Woody Shaw Album Song of Songs Reissued on Vinyl

Jazz Dispensary has reissued Woody Shaw's 1973 album Song of Songs on vinyl for the first time in over 50 years as part of the Top Shelf series. The edition features analog mastering by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio and is pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Fidelity Record Pressing. The release is presented in a tip-on jacket that reproduces the original Contemporary Records design. The album is also returning to digital streaming platforms in standard and HD audio quality.

Shaw recorded the album with a sextet consisting of Emanuel Boyd on flute and tenor saxophone, George Cables on keyboards, Henry Franklin on bass, Woodrow Theus II on drums, and Ramon Morris on tenor saxophone. Bennie Maupin performed on the track The Goat and the Archer, a composition inspired by Shaw's Capricorn sign. The roughly 12-minute opening track was developed from an Indonesian five-note scale and dedicated to the people of Southeast Asia.

Born in New Jersey in 1944, Shaw drew the attention of Eric Dolphy, Willie Bobo, and Bud Powell early in his career. Shaw signed with Contemporary Records and released the album Blackstone Legacy. Later, his 1978 album Rosewood was voted Jazz Album of the Year by readers of DownBeat magazine. Young trumpeters Terence Blanchard, Wynton Marsalis, and Chris Botti were influenced by Shaw's work, and Marsalis and Botti studied with Shaw in the 1980s.