Good points. I've stayed away from almost all of their OJC stuff as I'm suspect that most of it is from digital sources. The few OJC titles I have that are newer presses have been verified as either using old plates like the Lateef Eastern Sounds or the Rollins stuff that uses the Hoffman / Gray plates. Some of it may have to be from digital sources like I hear some of the Bill Evans stuff is a no go on analog due to condition. But you are right too. They are often suspect on quality, especially with the recent reveal on here that the Euro press of the Charlie Brown Christmas uses the US hype sticker but is a digital cut from somewhere. They can be good, but can often do better.
Craft is frustrating. Even though their recent jazz releases have largely been top-notch, like you said, they release them piecemeal and they're nowhere near as prolific as the depth of their catalog should allow. We should clarify what Craft is, though. While Concord has repressed a lot of OJCs from old plates, mostly using Fantasy's digital masterings done at George Horn Mastering over the past few decades, Craft as a sub-label is relatively new circa 2017. I don't know what difference that materially makes - but Craft has clearly been trying to create its own brand of reissues. If it doesn't have a CR- prefix on the catalog number, it isn't Craft. And if you look through Craft's releases specifically, the batting average is really pretty high, especially over the past few years. Unfortunately they just don't get up to bat often enough. It is, indeed, absurd that Savoy is just sitting there. And until Craft does a serious high-quality jazz reissue series, Riverside, Contemporary (supposedly in the works), Savoy, Prestige, whatever, they're not really going to get the respect that MM or AP or Tone Poet product gets around here, nor do they deserve it.
Good stuff. Yeah, it looks almost like they reserve the good jazz stuff for Vinyl Me Please (which I only joined this summer so completely missed out, though it looks like a bit of it is still available via Discogs) or as RSD titles.
I totally get to be the old curmudgeon today…LOL I vote no, because I have MMJ 45 and 33. Sorry, I want Joe to skip to his guns about not redoing MMJ titles. I love Dr. Lonnie Smith, and really enjoyed a live show we attended at a local club where I got to meet and chat with him afterwards (he loved the photo of my record collection, seriously). However, my wife and I are not fans of Iggy Pop and had to skip those tunes. We just can’t wrap our heads around it. In fact, I probably won’t even buy the vinyl release because of it.
The 1st time I heard Young, which was Zoltan/Unity, I immediately thought of Emerson and that maybe he molded his playing after Young. I was told by a poster here that Emerson did not like Larry Young's playing.
In any case, Larry Young definitely is a good candidate for Tone Poet. "Of Love and Peace" or "Mother Ship" for example. "Unity" will be in the next batch of Classics I would expect.
Byrd was often miced to closely for some reason, this Im pretty certain of. It does distort for me too but most annoying is that its on the last tracks. Sometimes I think its because those tracks are typically more mellow and thus grant the closer micing, but A3 is not. Frustratingly, digital versions dont help confirm anything.
That Cuban Jam Sessions box is spectacular, albeit digitally remastered. It's a beautiful box, with great documentation. The music is wonderful, and the sound is excellent. They got it off the original tapes. I'm guessing there might have been some damage to them that needed some TLC, but the set was a labor of love. There's an extensive 40+ minute piece on NPR's Latin music page on the whole process of discovery of the tapes, and the effort to put the box out.
I am looking for a good Bill Evans Waltz for debby and hesitated for the OJC as these are digital source. What I read from you this is the only way to go? The AP must be stunning but very expensive.
Yeah, unfortunately your only real choices for budget-friendly pressings are OJCs. But you can get the OJCs from the early 1980s, which, I believe are pre-digital (someone please correct me if I'm wrong). I have 2011 OJCs for Portraits and Waltz For Debbie and a (I believe) pre-digital 1983 OJC pressing of Everybody Loves. UPDATE: I see in a 2006 thread that our host here says "older" OJCs are for sure from analog, by which he means the 1980s pressings. A bit more Googling might lead to something on the 2011 pressings. Another choice might be early Japanese pressings, but I haven't looked too much into those for some of the earlier Bill Evans titles. I have Japanese pressings for Sunday At The Village Vanguard, Moonbeams and Live at Montreaux and both sound very good.
ive got this two-fer comp titles “The village vanguard sessions” released in 1973 under Milestone, “remastered” under the fantasy label. It’s basically Sunday at the village vanguard and waltz for Debby, put together in the actual set order they performed in. Comes in a nice gatefold with liner notes on inside cover, still has the $10 price tag I got it for from my local.
What a great day of music in store once again. But last night I was left by myself to play some awesome Jazz without any chit chat going on, very nice. I feel somewhat bad mentioning this one (but it will be getting repressed soon, right?) but I had to listen to Chet Baker "Sings" and every time I put it on, it just keeps sounding better and better. Just hard to believe they got this to turn out this amazing. And then because of some recent above chatter regarding "Search For The New Land", I had to pull out my SRX and give it a spin. What a fantastic record indeed, and such a nice job with the sound. But then off to the land of Craft, I decided to listen to the recently released KG of "A Boy Named Charlie Brown". This is an easy 10/10 to my ears in regards to the overall sound. I realize some have already gotten this, but if you have not, do not hesitate as fortunately when Charlie Brown threw the first pitch off of the mound he's standing on, it was knocked out of the park! edit - I forgot to add that "Charlie Brown" sounded so good, it was not that far behind the Morgan "SRX" in regards to the overall sound quality.
I have never heard the first generation OJC or the AP, so maybe take this with a grind of salt, but I was in the same situation as you and decided to get the 2011 for lack of better options, and I was really impressed by the sound. It doesn't sound over-bright or compressed or anything like that to me. Even if they are digital cuts, I've personally been really happy with all the "new" (post 2000) OJCs I've gotten, though I might still upgrade a few if Concord ever decides to do an AAA series
I agree and when I first heard some of them I mistaken them for analog cuts. I was more of a newbie then but they still sound great.
I have this in cd and it’s truly an outstanding release but unless you are an organ aficionado it may not be for you. I’m not sure I will buy the LP version however. The songs or songs with Alice Olatuja are memorable. This is one of the best songs from the session.
That listen I gave to Dr. Smith's Breathe actually made me give a listen to Live At The Mozambique. Holy cow that was good. That's a BN 80 that's now on the list.
Not sure what your budget is, but the Doug Sax mastered 33 from AP is stunning and can be had for less than the famously expensive Acoustech mastered 45s. I cannot compare to the 45 but I do have others from that series, including “Sunday at the Village Vanguard”, and it’s right up there.
Love that Lee Morgan album. It opened my eyes to what Jazz could be when I was a young lad. The reports of that new KG cut of the Guaraldi LP has me wondering if my original press can be bested.
For only $21.49 from Amazon, it's certainly worth finding out. I'm willing to bet the KG master easily comes out on top. I listened to it directly after I enjoyed the SRX of "Search" and was like are you kidding me!
Just ordered Blakey Indestructible and Dexter Gordon Go. Both in stock at Acoustic Sounds for $25 each if anyone is in need. I also considered the Miles Round About Midnight Speakers Corner but I’ve already got a real nice Japanese pressing of that title so I held off.
I think I might have taken the copy that you ordered. I signed up months ago to be notified when the Chet Baker, and also Grant Green's Nigeria, were back in stock. I've been regularly checking on here, on Amazon, the Blue Note store and other places to see if they've been repressed yet. Lo and behold, notification came through from HMV on September 1st that both titles were back in stock. I instantly ordered both and, after a few hours of expecting to get cancellation emails, shipping notification came through instead. The postman promptly delivered both parcels last Saturday morning. Bad news first... Both were clearly used returns, and both (oh so fine) Stoughton jackets slightly dinged and scuffed. But it's the sweet sweet vinyl that's most important, right? First up was Chet... both sides played through beautifully. I can finally see (hear) what all the fuss is about. Absolutely stunning record. I played it through twice back to back. Amazing. Then Nigeria... Side 1 was great, and I thought I was gonna get a home run with both records. Halfway through side 2 though, I realized why it had been returned; there's 9 pretty loud clicks during The Things We Did Last Summer. I can live with the clicks though and with these 2 titles, I finally have a complete Tone Poet set. I hope Blue Note get Chet repressed soon so more people can enjoy this spectacular release.
I think I may be dragging out a lot of my Tone Poets soon to replay. I just bought (used) a massive upgrade for my phonostage. It should be here later next week. Woohoo. That should also be about the time I get my second set of replacements for the Miles KoB UHQR…third time’s a charm, yes? I also need to continue replay of my MMJ45 collection to mark them for sale/keep. This upgrade might not bode well for me getting onboard with unloading stuff like that. LOL I can’t wait for the new Wayne Shorter. I have been chomping at the bit for this one for quite some time. It was supposed to come out for my birthday weekend originally.
