CTI Records: The Cool Revolution

A 40th Anniversary Collection

CTI: THE COOL REVOLUTION is a four-disc box set that celebrates the fortieth anniversary of Creed Taylor’s brave, new independent venture, with each track remastered using the original two-track LP masters. Featuring the label’s legendary roster of jazz stars, the four discs offer an overview of the golden decade (1970-80) in which CTI’s signature sound and style were born, with each disc highlighting an aspect of CTI’s personality.

  • Disc I – Straight Up
  • Disc II – Deep Grooves/Big Hits
  • Disc III – The Brazilian Connection
  • Disc IV – Cool and Classic
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Masterworks Jazz celebrates the 40th anniversary of the founding of CTI Records

– one of the most influential independent labels in the history of modern jazz – with a series of releases that will restore CTI’s greatest recordings to their original, highly influential sound and look for the first time since the LP era.

CTI was founded by (and takes its name from) Creed Taylor, a visionary jazz producer and executive who helped turn the Verve label into a dominant force in jazz in the early 1960s. In 1967 Taylor formed CTI as a subsidiary of the A&M label; three years later he took it independent.

Between 1970 and 1980, Taylor and his creative team created the perfect environment for a fresh, highly appealing jazz sound – smooth, soulful and seductive. The records he produced highlighted a brilliant roster of young artists, but they were always in the company of the label’s other stars. Those stars included George Benson, Freddie Hubbard, Stanley Turrentine, Ron Carter, Hubert Laws, Kenny Burrell, Deodato and Jim Hall, as well as legendary names such as Paul Desmond, Milt Jackson, Chet Baker and Antonio Carlos Jobim. The records, impeccably produced by Taylor and his engineer Rudy Van Gelder, were packaged in sleek gatefold sleeves, with iconic cover design and photos.