"Stunning" is a term that can be used to describe both the sound quality and the cover artwork for Rabih Abou-Khalil's "Blue Camel" album. He is an oud player that collaborated with jazz musicians to create this musically very interesting and beautiful (to me anyway) album. I like the music, and I REALLY like the recording quality and the artwork. Sadly, I don't own the album but I have the very nice CD version.
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I don’t listen that much to classical on lp because the wide dynamic range of the music is poorly served in this medium—average recording levels have to be set quite low which makes noise, like ticks and pops quite intrusive. Still, there are many very good sounding recordings on vinyl. Every record I have heard on the British label Lyrita was terrific sounding. Among my favorites for sound and content iis Elizabeth Machonchy’s Symphony for Double String Orchestra. I have the EMI recordings mentioned above and they too are good.
Jazz is particularly well served on vinyl, with many of the great recordings sounding better than digital reissues, and many originals sound better than vinyl reissues. If you want to show people how spectacular mono records sound, get a vinyl copy of Sonny Rollins “Saxophone Colossus.” Many original issues are very expensive, but, big labels like Columbia pressed a lot of copies so otiginal issues are not super rare and they are very well recorded. I like, for example, Brubeck’s “Take Five” and Ellington’s “Blues in Orbit” as examples of spectacular stereo recordings from the late 1950’s (it is sad to see how little recordings have improved since then).
For audiophile recordings of every genre, get almost every direct-to-disc recording for vivid and ‘alive” sound. M&K records (e.g. “For Duke” (Ellington numbers), “Fatha” (Earl Hines)), Sheffield Records (e.g. Wagner Ring excerpts, Amanda McBroom “Growing Up in Hollywood Town”) and East Wind (Japanese jazz label, e.g., Great American Jazz Trio “Direct From L.A. “) have amazing sound. Another great Japanese label is Three Blind Mice (e.g., Yamamoto Trio “Midnight Sugar”). The Swedish label Proprius does very good sounding records, although I did not like their famous “Jazz at the Pawnshop” for the performance (not the sound) and played it only once.
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Analogue Productions consistently made very good reissues. Same with Classic Records, King (Japanese) and Cisco (Japanese).
Mobile Fidelity is a bit mixed, but, many are very good. I particularly like a very early Mobile Fidelity reissue of Gordon Lightfoot's "Sundown."
When I am demonstrating what vinyl can do, I put on the following:
Ricki Lee Jones: "Girl at Her Volcano"-"Under the Boardwalk"
Clark Terry (Analogue Productions reissue)"Alternate Blues"-Alternate 1
Duke Ellington (original six-eye Columbia) "Blues in Orbit"--"Three J's Blues"
Great Jazz Trio "Direct from LA"--"Night in Tunisia"
Yamamoto Trio "Midnight Sugar"--"Midnight Sugar"
Amanda McBroom "Growing Up in Hollywood Town"--"The Rose"
Bill Berry "For Duke"--"Take the A Train"
Kraftwerk "Electric Cafe"--"Telephone Line"
Thomas Dolby "Aliens Ate My Buick"--"Pop Culture"
Little Feat "Waiting for Columbus"--"Willin"
Weavers "Reunion at Carnegie Hall -1963"--Guantanamera
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I love to shock people by playing late 1950's and early 1960's stereo recordings that can hold their own in sound quality against anything recorded since then.
The Ellington "Blues in Orbit" is one example I have listed above (the original six-eye Columbia I own sounds better than the SACD/CD reissue that I also have)
Armstrong--"Satchmo Plays King Oliver" 1960 (I have a terrific sounding reissue).
Brubeck "Take Five" 1959 (six-eye Columbia)
Mozart Clarinet Concerto-Peter Maag/Gervase de Peyer) 1959 (originally on Decca, I have a King Records reissue)
I also have several Benny Goodman records on original six-eye Columbias that are killer good in terms of recording quality.
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I heard that Classic 45, though I don't own it, and it IS really good. The original release is also quite good.
Another record that never fails to impress in a vinyl demonstration is a quite obscure record by an English folk artist who loves American folk music. It is David Peabody's "Americana." I put on the "Sewing Machine Blues" cut to impress listeners, particularly those enamored with great soundstaging. This is about a $6.00 record on Discogs.
Another good sounding track, and imaging champ, is a Lou Reed "Walk on the Wild Side" cut on "Transformer."
There are a lot of good movie soundtrack albums, in terms of sound quality like Ennio Morricone's "The Mission" soundtrack and Ry Cooder's soundtrack for "Paris Texas."
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Good call on the "Beyond the Missouri Sky" and "A Meeting By the River." Both are good for sound and content.
Water Lily is a label that consistently put out great sounding recordings. I have mentioned several above and would like to add a few more:
Chesky Records--very good reissues and very good original issues. I don't know of any bad issues by them.
Audioquest--the cable company put out a few records of original music that are superbly recorded, e.g., Robert Lucas "Usin' Man Blues" and the Tuxedo Cowboys "Woman of the Heart."
Clarity Records--this company put out some ultra premium pressings (many with only one side of the record having grooves) that have outstanding recording and pressing quality, e.g., Mary Stallings "Fine and Mellow" and Claudia Gomez "Salamandra").
Although not specifically an audiophile label, I cannot think of any jazz recordings by ECM that are NOT outstanding in terms of sound quality.
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I have a seven album Rhino box set of The Doors studio albums and it does sound very good. I am sure a 45 rpm set would be even better.
I have the Classic Records box of the complete Led Zeppelin studio albums that is crazy expensive these days if unopened; mine have been played. This box is a good example of how difficult it is to assess the sound quality of popular/rock albums in terms of sound quality. I personally like this reissue, but I have two friends who are big Zeppelin fans and they don't like the Classic Records reissue because it sounds less raw; I can see their point, but, I like that there are alternative masterings.
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It is hard to justify mentioning a recording that is just acoustic guitar for sound quality (how hard can it be to do the recording), but I will because of the beautiful music AND great sound. The recording is Michael Hedges "Aerial Boundaries." I bought this record even though I would be forced to admit that I own a Windham Hill record.
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I love the way Chesky records music. There is a realistic sense of space and the vocalist is not just a tight pinpoint in the space—the vocalist appears to take up some space and has a natural presence. You hear this in The Raven.
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A few more:
Linda Ronstadt/Nelson Riddle: "What's New"
Joan Baez: "Farewell Agelina"
Joan Baez "Diamonds and Rust"
Richard and Linda Thompson "Shoot Out the Lights"
Harry Belafonte: "At Carnegie Hall" and "Returns to Carnegie Hall" (the music is somewhat corny and not my particular taste, but his voice is incredible and the recordings are stunning. I have the original RCA's, but I've heard the Acoustic Sounds reissue of the first album and it is terrific too. More proof that stereo recordings have not improved from late sixties and early seventies.
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Good call on Groove Note; that is indeed a consistently fine sounding label. I have a few of the Jacintha recordings, but her pacing is way too slow for my taste. I have, and like, the Illinois Jacquet “Birthday Party” album.
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Most of the direct-to-disc records I’ve heard—e.g., Sheffield, M&K, Crystal Clear, East Winds—are very good sounding. I don’t known if this is the result of eliminating the tape recording step, or because they were audiophile records that take care in all aspects of recording and manufacturing, but in any case, they are worth collecting if sound is a big issue.
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Some artists were very much interested in the sound quality of their records, or so it seems, because the sound is consistently good. Lois Armstrong seemed to always have good records. Ry Cooder is another good example. In addition to the Water Lily recording mentioned above, his “Buena Vista Social Club” record is terrific sounding. I also really like his “Paradise and Lunch Album” (I have both the original and a Mobile Fidelity” reissue and they are both good).
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I know there is a lot of anger over Mo-Fi’s use of digital steps in the making of it’s ultra premium One-Step records. But, many of them are really great sounding so it is not the case that digital ruins recorded music. If you have a chance to acquire these records, you should not pass them up.
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Greg Brown has written some remarkable lyrics. His “Poet Game” album, particularly the title track, is a great example of his skill. The track about the Kennedy assassination (“Brand New Dodge”) is pretty good too. I have this record on a terrific pressing by Red House Record, a label that consistently sounds good.
Another Brown, Ray Brown, had his “Soular Wind” album reissued by Audiophile Master Records (a very limited edition) that is one of the very best sounnding record that I have.
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I don't have that Butterfield Blues Band record, but, if it is on Crystal Clear, I am not surprised that it sounds great.
This reminds me of another terrifically well recorded album. Doug Macleod's "Come to Find" album which was originally release on Audioquest (yup, the cable company), and then reissued on Analogue Productions. I own the Audioquest version and have heard, and liked, the Analogue Productions reissue (they are almost always terrific with reissues). I can't say which is better. Charlie Musselwhite appears on a couple of tracks and his harmonica playing is fantastic.
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As I said above, I find Mo-Fi to be hit and miss, and I agree that Analogue Productions is quite consistently very good But, there have been many other labels doing reissues that have been very good too, such as Classic Records and King Records, and some that have many great reissues in their catalogue even if all are not great, such as JVC and Toshiba (to name two labels I have not mentioned above). For a lot of really great records, such as the old Blue Note catalogue, one must collect reissues unless one is willing to spend thousands of dollars on originals (I don't own a single original Blue Note). There are currently active companies that make fantastic reissues of some very important albums that are extremely expensive when originally issued, never mind what they end up costing as collector items later (e.g., the reissues made by the Electric Recording Company).
Once you get up into crazy price collecting, it might make sense going to reel to reel tape. I would never go that route myself, but, I've heard direct copies of master tapes that cost north of $1,000 that are so much more open, vivid and alive than LPs. I am too poor and too lazy to ever want to deal with tape.
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The editors of Absolute Sound magazine use to often tout the Ella Fitzgerald "Clap Hands Here Comes Charlie" album on Verve Records. I have an original copy and it is indeed a fine sounding album, both musically and sonically. I would also include in a fairly short list of great sounding albums her "Whisper Not" album with the Marty Paich Orchestra. The big band accompaniment is tougher to record than that of "Clap Hands Here Comes Charlie" and the performance is pretty good too. Verve is a hit or miss label, but both of these records are clearly in the "hit" category.
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The Parlan, Getz/Gilberto and Wanes recommendations are all good sounding albums with good music too. The Parlan record I have as a reissue (I don't own any original Blue Notes).
the Getz/Gilberto I also have as a reissue but I've heard a Verve original and MANY various reissues. All of the versions sound very good although they do suffer a little bit from excessive and boomy bass. Still, the music is great.
I have the original issue of Warnes' album (all covers of Leonard Cohen songs). It is an extremely well recorded album and I like most of the interpretations of his music on the album. It is a good place to explore other people's versions of his songs. One of my favorites on the album is "First We Take Manhattan" (my preferred cover of this was done by R.E.M).
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The Rickie Lee Jones version is quite good musically, and the EP it is on is VERY good soundwise. Another track, Tom Waits' "Rainbow Sleeves" can be a bit demanding for some cartridges where she comes close to overloading the microphone. I've actually heard mis-tracking with a few cartridges playing this track.
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I think it is terrific that you have snagged some of the recommendations. I have both the Chet Baker and the Du Pre/Baker albums and they are great both musically and sonically. I wish I had your Nagra album; I heard it and it is a great compilation to own. I have the Thorens 125th Anniversary box set and it is quite good too.
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I still don’t know the record, but, Musselwhite on Crystal Clear Records must be something special.
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I haven't heard the Monk Mo-Fi one step, but, if it is like other such albums it would be terrific sounding. Mo-Fi has taken a lot of heat because they have made most of these albums from digital masters.
Analogue purist hate the very idea that digital is part of the chain because they believe digital is inherently bad. I am beginning to think that what is loved about analogue sound is what the medium does to the sound, not that it is a superior way to preserve the original signal. I have a number of early digitally recorded music issued on vinyl (because CDs had not yet been invented) that sound very good. They sound very much like analogue-recorded vinyl.
A similar observation has been made with analogue tape. I read an interview with three recording engineers and they all agreed that high resolution digital recording sounds closer to the native microphone feed than does an analogue tape recording of the same feed. But, they all agreed that they preferred the sound of the analogue tape version even if it was not as "accurate." Perhaps vinyl works the same way for vinyl fans.
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The "Tea for the Tillerman" that I have is on an original Island release, not the Analogue Productions version and it is a very good sounding record (much better sounding than the original US release (A&M?)). I was surprised how much more dynamic and explosive the Island record was compared to the US version. I have not heard the Analogue Productions version, but I would bet it is good because that label is very consistently good.
I mentioned a few Ella Fitzgerald albums but forgot to mention her soundtrack for the movie "Let No Man Write My Epitaph." The 45 rpm reissue on Analogue Pro-ductions sounds very good for a 1960 mono recording.
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