1964

Hampton Hawes – The Green Leaves of Summer

More Contemporary Label Jazz

  • Outstanding sound throughout this vintage Contemporary pressing, with both sides earning solid Double Plus (A++) grades
  • We discovered that even the best of the early Black Label pressings are not remotely in the same league as the pressings that win our shootouts
  • Only this pressing and our shootout winner earned grades of 2+ or better on both sides, which means, among other things, that truly top quality sound is very hard to find on this title!
  • This pressing boasts clean, clear and lively sound, with lovely space around all of the instruments
  • Not an easy title to find, and this one is about as quiet as we have yet to find – at the high end of Mint Minus Minus
  • The early G1 OJC pressings were bright, hot and veiled and are best avoided by audiophiles looking for even halfway decent sound
  • 4 1/2 stars: “Hawes had lost nothing of his swinging style while in prison, as can be heard on such numbers as ‘Vierd Blues,’ ‘St. Thomas’ and ‘Secret Love,’ and he was just starting to hint at moving beyond bop. Recommended.”

This Contemporary LP has wonderful Contemporary All Tube sound, courtesy of the amazing engineering of Howard Holzer. The piano is right — weighty and percussive with a full-bodied tone. The bass definition is superb. The clarity and transparency here are nothing short of breathtaking.

Steve Ellington’s brush work on the snare is very clear on this copy, helping to push the music to the next level. On the great Sonny Rollins track, “St. Thomas,” Steve Ellington is doing some fancy playing on the rims of his drums — the ambience bouncing off the studio walls is amazing.

A major highlight here is the completely original interpretation of “Blue Skies.” Hawes gets going with some really complicated two-handed playing. With the superb clarity of this copy you won’t miss a note.

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Grant Green – Am I Blue

More Jazz Recordings Featuring the Guitar

  • Green’s 1964 release, here with very good Hot Stamper grades on both sides of this vintage Blue Note pressing
  • It’s richer, fuller and with more presence than the average copy, and that’s especially true for whatever godawful Heavy Vinyl pressing is currently being foisted on an unsuspecting record buying public
  • This is true of even our lowest-priced, lowest-graded copies – they are guaranteed to sound much better than any pressing you can find on the market today, as well as any pressing you may already own
  • Feel free to explore whatever reissues might suit your fancy, but one pressing you should probably steer clear of is anything on the Music Matters label — they really made a mess of Grant’s Green Street album, so unless you have return privileges, you are asking for trouble buying any of their records
  • Rudy Van Gelder was masterful at this kind of spacious, low-distortion, dynamic, energetic sound

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Tchaikovsky / Saint-Saens – Variations on a Rococo Theme / Cello Concerto in A Minor / Starker

More of the Music of Tchaikovsky

More of the Music of  Saint-Saens

  • This original Plum Label Mercury pressing of Starker’s sublime performances boasts two textured, sweet, and natural Double Plus (A++) or BETTER sides
  • It’s also fairly quiet at Mint Minus Minus, a grade that even our most-well-cared-for vintage classical titles have trouble playing at
  • The cello is present and immediate, with sound that is wonderfully full and harmonically natural on this copy of SR-90409
  • This recording is not your typical dry, bright, nasaly, upper-midrangy Merc – the sound is rich and smooth like a good London, with a big stage and lovely transparency

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Donald Byrd – A New Perspective

More of the Music of Donald Byrd

  • A wonderful stereo pressing of one of our All Time Favorite Blue Note albums, here with solid Double Plus (A++) grades on both sides
  • “Cristo Redentor,” one of the most amazing pieces of music ever recorded, sounds outstanding on this side two
  • The gospel vocals are exceptionally well recorded (thanks, RVG!) – with the transparency of this copy, you can easily pick out and follow each singer
  • To hear the real RVG magic, play “Beast of Burden” on side one – that’s some real audiophile Demo Disc sound
  • 5 stars: “One of the most successful uses of a gospel choir in a jazz context. This is a memorable effort that is innovative in its own way, a milestone in Donald Byrd’s career.”

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Mozart – Clarinet Quintet / Vienna Octet

More of the Music of Mozart

  • You’ll find lush, sweet and rich Double Plus (A++) sound or BETTER throughout this early London pressing of these famed compositions
  • Both sides of this pressing of CS-6379 are open, high-rez, and spacious, with depth like you will not believe and some of the least shrill string reproduction we have ever heard for this music
  • Clear and transparent and natural – your ability to suspend disbelief requires practically no effort at all

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Sammy Davis Jr. – Sings The Big Ones For Young Lovers

More Pop and Jazz Vocals

  • You will find amazing sound on both sides of this original Reprise stereo pressing
  • “Sammy Davis, who is widely acclaimed to be the greatest all-around-entertainment talent of our times, here swings thru an album filled with the greatest songs he’s ever tackled in his entire recording career. The result ? It has to be the greatest album Sammy’s ever recorded.”
  • 4 stars: “…[a] dozen-song outing, supported by some irresistible backdrops courtesy of arrangers Jimmie Haskell and Perry Botkin Jr… Sings the Big Ones for Young Lovers primarily consists of well-known covers…”
  • If you’re a fan of Sammy’s, this 1964 release belongs in your collection.

Although we liked it well enough, this title unfortunately  did not get much love from our customers.

Years ago it was tagged on the blog as a never again title, which simply means we would no longer plan on doing shootouts for it. (It’s possible we could do it again, expecially if we were to get hold of an amazing sounding pressing, but at this point that does not seem to be in the cards as we have stopped buying them altogether.)

We encourage you to find a nice copy for yourself. Stick with the early label. If you don’t hear the sound we describe below, you have the option to keep buying copies until you do.

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Liszt / Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 / Kondrashin / Richter

More of the Music of Franz Liszt

  • A vintage Philips import pressing of these Classical Masterpieces that boasts two solid Double Plus (A++) or BETTER sides
  • The finest Liszt 1st and 2nd Piano Concertos we know of for their performances, and unquestionably for sonics (when the sonics are this good)
  • The best pressings of this title are more like live music than any classical recording you own (outside of one of our Hot Stamper pressings, of course; those can be every bit as good) or your money back
  • So big, rich and transparent we guarantee you have never heard a better piano concerto recording

*NOTE: Unlike Concerto No. 1, The Second Piano Concerto opens very quietly, so there will likely never be a vintage pressing of the album that will get that opening to play like a CD. Expect to hear some random ticks, a small price to pay to hear this wonderful performance on top quality analog.

Richter and Kondrashin deliver the finest Liszt 1st & 2nd Piano Concertos we know of, musically, sonically and in every other way. Richter’s performance here is alternately energetic and lyrical, precisely as the work demands. The recording itself is explosively dynamic. The brass is unbelievably full, rich and powerful. You won’t find a better recording of this music anywhere.

Big and rich (always a problem with piano recordings: you want to hear the percussive qualities of the instrument, but few copies can pull it off without sounding thin). We love the BIG, FAT, Tubey Magical sound of this recording! The piano is solid and powerful — like a real piano.

Huge amounts of hall space, weight and energy, this is DEMO DISC QUALITY SOUND by any standard. (more…)

Lee Morgan / The Sidewinder

More of the Music of Lee Morgan

  • Incredible sound throughout this 60s Blue Note pressing, with a Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) side two mated to a solid Double Plus (A++) side one
  • It took us about two years to get this shootout going, but the best copies we played were so impressive that they made all the time and money it took to pull it off worth the effort – what a record!
  • These sides are rich and full, from the extended top end all the way down to the deepest bass — thanks RVG!
  • The trumpet on this album is amazing — tonally correct with wonderful leading edge transients
  • Both musically and sonically, this is Blue Note at its best
  • 5 stars: “Carried by its almost impossibly infectious eponymous opening track, The Sidewinder helped foreshadow the sounds of boogaloo and soul-jazz with its healthy R&B influence and Latin tinge. While the rest of the album retreats to a more conventional hard bop sound, Morgan’s compositions are forward-thinking and universally solid…”

When we dropped the needle on this one, we immediately stopped listening critically and just began enjoying the album. That’s the sign of an exceptional copy — the sound gets out of the way and the music becomes the point.

There’s life and presence on these sides the likes of which you almost never hear on any jazz record.

The lineup here is fantastic, with Joe Henderson on tenor sax, Billy Higgins on drums, Barry Harris on piano and Bob Cranshaw on bass. (more…)

The Rolling Stones – Self-Titled

More of the Music of The Rolling Stones

  • You’ll find solid Double Plus (A++) sound from first note to last on this outstanding pressing of The Stones’ 1964 release – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • We guarantee there is dramatically more richness, fullness and presence on this copy than others you’ve heard, and that’s especially true for whatever godawful Heavy Vinyl pressing is currently being foisted on an unsuspecting record buying public
  • This is the real, honest sound of the early, early Stones
  • “The Stones’ debut knocked The Beatles from the chart summit… They were on their way.” – BBC Review
  • If you’re a fan of the early Stones, their debut from 1964 belongs in your collection.

The best word I could use to sum up both the sound and the music on this record is HONEST. If you want to hear how early Rolling Stones records sound when they sound right, this is the ticket. This is the real sound of the early, early Stones.

Probably what any modern engineer would want to do to the album would only end up making it worse. It is what it is and that’s good enough for us. Since the tapes are now more than 60 years old, no modern reissue will sound remotely as good as this one.

The Stones wanted their stuff to sound like the old Blues albums they grew up on and revered, and with that sound in mind you can’t argue that they didn’t succeed here.

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Oscar Peterson + Clark Terry – Oscar Peterson Trio + One

More of the Music of Oscar Peterson

  • Amazing sound throughout this vintage pressing, with both sides earning INSANELY GOOD Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades – fairly quiet vinyl too
  • Rich, solid bass; you-are-there immediacy; energy and drive; instruments that are positively jumping out of the speakers – add it all up and you can see that this copy had the sound we were looking for
  • 5 stars: “Some guest soloists get overshadowed by Oscar Peterson’s technical prowess, while others meet him halfway with fireworks of their own; trumpeter Clark Terry lands in the latter camp on this fine 1964 session. With drummer Ed Thigpen and bassist Ray Brown providing solid support, the two soloists come off as intimate friends over the course of the album’s ten ballad and blues numbers.”

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