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

Milt Jackson And Wes Montgomery

Bags Meets Wes!

1962 · Riverside RLP 9407 · Stereo · US · LP · 33 1/3 RPM

Pressing details

Label	Riverside
Catalogue number	RLP 9407
Year	1962
Mono / Stereo	Stereo
Country	US
Format	LP
Speed	33 1/3 RPM
Genre	Jazz - Hard Bop
Producer	Orrin Keepnews
Musicians	Milt Jackson (vibraphone), Wes Montgomery (guitar), Wynton Kelly (piano, courtesy Vee-Jay Records), Sam Jones (bass), Philly Joe Jones (drums)

Matrix / Runout

Side A:  RLP-9407A-1
Side B:  RLP-12-9407B-1

Condition

Cover: VG+
Vinyl: VG+

Variant chronology

1962 - US Riverside stereo, dark-blue tape-reel/mic label, deep groove  <- this copy
1962-63 - US Riverside mono, dark-blue tape-reel/mic label, deep groove
c.1962 - US Riverside white-label promo (mono or stereo)
1970s - Milestone/OJC 234 reissue
c.1974-2000s - Japan pressings (Riverside/Milestone/SMJ, some with OBI)
2004 - Analogue Productions 45 RPM 180g audiophile reissue

This Pressing

Original stereo pressing (1962) - Riverside dark-blue/silver tape-reel & mic label, deep groove, matrix RLP-12-9407 A/B-1.

The Album

Recorded over two December 1961 sessions in New York, Bags Meets Wes! paired Modern Jazz Quartet vibraphonist Milt Jackson with the rapidly ascending guitarist Wes Montgomery for what became one of the era's most beloved hard-bop summit meetings. Producer Orrin Keepnews built the date around a first-rate rhythm section - pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Sam Jones and drummer Philly Joe Jones - giving both leaders a supple, swinging foundation. Jackson, already established as one of jazz's most soulful blues-based improvisers, found in Montgomery a kindred melodic sensibility, and the two trade choruses with an easy, conversational rapport rather than cutting-contest fireworks. The material mixes originals from both leaders (Jackson's title-referencing

Tracklist

Side 1

1. "S.K.J." (5:14)
2. Stablemates (5:39)
3. Stairway to the Stars (3:34)
4. Blue Roz (4:43)

Side 2

1. Sam Sack (6:03)
2. Jingles (6:56)
3. Delilah (6:07)

The Label

This copy carries Riverside's second-generation label design: dark blue background with silver print, a tape-reel-and-microphone logo above the "RIVERSIDE" wordmark, "STEREOPHONIC" beneath it, and "BILL GRAUER PRODUCTIONS INC. / NEW YORK CITY" at the foot of the label, with visible deep-groove ring on both sides. This dark-blue tape-reel/mic label was Riverside's standard design from roughly 1959/60 through 1965, when it was replaced by a plain blue label (no logo, thinner print) used in 1965-66. The design, deep groove, and RLP-12-9407 matrix prefix place this squarely as an original-era 1962 stereo pressing rather than a mid/late-1960s or Fantasy-era reissue.

Fidelity

The session was engineered by Ray Fowler at Plaza Sound Studios rather than by Rudy Van Gelder, giving it a slightly drier, roomier balance than contemporaneous Van Gelder-cut Riverside/Blue Note dates; collectors generally rate the original stereo cut as warm and well-separated for its era. This original tape-reel-label stereo pressing sits at the top of the album's fidelity hierarchy for vintage copies, ahead of the later plain-blue-label Riverside pressings and the Fantasy/Milestone reissues, which are reported as flatter and more compressed. The 2004 Analogue Productions 45 RPM 180g reissue, mastered from the analog tapes, is rated by collectors on the forums as the sonic reference for the album, surpassing even clean originals in clarity and dynamics, with the standard-speed OJC reissue falling in between.

Notes

This is a 1962 US Riverside stereo original of RLP 9407. The dark blue tape-reel/mic label with silver print and deep-groove pressing match Riverside's standard 1959-1965 label design, well before the plain blue label without the logo used in 1965-66. Matrix numbers begin RLP-12-9407 A/B-1, consistent with an early stamper generation for this catalog number. Nothing on the labels or jacket points to a later Fantasy/Milestone or OJC reissue.

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