- You’ll have a hard time finding a copy that sounds remotely as good as this vintage Contemporary pressing
- One of our favorite Sonny Rollins records for sound – both sides here are incredibly big, full-bodied and Tubey Magical
- 4 1/2 stars: “This LP contains alternate versions of selections from two famous Sonny Rollins albums: Way out West and Sonny Rollins and the Contemporary Leaders. These ‘new’ renditions… hold their own against the classic versions. [T]he music is hard-swinging and frequently superb.”
- If you’re a 50s and 60s jazz fan, this Must Own compilation of recordings originally released in 1958 surely belongs in your collection
The album is made up of alternate takes from the Way Out West and Sonny Rollins and the Contemporary Leaders sessions, and as such there is a bit of sonic variation between these tracks and the ones on the actual albums. The best-sounding songs here, particularly the material from Way Out West, can sound amazing.
All Tube in ’58
The best copies are rich and tubey; many pressings were thin and modern sounding, and for that they would lose a lot of points. We want this record to sound like something Roy DuNann recorded with an All Tube chain in 1958, and the best copies give you that sound, without the surface noise and groove damage the originals doubtless suffer from.
Some copies have much more space; some are more present, putting the musicians right in the room with you; some are more transparent, resolving the musical information much better than others, letting you “see” everyone in the studio clearly. Some have more rhythmic drive than others. On some the musicians seem more involved and energetic than they do on the average pressing.
The copies that do all these things better than other copies are the ones that win our shootouts.
What The Best Sides Of Alternate Takes Have To Offer Is Not Hard To Hear
- The biggest, most immediate staging in the largest acoustic space
- The most Tubey Magic, without which you have almost nothing. CDs give you clean and clear. Only the best vintage vinyl pressings offer the kind of Tubey Magic that was on the tapes in 1958
- Tight, note-like, rich, full-bodied bass, with the correct amount of weight down low
- Natural tonality in the midrange — with all the instruments having the correct timbre
- Transparency and resolution, critical to hearing into the three-dimensional studio space
No doubt there’s more but we hope that should do for now. Playing the record is the only way to hear all of the qualities we discuss above, and playing the best pressings against a pile of other copies under rigorously controlled conditions is the only way to find a pressing that sounds as good as this one does.
Analogue Productions Heavy Vinyl
Considering their dismal track record, I’m guessing the Hot Stamper we are offering here will blow the doors off anything they will ever do on vinyl.
Hey, here’s a question for you: when was the last time you read a word about those Heavy Vinyl pressings, so badly mastered by Doug Sax? With no real presence and bloated bass, they’re pure audiophile “smile curve” trash of the worst kind.
They’ve rather fallen from favor, have they not? I wonder why. Could it be that they were as ridiculously bad as I said they were back in 1995, and it just took the rest of the world a little longer to recognize that fact? Perhaps audiophiles are making progress. It’s just taking them a long, long time. Hey, it took me a long, long time, so who am I to talk?
What We’re Listening For On Alternate Takes
- Energy for starters. What could be more important than the life of the music?
- The Big Sound comes next — wall to wall, lots of depth, huge space, three-dimensionality, all that sort of thing.
- Then transient information — fast, clear, sharp attacks for the horns and drums, not the smear and thickness so common to most LPs.
- Tight, note-like bass with clear fingering — which ties in with good transient information, as well as the issue of frequency extension further down.
- Next: transparency — the quality that allows you to hear deep into the soundfield, showing you the space and air around all the players.
- Then: presence and immediacy. The musicians aren’t “back there” somewhere, way behind the speakers. They’re front and center where any recording engineer worth his salt — Roy DuNann in this case, see below — would have put them.
- Extend the top and bottom and voila, you have The Real Thing — an honest to goodness Hot Stamper.
Roy DuNann
We love the recordings made at the legendary Contemporary Records in the 50s and 60s — it’s our favorite jazz label for sonics by a long shot. Roy DuNann, their principal engineer, always seems to get The Sound of Real Instruments out of the sessions he recorded — amazingly realistic drums in a big room; full-bodied, breathy horns; Tubey Magical guitar tone; deep, note-like bass; weighty pianos; vocal immediacy, and on and on.
On the better pressings such as this one there’s just nothing between you and the music. You will have a very hard time finding a much better sounding jazz record than this very copy.
The Players
- Bass – Leroy Vinnegar, Ray Brown
- Drums – Shelly Manne
- Guitar – Barney Kessel
- Piano – Hampton Hawes
- Tenor Saxophone – Sonny Rollins
- Vibraphone – Victor Feldman
Side One
I’m an Old Cowhand
Come, Gone
Side Two
Way Out West
The Song is You
You
I’ve Found a New Baby
AMG 4 1/2 Star Review
This LP contains alternate versions of selections from two famous Sonny Rollins albums: Way out West and Sonny Rollins and the Contemporary Leaders. These “new” renditions of “I’m an Old Cowhand,” “Come, Gone,” “Way out West” “The Song Is You,” “You” and “I’ve Found a New Baby” hold their own against the classic versions.
Rollins is heard with bassist Ray Brown and drummer Shelly Manne on the first session and is joined by a four-piece rhythm section (including pianist Hampton Hawes and guitarist Barney Kessel) on the later date. In any case, the music is often hard-swinging and is frequently superb.
Further Reading
- Earned wisdom versus borrowed wisdom
- How do you make a vintage jazz recording sound this wrong?
- Reviews and commentaries for albums released on the Contemporary label