Impex US Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Matador is something of a forgotten masterpiece that gets a deserving deluxe treatment here with an all-analogue reissue on nice and heavy 180 gram vinyl. Released back in 1963 by passionate jazz players, trumpeter Kenny Dorham and alto talent Jackie McLean, the energetic album also features spirited performances from Bobby Timmons on piano, and the locked-in rhythm section of Teddy Smith on bass and J.C. Moses on drums. There is frenetic interplay between all, with loose and swinging keys and real spontaneity resulting in hugely expressive and energetic sounds. Remarkably, the whole album was recorded in just one day in 1962 and brims with rawness and realness.