Craft Recordings: The Complete Cuban Jam Sessions (Vinyl Box Set)

I heard about this on the radio this morning, a bunch of pre-Castro jam sessions featuring legends of Cuban music are being released by Craft Recordings as a 5-LP (and digital too) box set in November. These apparently have been released in the past on a few Latin American music labels, but not recently and I guess these previous releases have become a thing of legend and high-dollar sales among Cuban music lovers. I'm intrigued by the story and the music. I know there have been mixed reviews of Craft Recordings' mastering process for vinyl. I know it's the year of crazy-box-set-overload, but this one seems pretty good, and barring bad reviews upon release I might ask for it for Christmas (since I finally got How the West Was Won on vinyl for my birthday last week!)

The Complete Cuban Jam Sessions (5-LP Box Set) + Exclusive Panart T-Shirt [PRE-ORDER]

Cuban Treasures Unearthed: Remastered Jam Sessions From Historic Panart Records

 

I plan on buying it. I have Craft's For Discos Only box set and really liked it. Very interesting music and the pressings were excellent (first three LPs were perfect, the last two had a couple of sides that had higher record noise than the first 3 LPs, but weren't objectionable and this was before I cleaned the LPs on my VPI RCM.) I don't have any of the original disco music that is on this box set to judge how good or bad the remastering is compared to the original mastering, but it sounds excellent to me.

 

Just ordered the 5-CD version of this set on Amazon for $59. The set looks and sounds spectacular. These treasured recordings have been sought after for decades.

Here's a link to a very informative NPR program on these amazing sessions...

Cuban Treasures Unearthed: Remastered Jam Sessions From Historic Panart Records

 

7Digital carries a 96/24 version in FLAC for about $10.

 

Well, since I wasn't given this for Christmas, I went ahead and bought it for myself. Sadly it's 10:30pm and I have to go to bed if I'm going to be any good at work tomorrow, so it'll probably be a couple of days before I get a chance to strap on the headphones and give it a listen. On the upside, Dad and I have decided to take a trip to Cuba in April, so i'm going to give myself the homework of Cuban music/movies/books/sandwiches over the next few months to get up to speed, and this box set will be a big part of the boning-up.

 

I'll pick this up, but I'm not expecting the sound to be anywhere near as good as the original Panart's.

 

I'm on LP #4 right now, and wow, this music is fantastic. And I have to say even though I haven't heard the originals, I have these cranked up and I think the recordings sound fabulous. I'm very pleased with this whole thing.

 

Happy with my vinyl box...the pressings are rather good.

 

I stand corrected! These lp's sound fantastic! I have three of the original records. I searched high and low for good sounding originals over the years. This box set is a solid improvement over the originals I have. The only quibble I have is that the bass seems softer on the 'Jam Sessions in Miniature' new lp than the original. Only slightly, though, and it still sounds fantastic.

 

Some questions folks. Who mastered and cut this new reissue?. Are the recordings mastered from the original master tapes?. Any information on box?. Thanks in advance!

 

Discogs says

• Lacquer Cut By – Ron McMaster
• Supervised By [Audio] – Chris Clough

I feel like Ron McMaster doesn't get much credit around here - I have no dog in that race but this pressing sounds fabulous to me. The hype sticker says "Cut from the analog masters by Ron McMaster at Capital Studios". The booklet (which is AMAZING) does not have any info that I can find on the tapes or mastering process.

I did find this: "Fortunately, Sabat’s wife Julia had already managed to liberate about 80% of Panart’s catalog by sending the master tapes to New York, and the Cuban Jam Sessions series thankfully exists today as a result."
Cuban Jam Sessions: Havana at Its Hottest

 

Greatly appreciated!!!

 

Just resurrecting this thread to chime in to concur that the vinyl LPs do in fact sound excellent. I had one of the originals - the Cachao-led session - and the Concord version sounds at least as good, if not better. Nice clean vinyl, the booklet is excellent - if you're at all interested in Cuban jazz, this is a no brainer.

 

Totally agree! Elsewhere on this site, there are references to the lp's in this set being digitally sourced, but these records still sound great, even if they are. You have to find clean early mono pressings to hear better sound quality, and finding those is nearly impossible.

I hope Craft continues with their plan to release more Panart material.