While the Stones and the Beatles have revitalized the literal tone of their repeatedly sold classic album catalogs with all-analog and mono collections dedicated to their earliest works, it’s only recently that the jazz canon has been treated to such diversity — or, perhaps, reverse-ity — in reapplying what was once, and should be again.
Certainly, two tail-end of 2025 looks at John Coltrane’s catalog — a bullet-blunt mono version of A Love Supreme at Impulse!/Verve and 1960-1964 Mono featuring Atlantic classics Giant Steps, Coltrane Jazz, My Favorite Things, Olé Coltrane, Coltrane Plays the Blues and Coltrane’s Sound in one Rhino High Fidelity Series box — are at the top of the heap, as is everything new in that continuing collection. After Blue Note started its analog, premium-packaged Tone Poet series, their 2024-born Classic Vinyl Reissue series has additionally picked up the mantle of mono and the attraction to analog when it comes to the jazz canon.
So the mono and all-analog bug for archival releases is now a de rigeur practice, and a saleable, marketable major-label entity beyond the reach of higher-priced audiophile labels.
Like Blue Note and Rhino (which additionally releases analog-heavy Rhino Reserves albums such as Mingus’s Blues & Roots and Roland Kirk’s The Inflated Tear), Verve/UMe has several labels that captures the warmth of mono and all-analog aesthetics with its Vinylphyle audiophile vinyl reissue series, Verve Vault Verve by Request and Acoustic Sounds releasing everything from Sonny Rollins’s Alfie and Stan Getz’s Getz Au Go Go to Duke Ellington & Johnny Hodges’ Side By Side and the eponymously titled debut from Ben Webster & Associates.
Ken Druker, SVP of Jazz Development at the Verve Label Group, told me that the single imperative driving all his labels is the quality of the jazz itself.
“If the music on the original recording isn’t of the highest quality, none of the other factors that could come into play matter,” says Druker. “Once we’ve identified music that’s worthy of reissuing at the highest quality, then we begin the process of locating and evaluating the original analog sources, identifying and reproducing the original LP issue and finding appropriate images for the reissue, if necessary.”
Mixing in Mono
For a more macro look at what Verve has cooking, Ryan Smith — the artist who handles UMe audiophile-focused concepts such as Acoustic Sounds, Verve Vault and the new A Love Supreme mono edition — piped in.
“My approach always starts with respect and consideration for the original release,” states Smith. “I’m hoping to create a well-balanced, excellent sounding rendition that is still true to the artist’s original intention. Mastering all-analog gives me the ability to approach these records the same way they were mastered originally. We do have more and better tools at our disposal in 2026, which hopefully translates to a better disc transfer. In the end we get the best of both worlds, a vintage approach with more modern equipment that allows what was put to tape 60 or more years ago to be heard as it’s never been before.”
While familiarizing himself with the material and assessing its source tapes, Smith notes that in some cases, old tape boxes are confusingly marked and some tapes are in better shape than others. “Having original sources really is the key to being able to faithfully recreate these records. There’s a lot of time and care that goes into making sure I’m getting the best possible playback out of my tape machine. This involves experimenting with tape machine alignment and sometimes doing some restorative work on the analog tapes, fixing splices and leaders, etc. Once the tape choice and playback are settled, then I can move on to mastering decisions and lacquer cutting.”
With A Love Supreme and the upcoming mono Ascension, Smith had a field day in the Verve lab.
“For many of these recordings, mono was the primary release format — it’s what the artists and producer would have monitored in the studio during the recording sessions,” states Smith. “Stereo was still in its infancy in the early ’60s. The mono versions represent what most people would have heard when these recordings were new. In some cases, the stereo mix would have been secondary to the mono. So, the benefit is simple — we’re getting to hear a record as it was originally made!
“It’s amazing how good the original engineers were at mixing in mono,” Smith adds. “Even with only one channel, there’s often more depth than you might imagine was possible… I’m very excited for Coltrane’s Ascension. I’ve had the honor of working on quite a few Coltrane titles, mainly from the Impulse! catalog. I started off in this life as a saxophone player and Coltrane has forever been a favorite. I know many fans have been clamoring for a proper reissue of Ascension… I hope these reissues will sound familiar and brand new at the same time.”
Strata-East Re-enters the Field
When speaking with Ched Tolliver, son of trumpeter Charles Tolliver and CEO of the recently reborn Strata-East Records — the New York–based label founded by his father and pianist Stanley Cowell — about their present-day revival through Mack Avenue, he beamed with pride when discussing The Strata-East Collection and its all-analog rebirths for albums such as the Heath Brothers’ Marchin’ On!, Pharaoh Sanders’ Izipho Zam, Cecil McBee’s Mutima and Charles Tolliver’s Music Inc. with Cowell.
“Strata-East was kind of the punk rock of jazz if you get the meaning,” says the younger Tolliver. “It was created because its founders couldn’t get their music picked up at other mainstream labels. The values and mission statement of Strata-East are still the same as they were well over 50 years ago when our founders started the label.” Tolliver rattles these off: Creative Expression and Artistic Freedom, Historical and Cultural Knowledge, Defiance and Resistance, and Quality and Class.
“Strata-East was born out of the need to not be beholden to a system that didn’t accept you, that didn’t see you,” Tolliver adds. “When you don’t feel like you fit into a mold or box, create your own mold, shatter the box. That’s exactly what Strata-East did. As a result, the label was a revolutionary vehicle for true artistic freedom and creative expression that reflected the Black experience in America during the ’60s and ’70s.”
I asked Tolliver to say more about how these Strata-East records sounded at the time of their initial release and what the hoped-for result was for their re-release. He said a mouthful so I will give him the floor:
“When you’re working with a living legend like my father, who is also a founder of the company, all the knowledge is there. Charles embodies the essence of what Strata-East is. He also has many titles in the catalog and was there from the beginning over 50 years ago, and so was an invaluable resource. And his memory is very sharp.
“So my partner David Yorkin and I spent countless hours just speaking with Charles, asking lots of questions and going through the catalog. Those were amazing and informative conversations about archeology. What’s exciting then is bringing new life to these recordings through the remastering process, which is restorative.
“And there’s no one better to do this with than the incredible mastering engineer, Kevin Gray. Through his lifelong career in mastering and his custom-built system, Kevin puts you in the room with these great artists. Every detail is there, every subtle and discreet nuance present. The tapes come alive — it’s an audiophile’s dream. Kevin operates at the highest level of his craft.
“You then must choose your pressing plant wisely because you’ve done all this work to create these lacquers, which will be turned into stampers, which will press your vinyl. You need meticulous attention to detail and wealth of experience that can only come with a record pressing operation like Record Technology, Inc.
“RTI’s process, superior vinyl and quality control is unmatched. You do all this and hopefully you’ve successfully shepherded these amazing works through a production process that gives the fans and connoisseurs of the music a sense of what these recordings really sounded like in their purest form.” JT