depends on the recording and the actual release. historically a rollercoaster ride. |
That's why the OJC's are the best value for money. It can be had for as low as $3 in the used market |
I searched completed auctions on ebay for "Blue note lexington" and the prices are absurd...hundreds of dollars for an LP. |
Mid 80's Soul Note & Black Saint are high points of late vinyl mastering & not too expensive. Great jazz on these labels by Paul Bley, Anthony Braxton, Max Roach, Jimmy Guiffre, Steve Lacy, Joe Lovano, Charlie Haden. |
Remasters and originals always are going to sound different. Blue note's, Black label chess mono's etc., were all cut hotter and more agressive in the upper mids originally compared to remasters which are usually more "polite". This does not mean they are worse, that's for you to judge.
Sometimes reissues can be better. I felt this about a couple of the shaded dogs and Mercs and the creedence stuff from steve hoffman.
There is no rule. Check out some stuff. 9.99 OJC's from Fantasy are a great place to start. |
I thought, in general, MFSL (I've only bought 80's releases including UHQR) was pretty good. And, I thought that was the popular opinion. But, I've also read much more negative things about this label too. Any other thoughts? My other favorite label is Pablo and ECM. |
I have had issues with Acoustic Sounds 200 gram reissues! The vinyl is noisy! I have been told they have had a problem spreading the vinyl properly during production to create the 200 gram LPs. I have the Satchmo Plays King Oliver LP mentioned in this thread with St James Infirmary and it sounded terrible after the third play. I have avoided Acoustic sounds reissues. Audiotomb has it right; the 47 Lexington Ave Blue Notes, the flat edge ones are incredible. I have heard Horace Silver's Six Pieces of Silver on the Lex Ave Blue note and on the reissue from Clasic Records, I believe, and they don't even sound like the same performance. The Rudy Van Gelder on blue Note sounds superior to the reissue that was mixed differently and sounds more like a big band mix than the intimacy of the original recording. Too bad the engineers today didn't listen to the original to get it right. The LP's pressed at RTI by Stan Ricker have been superior sounding and quality vinyl. |
I would have to say I have been very impressed with everything I have heard on the Acoustic Sounds label.... Their 45rpm (expensive) reissues are incredible.
Chris |
old Blue Notes - NYC Lexington Ave - get your checkbook ready |
We don't have to go far and spend big bucks for the aforementioned Classic re-issues. The OJCs are are tough act to beat and best of all they are not equalized or boosted like the Classic re-issues. |
I actually have noticed the high quality on all my keith jarrett lps. |
The basic problem is that you are searching for reissues. While there are occasional exceptions (the Speaker's Corner reissue of the Mercury Living Presence Starker's Bach Cello Suites comes to mind - though avoid their Mercury Respighi Birds like the plague), lost master tapes, lost cutting techniques, the absence of tube cutting heads and (unfortunately) the presence digital stages of various kinds, mean that original pressings outperform reissues - what - 99.8% of the time? Or maybe it's 99.9%. |
Sorry I didn't read your query closely enough regarding reissues. I've been very curious about Warner Brothers reissue program, they sound as if they are serious about having a quality product. Music direct has the first batch available for purchase, has anyone heard any of these yet? |
+1 on ECM! What makes it even better is that I've picked up a bunch of Ex+ cond. ECMs from the dollar bin--Pat Metheny, Gary Burton, and Keith Jarrett. All uniformly yummy. |
I see now that you also asked about labels to avoid. One label I now avoid is the "Get Back" reissue label from Italy. Everything I've heard on this label sounds coarse and grainy, and the pressing quality is indifferent.
As Photon46 notes, there are many good original issue labels. I've kept my response to just reissue labels since that is my understanding of your question.
Cheers, |
Classic Records has a pretty good track record with their jazz reissues. Their 33 rpm classical reissues of the RCA and Mercury classical LPs were very inconsistent (from downright horrible to okay), but their 45 rpm reissues of of those same LPs are consistently superior across the board (from very very good to superb).
I've had excellent experience with the following reissue labels on a very consistent basis (in alphabetical order):
> Analogue Productions (particularly the Fantasy Jazz 45 rpm series which has been uniformly superb)
> Cisco
> Pure Pleasure
> S&P Records
> Speakers Corner (particularly their Mercury classical reissues, but any of their work is very well done)
. |
I see you mention in your "system" you like jazz. I've yet to find a release on the ECM label that disappoints. It's a pity they no longer release vinyl. Any time I go into a used record store, their offerings are one the primary things I look for. Their surfaces are very quiet, never encountered "snap, crackle, & pop" syndrome with ECM. |
