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, appearing courtesy of 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 mono, black/silver tape-reel deep-groove label, RLP 407
1962 - US stereo, black/silver tape-reel deep-groove label, RLP 9407  <- this copy
1962 - UK/France/Australia/New Zealand pressings, RLP 407
1963 - Netherlands/Europe pressing, RLP 9407
1966 - US reissue, plain blue label without tape-reel logo, RS 9407/RM 407
1974 - Japan pressing, SMJ-6058
1986 - US Original Jazz Classics reissue, OJC-234
2004 - US Analogue Productions 45 RPM 2xLP reissue, AJAZ 9407

This Pressing

Original 1962 US stereo pressing - Riverside black/silver tape-reel Inc. label, deep groove, matrix RLP-12-9407 A/B-1.

The Album

Recorded over two sessions in New York in December 1961, this album brought together Modern Jazz Quartet vibraphonist Milt Jackson and the fast-rising guitarist Wes Montgomery for one of the era's most celebrated hard-bop summit meetings. Producer Orrin Keepnews surrounded the two leaders with a first-call rhythm section - pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Sam Jones and drummer Philly Joe Jones - that gave the date a relaxed, swinging foundation rather than a cutting-contest atmosphere. Jackson, already one of jazz's most blues-steeped improvisers through his work with the MJQ, found an unusually sympathetic melodic partner in Montgomery, and the two trade ideas with an easy, conversational warmth across the set's originals and standards. The material balances compositions contributed by both principals with jazz staples, letting each musician's voice emerge clearly within a shared groove. The record arrived at a pivotal moment for Montgomery, whose octave-and-chord-driven guitar style was winning him wide attention beyond the hard-bop audience that already knew Jackson. Critically, the album has endured as a benchmark meeting of two very different but complementary melodic sensibilities, frequently cited among the finest two-horn-style (here vibes-and-guitar) summit dates of the period. It remains a touchstone in both musicians' discographies and a favorite entry point for listeners exploring soulful, blues-rooted hard bop.

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

The side labels show Riverside's grey-ground tape-reel-and-microphone design with the RIVERSIDE wordmark at top, STEREOPHONIC beneath it, and BILL GRAUER PRODUCTIONS INC. / NEW YORK CITY at the foot - the stereo (black/silver) version of the Inc.-era tape-reel label used on RLP 334-476 from roughly 1960 to 1964, before the plainer thin-serif blue label of 1965-66. Both sides show a deep-groove ring, a pressing feature carried by the earliest stampers for this catalogue number. This places the copy within Riverside's original-issue window for RLP 9407 rather than the mid-1960s reissue or the later Fantasy/Milestone/OJC pressings, which use a different, logo-free label.

Fidelity

The session was engineered by Ray Fowler at Plaza Sound Studios rather than by Rudy Van Gelder, giving it a somewhat drier, roomier balance than contemporaneous Van Gelder-cut Riverside 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 among vintage copies, ahead of the later plain-label Riverside pressings and the Fantasy/Milestone/OJC reissues, which are considered flatter and more compressed. A 2004 45 RPM audiophile 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 reissue falling in between.

Notes

This is a 1962 US Riverside stereo original of RLP 9407. The tape-reel/microphone label with Bill Grauer Productions Inc. and the deep-groove ring on both sides are Riverside's original-issue label design used from about 1960 through 1964, well before the plain blue logo-free label of 1965-66. The matrix numbers read RLP-12-9407 A/B-1, an early stamper for this catalogue number. The labels and jacket are not those of the later plain-label Riverside pressing or of the Fantasy/Milestone/OJC reissues.

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