Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus - best LP?

I can believe the original Prestige version sounds great, but the for the price - which would be close to $500 for a NM original W. 50th label, you'd be afraid to actually play it for fear of damaging it. Be careful with E-Bay sellers too. Grading is sometimes as much art as it is science and not every seller does it well. I'd be wary of anyone who is grading solely on visual inspection.

I have compared 3 pressings of the Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus:
The Original Prestige 50th st pressing with the AP lp and with the AP SACD – all mono of course :
While The Original Prestige ( vintage vinyl ) is not as clean/quite as the other two, it is the most detailed and best sounding.

06-12-08: Duonri said:
"The best Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus on LP is the vintage original pressing on the Prestige 50th st label. You can find it on eBay only."

Forgetting about collectability, I'm wondering if the original pressing is better than the Analogue Productions 45rpm/180gram reissue. The reissue is astounding. Of course, it's sold out and now into collector status also, but it was a great deal at the original price of 50-bucks. Without hearing both, I can't declare one "the best", but maybe you've heard both.

Dave

The best Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus on LP is the vintage original pressing on the Prestige 50th st label. You can find it on eBay only.

the 200g reissue of the bridge sounds pretty good too.

Yeah, "Way Out West" is another favorite! Fortunately I've managed to find the 45rpm version from AP. "The Bridge" is superb as well. Those three are easily his best albums in my opinion.

By the way, if you like great sax players - check out Barney Wilen. His softer records are just amazing - check out "French Ballads" on IDA Records if you can find it.. And "La Note Bleue" on the same label. Another great one is "Sanctuary". These are all mid-80s French pressings on thin vinyl, but oh my they sound great!

Yeah, if you could find the AP 45rpm, it's the one to have IMHO. I see that Acoustic Sounds is back ordered.

"Way Out West" is great. "The Bridge" is my other favorite, pehaps thanks to Jim Hall accompanying on guitar.

Dave

If you like Colossus try "Way Out West". Also a really great recording on Contemporary. Its a trio date - Rollins with, if I'm not mistaken, Ray Brown and Shelly Manne. Another amazing performance and very well recorded. If you can find one, I might recommend a mono copy. The stereo mix has that early two channel disease where the sax is hard panned to the left and the bass and drums are hard to the right making the the whole thing sound a little funny.

Thanks Mike, I'm afraid your reply was just what I expected.. Ah well. ;) If anybody wants to sell me this 45rpm set, please send me an email!

Digsmithd - oh yes, indeed!!

Great stuff no matter what recording...a must have for jazz lovers!!

i also love this recording.

i don't have an original pressing.

i have both the DCC 33 and the AP 45.

the DCC is great; but everything the DCC does the 45 goes one better. the 45 particularly has more space and depth, more bite, less a sense of a recording, the drum kit has more articulation and dynamic life, the 45 swings more, has more ease and flow, the sax is bigger and bolder, and on and on. tonally; they are similar and the DCC is excellent in that area.

these are mostly small differences; you just see farther into the recording on the 45 verses looking at the recording on the DCC.

i am a subscriber to 'The Tape Project' and 'Saxophone Colossus' is due to arrive in the next couple of months. that would be a 15ips 1/4" first generation master dub (off a 1" working master) of this beauty. i cannot wait to compare the tape to the 45.