Vinyl Me, Please Unboxed – Teo Macero ‘Teo’

Good things comes in 12 inch packages. Delivering limited edition vinyl pressings of new and classic albums directly to your doorstep, VMP operates under a simple philosophy: The Album Lives! With a carefully curated catalog of new and hard to find releases, the subscription service is more than just a record club, it’s a lifestyle choice for folks who wish Record Store Day could happen every month… in their living room.

Here’s how it works. You send Vinyl Me, Please some of your hard-earned money (a 3-month membership will set you back about $119) and they send you one carefully selected album they feel is Essential to any record collection. Yes, it truly is as easy as it sounds. You even get FREE SHIPPING. Each custom pressing (often on colored vinyl!) also comes with killer extras like original artwork and informative listening companion booklet.

You’ll have membership privileges in the VMP store too, which means you can grab a copy of previous VMP selections from the archives – including their immaculate reissue of Gary Bartz’s long out of print spiritual jazz marvel Another Earth – or choose from a slate of super-limited releases pressed exclusively for Vinyl Me, Please. The store is open, and Team VMP are dropping fresh new selections to their stock every single week. Do not miss out.

Word to the wise, while the store is open to the public, subscribers are privy to reduced “Members Pricing,” so joining the club definitely has extra rewards. If you’re peckish about relinquishing control of your record collection to complete strangers, know that VMP’s Swaps Program is in full effect. That means you can flip any VMP pick you’re not interested in for a past featured album from any track (including Essentials, Classics, and Rap/Hip Hop). My advice? Don’t overthink it. Do your turntable a favor and sign up today.

As for August, I swapped into the Classics track to pick up an unheralded jazz classic from Mr. Teo Macero. Here’s a look.

For The Love Of Vinyl, Please DO NOT BEND

If you’re curious why I swapped into the Vinyl Me, Please Classics track this month, it’s because the Essentials pick is DMX’s smash hit release from 1998, It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot. And as much as I love the title of the album, I’ve never been a huge fan of the music therein. Rest assured, if you are a fan of DMX’s flow, I’ve heard nothing but great things about this VMP pressing. So you can likely buy with a fair amount of confidence.

With a Swap on deck this month, I did what I tend to do on such occasions and checked out the available albums on VMP’s Classics track. From those swaptions I turned up and absolute banger in the guise of Teo Macero’s 1957 jazz classic, Teo. It is, perhaps, bad form to call a jazz record from ’57 a “banger,” and I offer sincerest apologies if I’ve offended any of the true blue jazz heads out there. But as someone who was little more than casually aware of Macero before I gave Teo a spin, I’ll admit to being truly blown away by what I heard on first listen … and for my money, anything that moves like this album did is worthy of such a label.

Speaking of labels, composer and band leader were not the primary ones ascribed to Teo Macero in the 1950s and 1960s, with the saxophonist initially making a name as a producer. Yes, Macero has made a substantial name for himself in that capacity throughout his career, serving as producer on works from titans of the scene like Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Dave Brubeck, John Coltrane, and Charles Mingus, among countless others. Macero, of course, also contributed an original composition or two to many of the albums he produced, and by ’57 he had enough songs ready to record that the time was right to release an album all his own.

To do so, he went to the hallowed halls of Prestige Records, whose esteem in the jazz arena of the day was on par with the likes of Columbia and Blue Note. That was in no small part due to the contributions of the label’s inhouse band, The Prestige Jazz Quartet, which, in 1957, consisted of vibraphonist Teddy Charles, pianist Mal Waldron, bassist Addison Farmer, and drummer Jerry Segal.

That is indeed the crew that took to the studio with Teo Macero to lay down the tracks on Teo, with Macero himself playing saxaphone on the album. Together, that crew recorded six jazzy compositions as astonishingly forward thinking as they were firmly entrenched in the traditions of the form. Charles’ vibraphone is prominent throughout, giving Teo a spaced-out lounge feel, with Macero’s singular style of playing serving to fill out the sound in compelling, if sometimes understated fashion.

Macero was, of course, at the forefront of the experimental jazz scene of the 1950s, so it was hardly surprising that Teo did not fit snugly into the prevailing bop and hard bop methods, which were coming into their own at the time of the album’s release. In that capacity, Teo stands as a mission statement of sorts, signaling the off-the-bean-path track Macero would take in his career, with the artist pushing boundaries in his own compositions for as long as he was involved in music. And as far as debut albums go, Teo is a table-stting stunner that will serve as a stately gateway into arguably one of jazz’s more underrated titans.

Cover Matters

Not gonna waste any time waxing poetic on this cover, except to say it’s an instant all-timer for me and I don’t preciesly know why. Whatever the reason, I’ll just go ahead and leave a shot here for one and all to admire.

Flip it over and you’ll find a few words about the album and the recording sessions that produced it. There’s also a list of who played what on the record, if that matters to you.

And, of course, there’s the solid gold VMP Classics foil stamp, forever proclaiming that Vinyl Me, Please has deemed Teo worthy of any record collection.

Just out of the protective sleeve, you’ll find an OBI-strip cradling the spine of your album. On it, there’s some info that might be of interest to Vinyl Me, Please devotees, such as Teo‘s catalogue number in the VMP Classics vaults. There’s also an excerpt from the album’s listening companion booklet, penned by jazz head and pop culture scribe Jason Diamond.

As for the booklet, Diamond takes a proper deep dive into the recording of Teo, detailing Macero’s approach to the songs and his legacy in the jazz arena.

Historically, every album on the Vinyl Me, Please Classics track has been presssed ong glossy black wax. So too has Teo Macero’s masterful Teo. And yes, that vinyl looks a lovely on my deck as any VMP pressing that’s preceded it.

Give VMP a spin

How’s it sound? Simultaneously free of form and meticulously orchestrated, just as any great jazz record should. In all honesty, Teo sounds better than most of the jazz records I currently own – Vinyl Me, Please or otherwise – and I could not be happier to have added this one to my collection.

Moreover, I’m beyond thrilled to have been exposed to an artist that I might not have otherwise been aware of in any real capacity. In case there’s any quesiton, Teo Macero is a name any jazz lover, casual or otherwise, should have on their radar and in their record collection. And if you’re looking for an entry point into the man’s influential body of work, Teo is as good a place to start as any.

A big THANK YOU to our friends at Vinyl Me, Please for sponsoring this subscription. Don’t forget to check out the Vinyl Me, Please website and sign up to get some choice wax delivered right to your door each and every month! Be sure to check back next month to see what vinyl treasure Team VMP sends our way!