{"product_id":"the_cat_walk_blue_note_classic_vinyl_edition","title":"The Cat Walk (Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition)","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Cat Walk (Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition) is a 2026 all-analog reissue of Donald Byrd's 1961 hard bop album, released on May 15, 2026 as part of Blue Note's ongoing Classic Vinyl Series. The original album was recorded on May 2, 1961 at Rudy Van Gelder's legendary studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, produced by Alfred Lion, and first released on Blue Note as BLP 4075 in 1962. It captures Byrd at the peak of a remarkably prolific stretch with the label — one that also yielded Byrd in Hand (1959), At the Half Note Cafe (1960), and Royal Flush (1961) — and represents the culmination of his close working partnership with baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams, who remained Byrd's regular collaborator throughout this era. The new pressing is stereo, all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal Media studios, following the same meticulous process that has made the Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series a benchmark for audiophile jazz reissues.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe album features Byrd's quintet: Pepper Adams on baritone sax, Duke Pearson on piano, Laymon Jackson on bass, and the great Philly Joe Jones on drums — a formidable rhythm section anchoring one of the most engaging hard bop sessions of the early 1960s. All six tracks are original compositions by Byrd and Pearson, giving the record a cohesive, purpose-built quality that distinguishes it from many of its contemporaries. Side A opens with \"Say You're Mine,\" followed by \"Duke's Mixture\" and the lyrical \"Each Time I Think of You,\" while Side B is led by the jaunty, strutting title track — which gave the album its feline swagger — before closing with \"Cute\" and the bright, optimistic \"Hello Bright Sunflower.\" As Light in the Attic describes it, the band \"struts their stuff on an engaging set of swinging originals,\" with Byrd's sleek, lyrical trumpet playing off Adams' robust baritone sax to define the quintessential hard bop energy of the era. The reissue delivers the warmth and depth that the original Van Gelder recordings were always capable of — now, for the first time in decades, rendered faithfully on vinyl from the original master tapes.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Record Store","offers":[{"title":"Vinyl \/ Album","offer_id":53589013528890,"sku":"38324","price":46.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/2041\/0682\/files\/Screenshot_2026-06-10_at_1.58.23_PM.jpeg?v=1781114469","url":"https:\/\/recordstore.ca\/products\/the_cat_walk_blue_note_classic_vinyl_edition","provider":"Record Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}