Jammin' in Hi Fi: A Survey of Modern Jazz on Prestige & New Jazz Records, 1955-1980

by Tony Adam

During its heyday, Prestige/New Jazz was Blue Note’s principal rival and over its 20 or so years as an independent built up a modern jazz catalogue of similar volume and scope. Jammin’ in Hi Fi takes a look at 697 albums released between 1955 and 1980, the bulk of the label’s dealings with hard bop, soul-jazz, post-bop and jazz-funk in the 12” LP age. As well as the survey, there’s a snapshot of Prestige built around a series of comparisons with its more famous rival along with a section detailing the various forms of modern jazz found in the catalogue. As with Tony Adam’s previous books, Jammin’ in Hi Fi has two main to encourage experienced modern jazz fans to get even further pleasure from the music; and to help newcomers form a pathway through Prestige’s voluminous output. Technical terms are avoided for the most part and the coverage aims to be accessible (and interesting) at all points. Jammin’ in Hi Fi concludes with a list of essential Prestige/New Jazz releases.

889 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 2, 2022