European "public domain" vinyl jazz reissues that sound great, and those to avoid

I recently started picking up some of the inexpensive European vinyl reissues that take advantage of E.U. copyright laws to present classic jazz albums over 50 years old. Stuff on labels like DOL, Doxy, Wax Time, et. al.

I know they're all digitally sourced, which turns many people off. But, I gotta tell you, some of these sound simply fantastic. (And the ones that don't are, at worst, the equivalent of listening to a CD.)

First off, almost all of them are perfectly pressed. Dead quiet. (The only one I've bought that is noisy is the otherwise excellent sounding Duke Ellington Meets Coleman Hawkins on Wax Time). They're nicely packaged with full liner notes and often include photography and artwork not found on the original releases,

As these LPs are becoming more and more common, I thought I'd start this thread so that folks can post their own experiences with various titles to better help other buyers.

Here are some of the best sounding ones I've picked up of late:

• Peter Gunn by Henry Mancini on DOL. Incredible sound. I have an original pressing of this record on RCA and the DOL version is more enjoyable in every way.

• Dave Brubeck, Take Five on Green Corner. Double album with stereo and mono mixes. Extraordinary. Rich and warm.

• Gerry Mulligan/Paul Desmond Quartet on Doxy. Big, warm mono sound.

• Charlie Parker, Jazz at Massey Hall on Wax Time. Again, a big mono sound that fills the room. No digital edginess whatsoever.

• Billie Holiday, Live at Carnegie Hall on Pan Am Records. Delightful sound and a beautiful gatefold sleeve with some great photography.

Some that didn't impress me:

• The Atomic Mr. Basie on Jazz Images. This is from a French label that celebrates great French jazz photographers by using their images rather than original artwork. It's an interesting idea and the packaging is really stunning. It's a beautiful object, but the sound is flat and lifeless.

• Lady Sings the Blues by Billie Holiday on Jazz Time. Sibilant and not particularly pleasurable to listen to.

Anyone else purchased a Euro public domain import that they want to report on?

 

Another one to add - Howling Wolf's first two records are packaged as a set by a label called Vinyl Passion. They did a lovely job with this. Recommended.

 

My copies of Ellington/Mingus/Roach's Money Jungle and Thelonious Monk's Monk's Dream on Wax Time are excellent - I feel I got more than my my $13 worth. How can Wax Time press such quiet vinyl when major labels are giving us noisy garbage on so many titles?

I also have The Best of Muddy Waters on Wax Time. Bits sound a bit harsh to my ears, but I don't know if the Chess masters sound that way or not.

 

Yep. It really is amazing how often I buy vinyl from "legit" labels that are noisy while almost every Euro PD LP I buy is dead quiet.

 

Howlin Wolf's Moainin' LP on Dol is junk, the tracks are cut at the wrong speeds. Do not buy. This is the only Dol LP I've owned but figured I'd help any unsuspecting buyers.

 

I haven't had anything from DOL I'd consider bad (such as what you reported), but they have a higher ratio of "It sounds fine, but not great" than some others. I bought Sonny Rollins Saxophone Collossus and Blakey's Moanin and they sound digital, but enjoyable.

The DOL Peter Gunn, as I said, is pretty spectacular.

 

I said in another thread that some of the tracks on the pressing I had sounded like chainsmoking chipmunks instead of the wolf. Definitely not "fine but not great" at least IMO. I can't attest to any other Dol LPs

 

I’ve had good luck with Waxtime. “After Midnight” by the Nat King Cole Trio sounds great. I tried Dol titles twice and both were bad (to my ears).

 

It really shows that a digital source doesn't necessarily mean it will sound digital when pressed to vinyl. If the record is prepared with care, it can sound warm and analog-like when played on a good system.

That's kind of why I started this thread. Whenever I'm at a record store searching online for info about a Euro LP I'm considering, all I can find is "Don't buy any of that stuff, it's all digital"

 

I got 4 Waxtime lp`s and 1 dol.
The dol (Duke and Coltrane) the piano sounds odd.
All the Waxtime sound very good the "Moanin" is better than the Blue note copy from France.
But to be honest I rather have the original Blue note pressings the 75( Europe) 80 (analog) and the Tone poet series.
Feels more authentic...but hey that`s just a feeeling.
For the price the Waxtime is topnotch.
grtz Peter

I repost what I found out earlier just to let you know. ;-)

Forgive me, English is not native tongue,
I live in the Netherlands and I have some "wax time" pressings.
Now My daughter who is a graduate at Utrecht high school of arts is a bachelor in art en economics does do various stages soon to be a master in music management. ( Universal,Sony,and broadcast companies).
We share a lot of musical interests but Jazz is not one of them saw the one of albums and said "O we done something for them"
To make a long story short in the old day`s a lot of tapes from U.S companies where send to Europe to record pressing plants and later stored away.
In the Netherlands there was Phillips,Phonogram pressing almost every label and the original publisher had mostly no more than a desk in an office.
Now a lot of these master tapes did wind up a lot by our national broadcaster archive`s where recordings an shows are saved.
But also painstakingly restored,baked ,digitized and taken care of. If a radio dj or a broadcaster wants something they can get access or a copy as long as copyright are not infringed. ( Buma-stemra collects them here).
If its in the public domain everybody can through the proper channels get access as far I know now from my daugter.
So yea they could be likely digital sourced ( like MOV/record industry former Sony pressing plant Haarlem) but is unlikely that a cd/mp3 is the source more probely a tape/file as stated above.
As for the price they don`t have to pay the original publisher so that saves us. is it fair? I dunno.
If iam reading about the good old times of the music industry... the artists rights always where conned out by shady publishers

greetz from Holland.
Peter

 

Really interesting stuff, Peter. I had never heard that about the broadcaster archive and it does explain quite a bit about how the pressings can sound so good. thanks!

 

Great post! Thanks for the info.

 

Has anyone here purchased the Chet Baker album Chet on Waxtime? And if so, how's the sound?

 

Also, I'm wondering, if anyone has purchased Dean Martin's Pretty Baby album on Waxtime, and what the sound quality is like?

 

Your english is perfectly fine; better than many in my region of the U.S.

 

What I am seeing most of the time is people say don't buy DOL but Waxtime is usually pretty good.

I am wanting to get a copy of Blakleys Moanin' . I see a Waxtime from 2012 that is $9.99 and a color version from 2019 that is $17. Both Waxtime...I wonder if one is better than the other?

 

I have Bill Evans Trio* - Sunday At The Village Vanguard

and Frank Sinatra - Songs For Swingin' Lovers

Both Waxtime and both sound great. I bought them before I knew about the label but they sound so good that I haven’t been able to justify “upgrading” them.

Really glad to have found this thread.

 

The Dol LP of The Wild Sounds of New Orleans by Tousan (Allen Toussaint) is pretty clearly dubbed from the Bear Family CD of The Complete Tousan Sessions. Even though it has double the music of the original LP (11 tracks per side), it leaves off "Whirlaway," the opening track from the original album, and doesn't have all the extra Bear Family stuff either. In other words, pretty much useless unless you absolutely have to have some of the bonus Bear stuff on vinyl.

 

Waxtime has a pretty good batting average.

 

Why bother buying these grey market reissues?

If you want to listen to digital, get the CD.

Cheaper and better.

 

Maybe they are cut from some SACD which is out of print or super rare?

 

See the post above from Peter about the national broadcaster of the Netherlands having a large archive of original master tapes that can be accessed.

Some of these PD releases sound amazing, and I'm guessing the master tapes come into play.

 

I have about 6 JAZZ IMAGE lp's and they all sound great. I have one Waxtime and I think I could do better but it is something I can't find anywhere else so it is OK for now.

 

Since starting this thread, I picked up Three Giants, with Clifford Brown, Max Roach and Charlie Parker on Jazz Images and it sounds very good. And they do a beautiful job of packaging and photography.

 

I have The Best Of Muddy Waters (Dolchess) and the Little Richard Vol. 2 (45rpm pressing, WaxTime). They sound pretty good to me.
How's the Coltrane LPs on WaxTime? Are those good?