More of the Music of Miles Davis
- This vintage 70s reissue boasts very good Hot Stamper sound from first note to last – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
- It’s rare for us to offer any Hot Stamper pressing on this label, but this one surprised us, sounding mostly tonally correct, with much of the richness and space we look for on this title
- 4 1/2 stars: “The first of two sets recorded during a weekend in 1961 features the Miles Davis Quintet at a period of time when Hank Mobley was on tenor and the rhythm section was comprised of pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Jimmy Cobb. This is an underappreciated group because of its relatively short life, but as evidenced here, the bandmembers swung fast and hard and never looked back.”
Reissues
There are some very good sounding reissues from the 70s, this being one of them. Again and again my notes made it clear that on these reissue pressings the sound could have used some tubes in the chain.
On this record, more than any other, the tubes potentially make all the difference.
Now keep in mind that we are talking only about 1961 tubes, not the stuff that engineers are using today to make “tube-mastered” records. Those modern records barely hint at the Tubey Magical sound of a record like this, if our experience with hundreds of them is any guide.
Unlike so many of the audiophile reviewers of today, we have a very hard time taking any of the new pressings seriously. We think our position is pretty clear in that regard.