More of the Music of Billie Holiday
Hot Stamper Pressings of Pop and Jazz Vocal Albums
The better copies reproduce clearly what to our minds are the three most important elements in the recording — strings, rhythm, and vocal — and, more importantly, they are properly balanced with one another.
The monos, as you might expect, balance the three elements well enough, but the problem with mono is that the vocals and instruments are jammed together in the center of the soundfield, layered atop one another.
Real clarity, the kind that live music has in abundance, is difficult if not impossible under those circumstances.
Only the stereo pressings provide the space that each of the players needs in order to be heard.
Naturally the vocals have to be the main focus on a Billie Holiday record. They should be rich and tubey, yet clear, breathy and transparent.
To qualify as a Hot Stamper, the pressings we offer must be highly resolving. You will hear everything, all of it surrounded by the natural space of the legendary Columbia 30th Street Studio in which the recording was made.
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