Craft Recordings is closing out 2025 with a bang in the Original Jazz Classics series. Seven reissues hit vinyl and hi-res digital, giving jazz fans another reason to celebrate a year that’s already been loaded with standout releases. Titles include Hank Mobley’s Jazz Message #2, Wes Montgomery’s Boss Guitar, Art Pepper’s Surf Ride, Sonny Rollins’ Plus 4, Yusef Lateef’s Jazz Mood, and the Red Garland Quartet’s Soul Junction and After Hours, featuring Thad Jones, Frank Wess, Kenny Burrell, and Mal Waldron.
This year marks the first time Savoy titles from Yusef Lateef, Hank Mobley, and Art Pepper join the series, expanding its already impressive lineup. All seven albums are available for pre-order on 180-gram vinyl and digital hi-res audio, with releases rolling out between October 24 and December 5.
2025 has been a strong showing for Original Jazz Classics. Earlier in the year, the series delivered standout editions from Mal Waldron and Frank Wess, Lee Morgan, Benny Golson, Ken McIntyre, and Eric Dolphy. Reviews are on the way for the Kenny Drew Trio and Kenny Burrell releases, further proving that Craft isn’t just reissuing history—they’re curating it with precision and care.
These reissues aren’t just a quick cash grab—they’re done right. Lacquers are cut from the original tapes (AAA) by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio, pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI, and housed in tip-on jackets faithfully reproducing the original artwork. Every title also drops digitally in 192/24 hi-res audio on the same date as the vinyl, so you can experience these classics exactly as they were meant to be heard.
Yusef Lateef – Jazz Mood
Yusef Lateef drops Jazz Mood, his first record, and stakes his claim as a world-music maverick. Fresh off touring with Dizzy Gillespie, he locks in with bassist Ernest Farrow (Alice Coltrane’s brother) and trombonist Curtis Fuller.
Tenor sax, lute-like rabat on the moody “Morning,” flute-like argol on the sharp, staccato “Metaphor”—Lateef mixes East and West like it’s nothing, and somehow it works. Hard-bop roots, adventurous spirit, unmistakable voice.
Pre-order: $38.98 at Amazon (available October 24, 2025)
Hank Mobley – Jazz Message #2
Hank Mobley’s Jazz Message #2 is a two-session masterstroke from an underrated sax titan. The lineup reads like a who’s who: Donald Byrd and a teenage Lee Morgan on trumpet, Barry Harris and Hank Jones on piano, Doug Watkins holding down bass, and Kenny Clarke and Art Taylor on drums. Somehow, all that fire fits into just over 30 minutes.
And every second counts. Mobley’s hard bop prowls confidently through “Doug’s Minor B’OK” and “Thad’s Blues,” each note backed by a dream team that pushes him—and the music—further. Tight, lethal, essential.
Pre-order: $38.98 at Amazon (available October 24, 2025)
Art Pepper – Surf Ride
Art Pepper’s Surf Ride blows in like a stiff West Coast wind—light, breezy, unstoppable. By 1957, DownBeat had already crowned him one of jazz’s top alto saxophonists, just a step behind Charlie Parker.
This is Pepper at his free-spirited best. “Susie the Poodle” bounces with energy, the title track swings cool and sharp, and pianist Hampton Hawes keeps pace every step of the way. West Coast jazz never sounded so alive.
Pre-order: $38.98 at Amazon (available November 14, 2025)
Sonny Rollins – Plus 4
Plus 4 drops in 1956, the same year Clifford Brown and pianist Richard Powell died in a car crash. Rollins—once a janitor—joins the Brown/Max Roach Quintet to create a life-affirming tribute to their creative spark.
The chemistry here is electric, sometimes off-kilter, always thrilling. Tracks like “Valse Hot” and “Kiss and Run” burn with the tension and joy of musicians pushing each other to the edge. Rollins proves hard bop can hit you in the gut and lift you at the same time.
Pre-order: $38.98 at Amazon (available November 21, 2025)
Wes Montgomery – Boss Guitar
Only Wes Montgomery—GRAMMY winner, guitarist idolized by Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix—could call a 1963 album Boss Guitar and make it stick.
Original track “The Trick Bag” steals the show, a masterclass in cadence, control, and velocity. His agile take on “Besame Mucho” turns a Latin standard into something effortless yet precise. Montgomery would eventually leave bop behind, but Boss Guitar is a reminder: mastery doesn’t need to shout—it just commands.
Pre-order: $38.98 at Amazon (available November 21, 2025)
Thad Jones, Frank Wess, Kenny Burrell and Mal Waldron – After Hours
Thad Jones takes the reins on this bop sextet, joined by Mal Waldron on piano, Kenny Burrell on guitar, Frank Wess on flute and tenor, Paul Chambers on bass, and Art Taylor on drums. Alumni of Count Basie’s band, Jones and Wess steal the spotlight.
“Empty Street” runs over 12 minutes, a gloriously boozy, blues-soaked duel that cuts through the album’s more frenzied tracks. Every note brims with experience and swagger—this is After Hours in every sense of the phrase.
Pre-order: $38.98 at Amazon (available December 5, 2025)
Red Garland Quintet – Soul Junction
Recorded in November 1957 and released three years later, Soul Junction pairs Red Garland with a killer lineup: John Coltrane on tenor, Donald Byrd on trumpet, Art Taylor on drums, and George Joyner on bass. Future jazz legends testing the blues—and winning.
Garland was at his peak, having honed his touch with the Miles Davis Quintet. The 15-and-a-half-minute title track is a masterclass in restrained virtuosity, letting Garland’s fingers dance across the keys with precision and flair. Endurance meets elegance, and the result is pure, unhurried mastery.
Pre-order: $38.98 at Amazon (available December 5, 2025)