An Impulse! buy: Legendary label anthologised in new box set for autumn release

Vinyl Me, Please (VMP), the Verve Label Group, and Impulse! Records has announced the release of VMP Anthology: The Story of Impulse!, a new eight-album vinyl box set that charts the flow of the legendary label from John Coltrane beginning to push his own boundaries to his widow Alice Coltrane expanding the palette of spiritual jazz.

The eight albums are:  John Coltrane’s Africa/Brass (1961); Passim’ Thru by Chico Hamilton (1963); singer Lorez Alexandria’s Alexandria the Great (1964); Charles Mingus’ 1964 classic Mingus Plays Piano; Hungarian guitar master Gabor Szabó’s Jazz Raga (1967); Chicken Fat by Mel Brown (1967); Pharoah Sanders’ Karma (1969) and, last but not least, from 1970, Alice Coltrane’s Ptah the El Daoud. All albums come on 180g black vinyl, packaged in facsimile sleeves and will be pressed at Vinyl Media Pressing in Denver, Colorado, overseen by Gary Salstrom.

The premium box in which the eight albums are packaged – and which liner note author and jazz writer Ben Ratcliff says is “designed with an eye towards capturing the original spirit of Impulse!’s design” – will come with a 28-page booklet written by Ratliff. The first edition will be limited to 2,000 units, and the first six titles are all-analogue (AAA) mastered from tape sources. The seventh, Karma, is mastered from hybrid master tapes and high-quality digital sources, and the eighth, Ptah, The El Daoud, is mastered from “the highest quality digital masters”. Lacquers were cut by renowned engineers Ryan Smith and Barry Grint. The release of the box will be accompanied by a podcast series.

“The podcast offers a unique perspective and insight on each album and was produced in close conjunction with the Impulse! team,” says Ratcliffe. “Find it on streaming services when your Anthology ships, and listen to each corresponding episode as you make your way through the records in your box”.

VMP is a US-based vinyl store which started as a record of the month club in 2013 and has since expanded into an online record store and magazine. It is not necessary to join, but members/subscribers get discounts (for example, $50 off the Impulse! set) and exclusive gifts and merchandise. Previous VMP Anthology jazz box sets have covered Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis’ ‘electric period’, the Cadet and Blue Note labels and Quincy Jones.

The set is expected to ship in the late autumn of 2023, and is priced at $350, plus $30 shipping if you’re in the UK or Europe. Every purchaser of The Story of Impulse! will get a surprise bonus piece of official Impulse! merchandise.

For more info and pre-orders visit www.vinylmeplease.com/products/the-story-of-impulse-records