take to take. The album stands as a key document of the transition from big-band swing to the small-combo language that would feed directly into bebop, with Young's behind-the-beat phrasing and airy tone pointing the way for a generation of tenor players. Critically, it has long been prized by jazz historians and collectors as essential Lester Young, filling in the picture between his celebrated Basie-era work and his postwar Verve and Aladdin recordings. Its reputation rests on the sheer quality of the playing across these compact, blues-drenched performances, cementing Young's status as one of the most influential improvisers in jazz history.

Tracklist

Side 1

1. Crazy Over Jazz - Take 2 New
2. Crazy Over Jazz - Take 3 Original
3. Ghost Of A Chance - Take 2 Original
4. Ding Dong - Take 2 New
5. Ding Dong - Take 3 Original
6. Blues N' Bells - Take 2 New
7. Blues N' Bells - Take 3 Original

Side 2

1. Indiana - Take 2 Original
2. Basie English - Take 2 Original
3. Salute To Fats - Take 2 Short
4. Salute To Fats - Take 5 Original
5. Exercise In Swing - Take 3 New
6. Exercise In Swing - Take 4 Original
7. Circus In Rhythm - Take 2 Original
8. Tush - Take 2 Original

The Label

This copy carries the pink "LONDON SAVOY RECORDS" label with a single stylized eighth-note logo inside a red semicircle, the "NON-BREAKABLE - 33 1/3 RPM" arc, and rim text reading "LONG PLAYING MICROGROOVE ... NOT LICENSED FOR RADIO BROADCAST ... MADE IN CANADA" - this is the London-Savoy custom-pressed Canadian label used when London Records of Canada Ltd. (per the back-cover distribution credit) pressed Savoy titles under license in the mid-to-late 1950s, distinct from the US Savoy red/maroon house label used on the American original. The runout still carries the RVG (Rudy Van Gelder) etch, showing the Canadian pressing plant worked from metal parts derived from the same Van Gelder-cut US lacquers rather than a fresh Canadian mastering. This places the disc as a contemporary licensed Canadian counterpart to the 1956 US Savoy first pressing, not a later Savoy "Lester Young Memorial" reissue (which used a different maroon US label) and not the 1990s Japanese pressing.

Fidelity

The source for this pressing is Rudy Van Gelder's original 1944-era mono mastering for Savoy, carried over onto the metal parts used by the Canadian London-Savoy custom pressing plant rather than a separate transfer or remaster. Collectors on the forums rate original Van Gelder-sourced Savoy pressings as generally warm but limited by the source recordings' 1944-vintage fidelity, with deep-groove US originals prized as the sonic reference. As a licensed foreign pressing from the same metal, this Canadian copy should sound very close to a contemporary US Savoy pressing, though Canadian custom-pressing quality control was historically considered a notch below top US jazz-specialist plants; it ranks below a first US Savoy pressing but above later 1970s-80s Savoy reissues and the digitally-sourced Japanese and CD reissues.

Notes

This copy is the Canadian custom pressing of Savoy MG 12071, identified by the pink "LONDON SAVOY RECORDS" label design and the back-cover credit "Distributed in Canada by London Records of Canada Ltd.", rather than the US Savoy red/maroon house label. The runout carries an RVG etch on both sides, showing the Canadian plant pressed from metal parts sourced from Rudy Van Gelder's original US mastering rather than a separate Canadian cut. Deep-groove vinyl on both sides is consistent with the mid-to-late 1950s manufacturing window for this licensed pressing. No US-style Plastylite or other US plant stamp is present in the transcription, consistent with Canadian rather than US manufacture.

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