Greg Scholl, president and chief executive of The Orchard, announced Xanadu’s return, stating, “Xanadu is a label that was born of passion and both looked to the future through trailblazing releases by contemporary artists, and to the past through its selective acquisition of historic titles by titans of the genre. As fans of and believers in the genre, our stewardship of the Xanadu legacy is something we take seriously. By bringing this label back to the public eye, and investing selectively in new releases by artists in which we believe, we are proud to serve fans of America’s unique contribution to global culture.”

January 19th sees the first new Xanadu title in several years, with the release of Monk, by the Peter Bernstein Trio. Bernstein, a critical favorite and prolific, sought-after session player, leads a trio backed by Doug Weiss (bass) and Bill Stewart (drums) on 12 Thelonious Monk tunes including “Let’s Cool One,” “Ruby, My Dear,” “Well You Needn’t,” and “In Walked Bud”.

Three of the tunes are solo guitar pieces arranged by Bernstein. Bernstein, who has performed on over 60 recordings and has worked with Larry Goldings, Lou Donaldson, Brad Mehldau, Joshua Redman, Diana Krall, Lee Konitz, among many others has an abiding passion for Monk’s music. In the iconic Ira Gitler’s Monk liner notes, Bernstein comments, “Monk has his own musical universe. There’s lots of space in Monk’s music but you don’t have to fill up all the space. And in his music the rhythmic element is already there--it’s already swinging.”

In addition to the new offering from Bernstein, five newly-remastered Xanadu catalog albums will be released on that same day, featuring recordings by Dexter Gordon, Fats Navarro, Charlie Parker, Clifford Brown, Billie Holiday, Jack Teagarden, Art Tatum, Thelonious Monk, Earl Hines, Roy Eldridge, Bud Powell, Johnny Griffin, Kenny Clarke and others. The selections include: