J.J. Johnson, Kai Winding

The Great Kai & J.J. was the first album issued by Impulse!, as A-1 in mono and AS-1 in stereo, in February 1961. Impulse! had been set up in 1960 as the jazz arm of ABC-Paramount, with Creed Taylor as producer and A&R manager, and he produced this record himself. It reunited the trombonists J.J. Johnson and Kai Winding, whose earlier partnership had been amicably dissolved, for a programme of standards and originals recorded in the autumn of 1960.

The sessions took place on 3 October and on 2, 4 and 8 November 1960, with Rudy Van Gelder as engineer. Bill Evans plays piano throughout. The rhythm section changes between dates: Paul Chambers and Roy Haynes are on four tracks, Tommy Williams and Art Taylor on the other seven.

There are eleven pieces, none of them much longer than five minutes. The two trombones share the themes and the solo space on This Could Be the Start of Something Big and Side by Side, and on Thelonious Monk's Blue Monk. Johnson contributes Judy and Trixie, Winding contributes Going, Going, Gong!, and the ballads include Georgia on My Mind and Alone Together.

The Penguin Guide to Jazz describes the album as a commercially motivated reunion. It also praises the musicianship and singles out Evans, whose playing gives it the feel of a proper group project rather than a trombone feature with accompaniment. Writing for AllMusic, Scott Yanow found that the music still sounds fresh and lively.

This Verve Acoustic Sounds Series edition, supervised by Chad Kassem, was mastered and cut by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab from the original master tapes. It is pressed in stereo on 180g vinyl at Quality Record Pressings and housed in a gatefold jacket. The original sleeve notes by Dick Katz are reproduced.