180g vinyl mono Tone Poet Vinyl Edition mastered from the original analog master tapes, pressed on  at Record Technology Inc. (RTI), and packaged in a deluxe tip-on jacket with a booklet. 

Recorded in 1956 for producer Tom Wilson’s short-lived Boston-based label Transition Records, Watkins At Large was the first of only two albums that the great bassist Doug Watkins would make as a leader. The Detroit native had moved to New York and begun to garner recognition for his contributions to the Art Blakey–Horace Silver co-led iteration of the Jazz Messengers as well as Bud Powell’s trio when Wilson decided to give him the opportunity to front his own recording date.

Along with a first-rate ensemble featuring trumpeter Donald Byrd, tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley, guitarist Kenny Burrell, pianist Duke Jordan, and drummer Art Taylor, Watkins swings through a stellar set of blues, ballads, and more including originals written by Jordan, Burrell, and Thad Jones

A1: Return To Paradise [12:52]
A2: Phinupi [9:24]

B1: Phil T. McNasty’s Blues [4:53]
B2: More Of The Same [10:01]
B3: Panonica [3:49]