Labels With Shortcomings – ECM

Keith Jarrett – The Köln Concert

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  • This stunning ECM pressing boasts Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or very close to it on sides one, three and four, and solid Double Plus (A++) sound on the second side
  • The overall sound here is rich and full-bodied yet still clean, clear and dynamic with plenty of bottom end weight
  • 5 Stars: “With this album, Jarrett put himself in his own league, and you can feel the inspiration coming off him in waves. This is a true and lasting masterpiece of melodic, spontaneous composition and improvisation that set the standard.”
  • If you’re a Keith Jarrett fan, or perhaps a fan of mid-’70s Jazz Piano, this title from 1975 is surely a Must Own.
  • The complete list of titles from 1975 that we’ve reviewed to date can be found here

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Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays – As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls

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  • As Falls Wichita… finally returns with outstanding Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) sound on both sides, right up there with our Shootout Winner — reasonably quiet vinyl too
  • This is the sound of the Master Tape — worlds better than what most record lovers have ever been granted the privilege of hearing in analog
  • This spacey music needs huge amounts of reproducible recording space to work its ethereal magic, and you will have no trouble finding that space on this very pressing
  • The best sides were always the biggest, clearest and most three-dimensional, assuming they were able to retain the rich, natural, balanced tonality that is inherently key to a good record, or a great one in this case
  • “This joint solo effort by Metheny and regular pianist and collaborator Lyle Mays is an impressive outing. In the process of stretching out away from the confines of the quartet setting of prior albums, Metheny and Mays presage the sleeker and more ethereal sound of the band’s Geffen years on portions of the title track…”

This superb pressing of Metheny’s ECM Chart-Topping release from 1981 shows you just how well recorded the album is. We don’t know how you feel about ECM recordings in general but we tend to think they are pretty lifeless and boring. Not so here!

We guarantee this copy has more CLARITY, ENERGY and DYNAMICS than any pressing of the album you have ever heard. Where is the muck? The blurry bottom end? The smear? All gone. And the bass is monstrous.

If you’re a fan of this album, this copy will show you what you’ve surely been missing all these years — the kind of sound that lets this music breathe. (more…)

Pat Metheny / Bright Size Life – Now on the TAS Superdisc List

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Reviews and Commentaries for TAS Super Disc Recordings

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  • Metheny’s superb debut album finally arrives on site, with Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound throughout – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • A recent addition to the TAS Super Disc List – these sides are natural and present, with plenty of bass and good space around all of the players
  • 4 1/2 stars: “Pat Metheny’s debut studio album is a good one, a trio date that finds him already laying down the distinctively cottony, slightly withdrawn tone and asymmetrical phrasing that would serve him well through most of the swerves in direction ahead. This LP also features one of the earliest recordings of Jaco Pastorius, a fully formed, well-matched contrapuntal force on electric bass, though content to leave the spotlight mostly to Metheny.”

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Pat Metheny – Watercolors

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  • A KILLER sounding copy with a Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) side two mated with an outstanding Double Plus (A++) side one – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • Both of these sides were clean, clear and lively with tons of detail and a solid bottom end
  • 4 stars: “Metheny’s softly focused, asymmetrical guitar style, with echoes of apparent influences as disparate as Jim Hall, George Benson, Jerry Garcia, and various country guitarists, is quite distinctive even at this early juncture.”

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Bill Connors – Of Mist And Melting

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  • Jazz guitar great Bill Connors makes his debut on the site with this phenomenal sounding copy of Of Mist And Melting
  • This pressing boasts Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound on side two and an outstanding Double Plus side one
  • The sound of this vintage ECM pressing is really quite amazing – fans of adventurous jazz, the kind ECM is known for, should get a lot out of this LP
  • “A beautiful session by the ever searching guitarist Bill Connors… intense, lyrical, and introspective… continued to show his great talents as a composer…

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Keith Jarrett / Solo-Concerts (3 LP Box Set) – Reviewed in 2010

More Jazz Recordings Featuring the Piano

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This is a very nice looking ECM Promo 3 LP set with Virtually No Sign of Play (VNSOP). The set comes with a 13-page booklet containing extensive liner notes and photographs. We prefer the sound of these domestic pressings to the imports we’ve played.    (more…)

Pat Metheny – Offramp

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  • Offramp finally returns with outstanding Double Plus (A++) sound or BETTER from first note to last
  • This is the sound of the Master Tape — worlds better than what most record lovers have ever had the privilege of hearing
  • Offramp held the Number One spot on the Jazz Album charts for 16 weeks back in 1982
  • 4 1/2 stars: “… the thoughtful Metheny makes excellent use of space, choosing his notes wisely and reminding listeners that, while he has heavy-duty chops, he’s not one to beat everybody over the head with them.”

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Keith Jarrett – My Song

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  • An outstanding pressing with solid Double Plus (A++) sound or BETTER from start to finish
  • We just finished a shootout for this album, and were pleasantly surprised at how good this relaxed jazz can sound on the right pressing
  • Typical copies are thin, lean, and lifeless, but we managed to unearth some copies (such as this one!) that really get it right
  • 4 1/2 stars: “this album is the best known of the Jarrett-Garbarek collaborations and it actually is their most rewarding meeting on record. Jarrett contributed all six compositions and the results are relaxed and introspective yet full of inner tension.”

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The Pat Metheny Group – The Pat Metheny Group

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This WHITE HOT Stamper side two of arguably his best album lets the music come to LIFE in a way that no other pressing in our shootout managed to do. We don’t know how you feel about ECM recordings in general but we tend to think they are pretty lifeless and boring. Not so here! 

This is the sound of the Master Tape — worlds better than what most record lovers have ever had the privilege of hearing. If you want to know how good this album can sound, it’s first come, first served. There’s only one, folks, and this is it.

This copy has more CLARITY, ENERGY and DYNAMICS than any pressing of the album you have ever heard, guaranteed. Where is the muck? The blurry bottom end? The smear? All gone.

And the bass is monstrous. Finally the kick drum is really kicking, breaking through the mix.

Lively and fun, who knew any Pat Metheny album could sound like this? (more…)