Howard McGhee – Maggie’s Back In Town! – Contemporary Records (Acoustic Sounds Series) 180g Vinyl

Just in time for summer comes this reissue featuring the criminally unsung Howard McGhee, the dexterous bebop trumpeter who’s frequently compared to greats such as Dizzy Gillespie and Fats Navarro. Maggie’s Back in Town!! (Maggie was McGhee’s nickname), captures the musician’s triumphant return to music in 1961. AllMusic rates the album as, “McGhee’s finest recording of the period.” He overachieves in rhythmic fluidity, a through line that’s   particularly potent in seemingly carefree songs such as “Sunset Eyes” and the title track.

This new edition, released as part of the Contemporary Records Acoustic Sounds Series, features (AAA) lacquers cut from the original master tapes by Bernie Grundman and is pressed on 180-gram vinyl at QRP, and presented in a Stoughton Printing tip-on jacket.