Surprisingly, these platters are even more rigid than the Sony Legacy issue of just a couple of months ago. The deadwax is different and the labels are slightly different (Sony has a habit of using up old stock in this way, but not this time). On the Legacy version the names are spelled correctly on the front and reverse of the sleeve. Is this Jazz Classics issue being even more faithful then to the original release ?
Would like to know more as currently only have a Canadian Wally cut DMM which is ok but would happily sell that and buy this if better.
I am not able to compare but what I can tell is this pressing is absolutely perfect and sounds wonderful. Involving, rhythmic, warm and sweet.
I thought the blurb with the first issue said it wasn't out until the weekend? Not that i'm complaining, will pop to the shops tomorrow. Was it £9.99??
It's well worth it. The rest at 14.99, I'm not so sure, but this is a beauty. I'll play it again, first thing in the morning.
I dug out an old cd copy of Lady in Satin the other day, i'd forgotten how good that album is. I would like it on vinyl, just seems the right format to own and play that one on. But will hang back and see what the reaction is first and also if the shops are still stocking this magazine/vinyl by then. At some point it'll revert to subscription only, probably when the price reaches £15. But I can see myself buying at least the first 3 releases.
I listened again to the CD of Kind of Blue, just to check...and I don't think I've ever got so little from an album.... Listened to the whole thing, including bonus track, and could barely remember a single thing about it...It's nice to listen to, and I'll play it again some time, but I suppose it just confirmed that it's not the sort of thing for me...I just felt absolutely nothing from it...Like listening to an audiobook in a language that I don't speak. I was just checking, as I was tempted at the bargain price, for a classic album on vinyl, but it seems that I just don't speak jazz.... I love Billie though, so who understands how our ears/brains work?
Ah, so that's the secret? ...OK, I will take a punt for a fiver, and see if it finally connects with me...
If it's anything to go by, I felt a little like yourself prior to getting this vinyl version of Kind Of Blue. I have had it on cd for years, but in truth it never did a thing for me. I don't really even know why I still have the cd. I thought, like you, well for a fiver it's worth having a listen on vinyl, so I bought the first issue. And guess what ? Nothing. - no, just joking....... Ever since I got hold of this vinyl version I have been really enjoying the album for the first time. The instruments seem somehow a lot more real and I am connecting to the music as I never have before. This is really a lovely pressing. Very silent with great, very full sound. As you may have gathered, I am no jazz afficianado, but I find that I keep wanting to listen to this wonderful sounding LP.
This and comments like it have been repeated so many times. Listen to one Jazz Lp and declare that Jazz (the whole genre) is not for you and then state that you love Billie Holiday who is a Jazz singer. Perplexing. Also imagine stating something similar in regards to Rock music.
To be fair, Johnnybrum never said KOB was the only jazz album he's heard, he might have tried hundreds
Will be interested in Lady In Satin. I have the Sony re-issue cd and whilst, like the Miles Davis metal spine boxed sets,it is beautifully put together and a quality effort; I find Mark Wilders masterings overly trebly and bright. Miles horn sears my ears off compared to the original vinyls. I know Phil Schapp did Lady In Satin but it has a very similar in-house sound to the Miles Columbia Legacy re-issues. Phil and the team did a great job on producing that re-issue in terms of finding the tapes, extra takes, packaging but to me it could use some analog warmth to take the edge of Billie's voice which sounds cracked but brilliant on those final recordings.
I have most of these albums already so the series is not for me but I think it is an amazing introduction to the genre, and it covers the whole range of styles really - Bop, Hard Bop, Modal, Vocal, Experimental etc. But all the records they have chosen in the series are classics of the genre most of the time. If you are just getting into Jazz, or Jazz on vinyl, it's a great series and the concept is quite a good one I think for the newcomer. You have time to listen and absorb etc. All that is of course dependent on these being good transfers and pressings (I doubt these will be AAA but it doesn't bother me). Minor quibbles - I think Coltrane and Miles need more than one album, but there you go. Many of the records would be the ones I would recommend. For example if someone wanted a 50's hard bop album I would say Clifford Brown no doubt, and there it is on the list. Likewise as far as Blue Note goes this looks like an amazing run: 46. Horace Silver – Song for my father 47. Herbie Hancock – Maiden Voyage 48. Kenny Burrell – Midnight blue Three very different records on Blue Note but all three are 10/10 classics.
Discovered a faint 'B' scratched into the deadwax of KOB. Could this be a clue as to who mastered this one?
It wasn't just me that got 2 and 3 before no.1 then . . Visually very good - haven't got round to playing them yet.
