Porgy and Bess

Bethlehem Records was a New York–based independent record label active in the 1950s and ’60s. It boasted an impressive array of jazz talent, including Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Mel Tormé, Dexter Gordon, and many others. Shout! Factory is proud to be reissuing some of the key Bethlehem albums.

This ambitious Bethlehem album from 1956 was the second-ever complete recording of Gershwin’s classic opera Porgy and Bess, but it was the first to use jazz singers and players. Featuring such jazz greats as Duke Ellington, Mel Tormé, Johnny Hartman and Frank Rosolino, it inspired other landmark jazz recordings of the opera, including the classic instrumental LP by Miles Davis and Gil Evans. However, the original Bethlehem recording remains the definitive vocal version.