Top Artists – Jim Hall

Sonny Rollins – What’s New?

More of the Music of Sonny Rollins

  • What’s New? returns to the site for only the second time in over five years, here with STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or close to them from top to bottom
  • This is vintage 1962 Living Stereo sound at its best – big, rich, relaxed, tonally correct and full of Tubey Magic – thanks, Ray Hall!
  • Damn quiet for a Black Label stereo original – it plays Mint Minus Minus and has no audible marks of any kind
  • 4 1/2 Stars: “Rollins’ characteristically huge tone, relentless harmonic and rhythmic inventiveness, and fierce solos were consistently impressive. Not only did he state the melody clearly and superbly, but his ideas and pacing were remarkable; no solo rambled and his phrases were lean, thick and furious.”

For us audiophiles, both the sound and the music here are wonderful. If you’re looking to demonstrate just how good 1962 All Tube Analog sound can be, this killer copy will do the trick.

This pressing is super spacious, sweet and positively dripping with ambience. Talk about Tubey Magic, the liquidity of the sound here is positively uncanny. This is vintage analog at its best, so full-bodied and relaxed you’ll wonder how it ever came to be that anyone seriously contemplated trying to improve it.

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Sonny Rollins – The Standard Sonny Rollins

More Sonny Rollins

  • The Standard Rollins is back on the site for only the second time in over four years, here with outstanding Double Plus (A++) sound throughout this original stereo pressing
  • Once again the brilliant engineering of Ray Hall for RCA conveys the vitality of live music for these sessions (which were undoubtedly recorded live)
  • Includes superstars like Herbie Hancock, Jim Hall, and Bob Cranshaw, who’ve lent their talents to some of the greatest jazz recordings of all time
  • “Each standard is given a brief performance that basically gives us a solid dose of Rollins waxing rhapsodic, sometimes backed by just bass and drums, with guitar and piano added sparingly. It all adds up to a mighty package that contains small, but ample doses of undiluted Rollins.” – All About Jazz.com

This original stereo RCA pressing from 1965 has the kind of Tubey Magical Midrange that modern records rarely even BEGIN to reproduce. Folks, that sound is gone and it sure isn’t showing signs of coming back. If you love hearing INTO a recording, actually being able to “see” the performers, and feeling as if you are sitting in the studio with Sonny Rollins, Herbie Hancock, and the band, this is the record for you. It’s what vintage all analog recordings are known for — this sound. (more…)

Gerry Mulligan – Gerry Mulligan ’63

 

  • You’ll find INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound throughout this original Verve All Tube Chain Stereo pressing
  • This copy is hard to fault – big, open, clear, with space and three-dimensionality that modern pressings fail miserably to reproduce
  • “With originals by Bob Brookmeyer, Gary McFarland and the baritonist/leader (in addition to the standards ‘Little Rock Getaway’ and ‘My Kind of Love’), this is a high-quality if rather brief program. Trumpeter Clark Terry and guitarist Jim Hall co-star with Mulligan in the solo department. It is a pity that this orchestra could not prosper; all five of its recordings are worth getting.”

For us audiophiles both the sound and the music here are wonderful. If you’re looking to demonstrate just how good 1963 All Tube Analog sound can be, this killer copy will do the trick.

This pressing is super spacious, sweet and positively dripping with ambience. Talk about Tubey Magic, the liquidity of the sound here is positively uncanny. This is vintage analog at its best, so full-bodied and relaxed you’ll wonder how it ever came to be that anyone seriously contemplated trying to improve it.

This IS the sound of Tubey Magic. No recordings will ever be made like this again, and no CD will ever capture what is in the grooves of this record. There is of course a CD of this album, but those of us who possess a working turntable and a good collection of vintage vinyl could care less. (more…)

Sonny Stitt – Stitt Plays Bird

More Jazz Recordings Featuring the Saxophone

 

  • With two excellent Double Plus (A++) sides, this original Blue and Green Atlantic Stereo pressing (one of the few copies to hit the site in recent years) will be very hard to beat
  • No reissue in our shootout could touch it, although it’s tough to find these early pressings with surfaces as quiet as we would like
  • Tom Dowd engineered, which is why the best copies of the album sound so damn good – Dowd recorded many of the best Coltrane albums in the early 60s, so if you like the sound of those, and who doesn’t?, you will no doubt find much to like here
  • 4 1/2 stars: “Sonny Stitt forged his own approach to playing bebop out of the sound and style of Charlie Parker, so this tribute album was a very logical project… Stitt, who mastered bebop and could play hot licks in his sleep, is in top form… making this an essential item for straight-ahead jazz fans…”

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Paul Desmond – Desmond Blue

More Jazz Recordings of Interest

More Jazz Recordings Featuring the Saxophone

  • Paul Desmond’s phenomenal 1962 release returns to the site for the first time in years, here with two INSANELY GOOD Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sides
  • These are just a few of the things we had to say about this amazing copy in our notes: “lots of space and detail and texture”…”super rich and open”…”sax up front and breathy”…”huge and tubey and weighty”…”textured and detailed”…”sweet and rich and present”
  • This is vintage Sixties Living Stereo sound at its best – big, rich and Tubey Magical like you will not believe
  • A “highly innovative and meticulously crafted work,” this collection is brimming with delightful jazz classics, including “My Funny Valentine,” “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” and “Body and Soul”
  • 4 stars: “… lush, reflective, thought-provoking, and soul-stirring. This work is quite a plus for any listener and especially those who consider themselves avid fans of Paul Desmond.”

Need a refresher course in Tubey Magic after playing too many modern recordings or remasterings? These original Living Stereo pressings are overflowing with it. Rich, smooth, sweet, full of ambience, dead-on correct tonality — everything that we listen for in a great record is here. (more…)

Sonny Rollins – The Bridge
  • Seriously good Living Stereo sound throughout this 70s reissue pressing, with both sides earning solid Double Plus (A++) grades
  • It took us close to ten years to track down enough originals as well as the right reissues — so many to choose from, and so many of them just awful sounding — to get our most recent shootout going
  • Both of these sides are remarkably clean and clear with wonderful size, clarity and transparency, with real texture to the instruments and an abundance of energy
  • Of all the reissues we played, this one sounded the best, which came as a (costly) surprise
  • The sax sounds right, and played loud enough it’s almost as if you’re hearing the real instrument and not just a recording of one
  • 4 1/2 stars: “The interplay between Rollins and [guitarist Jim] Hall is consistently impressive, making this a near-classic and a very successful comeback.”

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Sonny Rollins – The Bridge
  • An original pressing of the The Bridge debuts on the site, here with INSANELY GOOD Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) Demo Disc Living Stereo sound throughout
  • It has taken us close to ten years to track down enough orginals (and reissues) to get this shootout going, and the very high price of this copy reflects the work that went into finding it
  • Although the best originals will always win our shootouts, the early reissues from 1975 with the later cover can sound quite good – ten years ago those were the ones that won our shootout, but now we know better
  • Here’s just one of the things we had to say about this killer copy in our notes: “Tubey and sweet and silk all over. Perfect.”
  • The sax sounds just right, and played loud enough it’s almost as if you’re hearing the real instrument and not just a recording of it
  • 4 1/2 stars: “The interplay between Rollins and [guitarist Jim] Hall is consistently impressive, making this a near-classic and a very successful comeback.”

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John Lewis – The Wonderful World Of Jazz

More John Lewis

More Jazz Recordings Featuring the Piano

  • This Atlantic reissue was doing just about everything right, with both sides earning solid Double Plus (A++) grades or BETTER – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • Bigger, richer, more Tubey Magical, with more extension on both ends of the spectrum and more depth, width and height than most other copies we played
  • An outstanding (and very hard-to-find) Jazz LP – a Better Records Top Recommendation from decades ago, and we are pleased to report that the music and the sound still hold up
  • 4 1/2 stars: “This is one of pianist John Lewis’ most rewarding albums outside of his work with the Modern Jazz Quartet. Three numbers (including a remake of ‘Two Degrees East, Three Degrees West’) showcase his piano in a quartet with guitarist Jim Hall, bassist George Duvivier, and drummer Connie Kay.”

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Paul Desmond – Pure Desmond

More Paul Desmond

More Jazz on CTI

  • With two excellent Double Plus (A++) sides, this copy is guaranteed to blow the doors off any other Pure Desmond you’ve heard
  • Huge amounts of three-dimensional ambience, along with boatloads of Tubey Magic, make this a very special pressing indeed
  • Credit goes to Rudy Van Gelder once again for the huge space that the superbly well-recorded group occupies
  • 4 stars: “Paul Desmond reverted back to the relaxed quartet format that suited him well in the past… [this album] sparked a Desmond renaissance where he regained a good deal of the witty spark and erudite cool of his collaborations with Hall…

CTI is better known for the funky grooves of artists like Stanley Turrentine, Ron Carter and Deodato, but this album features mature adult jazz from Dave Brubeck’s former sideman, Paul Desmond.

It’s a lovely album, but if your pressing doesn’t have all the magic, we would forgive you for not giving the music the credit it deserves. Unless your copy has a lot of energy and good amounts of richness and fullness, you probably wouldn’t give the music a second thought.

When you hear a copy like this, it’s an entirely different story. Fans of Contemporary label jazz are sure to get a lot out of this one.

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Stan Getz – Big Band Bossa Nova

  • Getz’s superb 1962 release finally arrives on the site with outstanding Double Plus (A++) stereo sound or BETTER from start to finish – and the vinyl plays about as quietly as any vintage Verve ever does
  • Speakers Corner produced an unimpressive remaster on Heavy Vinyl years ago, and there are probably plenty of newer pressings that have come out since then, but none of them can begin to compete with the All Analog sound of this very pressing
  • 4 stars: “Fresh from the sudden success of Jazz Samba and “Desafinado,” Stan Getz asked the 28-year-old, strikingly gifted Gary McFarland to arrange a bossa nova album for big band as a follow-up. Getz is always his debonair, wistful, freely-floating self, completely at home in the Brazilian idiom that he’d adopted only a few months before.”

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