Pure Pleasure is a UK based "audiophile" reissue label. It has the widest range and issues the most unusual titles of all the audiophile labels. There have been going for well over 10 years and have released 200+ titles. They have used some of the best mastering engineers in the business including Kevin Gray and Steve Hoffman and all of their titles are pressed at Pallas in Germany. They are the only reissue label that I have bought from and had no issues with pressing quality at all. I think for the first 10 years at least they only released AAA titles but more recently they have been a bit more guarded about their sources which leads me to believe that they are not always AAA. They have released some absolutely brilliant sounding records and I would easily recommend these: Art Pepper / The Complete Art Pepper at Ronnie Scotts Club London June 1980 Buddy Guy & Junior Wells / Going Back To Acoustic Cesaria Evora / Café Atlantico Charlie Byrd / Brazilian Byrd Chet Baker & Art Pepper / Picture Of Heath Clark Terry / Color Changes Fleetwood Mac / Blues Jam At Chess Joe Pass / Sounds of Synanon John Fahey / The Yellow Princess John Lewis / Grand Encounter Kenny Burrell / God Bless The Chld Mississippi John Hurt / Today Various / Chicago The Blues Today Some of the more recent Spiritual Jazz releases from Strata East and Nimbus West are also good value reissues. They have released a few less than stellar sounding titles but generally they are a top class reissue label - maybe just slightly below AP, Music Matters, MFSL, Intervention, Impex etc, in terms of quality product.
Another one is Electric Music for the Mind and Body - Country Joe & The Fish; it’s one of my favorite albums. I can’t tell you have happy I was to find that Steve had worked on this one.
Has the teamwork in the cooperation between you and Kevin been that Kevin was mainly responsible for the mechanical cutting job and you for mastering choices or both of you having the same main focus? Did you otherwise always do both or have a shared focus with someone?
Pure Pleasure is an EXCELLENT reissue label on par with SPEAKERS CORNER. Highest quality pressings you can get. I own a bunch of each.
Thanks! My impression always was that it was a shared work in case of your cooperation with Kevin (and maybe others) while otherwise it seemed the „cutters“ (and owners of cutting equipment) like Kevin, Stan Ricker, Doug Sax, Bernie Grundman etc. always also did the mastering choices themselves. In digital projects surely there’s no such teamwork necessary due to the missing special mechanical element and according skill and experience.
I have bought Pure Pleasure and Speakers Corner pressings and agree with the others here - they are excellent. Recent acquisitions have been Dr John, Bobbie Gentry and Canned Heat. The online site in the UK handles both Pure Pleasure and Speakers Corner (which is a German company) but I don't know if they will ship to the US. Their prices are reasonable but I see dealers often inflating the prices, so if you can buy direct you might do better. Here's the UK link: Pure Pleasure Records Online Store 180g Vinyl Records to Buy Online I do agree with Steve that Pure Pleasure does sound like a condom brand or maybe a lube!
Exactly, their earlier titles were all or almost all AAA. But the last three years they either donˋt tell you, donˋt reply to questions or just evade the question. You can assume that as of right now, Pure Pleasure is using digital sources for its new reissues. You can also see it from some of the titles. Tapes donˋt fly the Atlantic that often. Pure Pleasure today = Assume digital. with who knows what as the source.
I have a few of their releases. They sound great. Don’t worry, @Muffinbutt ! Even if they did make condoms, I’m sure they’d be excellent too.
Yep - agree with above. I have their Strata East reissues and thy are uniformly excellent; plus great packaging. Not sure that they are AAA if that matters to you but the music still sounds great.
Does anyone have the Pure Pleasure pressing of BB King's Singin' the Blues? Wondering how that one sounds, they make it seem like it's AAA with the hype sticker and it's mastered by Ray Staff at Air Mastering, so it sounds promising.
I just got their Mississippi Fred McDowell-I Do Not Play No Rock n Roll reissue and have to say it’s awesome
I have the PP Pharoah Sanders Journey to the One, the recent Leon Thomas release, and Nat King Cole's Penthouse Serenade, which I believe Steve Hoffman mastered. Buy with confidence. This label does excellent work, and digs out some really interesting releases!
Any favorites? I have Glass Bead Games, and would really like to dive in to the Strata East series a bit more, but there are 20ish to choose from. I'm eyeing Cecil Payne's Zodiac and Pharoah Sanders - Izipho Zam (My Gifts) to start with.
i've been trying to find that one for a reasonable price living in the US, no luck so far. Same with Hooker 'N Heat. I will say I did nab the QSMS' Happy Trails off of acoustic sounds and it's a great reissue.
Depending on your tolerance for farther out spiritual jazz, you may want to look at the Capra Black album over the Iphizo Zam.
Glass Bead Games is the stand-out for sure. Izipho Zam is excellent as is Shamek Farrah - First Impressions. Outside of Strata East I also recommend their Phil Ranelin reissues.
You can’t go wrong with your current choices. If you are into Pharaoh, suggest the PP Journey to the One (Theresa label). It’s a wonderful record and sounds amazing. My current favorites are Stanley Cowell - Regeneration Cecil McBee - Mutima Charles a Tolliver All Stars subject to change!
Does anyone have these, do you know if theyre AAA? How do they sound? louis Prima - The Wildest Rosemary Clooney/Duke - Blue Rose Dexter Gordon - Daddy Plays the Horn
I’m reading good things about the Pure Pleasure 2 x LP reissue of Louis Armstrong Plays WC Handy. Can anyone offer a direct comparison to the De Agostini Jazz 33 version?
I’ve got ‘New Moon Daughter’ by Cassandra Wilson on the label and it is a fantastic sounding record on dead quiet vinyl.. Michael Fremer also rates ‘Blue Light til Dawn’ and ‘Belly of the Sun’ again by Cassandra as outstanding reissues on Pure Pleasure.
I have several of the Strata East reissues. Love them all, those are equally good to the Tone Poet reissue program in vinyl quality imo (packaging is better on TPs) and fills a bigger void because try finding any of those OG Strata East LPs for less than $150. Specifically, somewhat in order by ones I listen to the most: Billy Harper Capra Black Charles Tolliver All Stars John Gordon Step by Step Cecil McBee Mutima Shamek Farrah First Impressions Cecil Payne Zodiac Charles Tolliver Compassion Charles Brackeen Rhythm X Harold Vick Don’t Look Back Plus already pre-ordered Charlie Rouse Two is One, really looking forward to that forgotten gem, was supposed to be released this month but has been pushed to April
