Which vinyl recording to get?

Posted by: Miguel Olmo on 02 October 2000

I am starting my vinyl collection (mostly jazz), and I am looking for titles as: Miles Davis Quintet w/Coltrane, Bill Evans Trio w/Lafarro, Sonny Rollins-Way out Wes-Contemporary Leaders..., MJQ-Django-Concorde, Red Garland Trio, and many more currently available under the Original Jazz Classics label.
I am not sure if I should get the remasters by Analogue Productions ($30) or the recordings by OJC ($10).
There is also the original blue-label Prestige pressing, but I have not been able to find any. Also, most of these albums have been remastered by JVC/XRCD.

I would apreciate to know your experience with these recordings and remasters.
Thanks for your help.


MEOR
VQ

Posted on: 02 October 2000 by Bob Edwards
Miguel--

I have only compared a couple of those from MJQ (a fave of mine in jazz) and I would buy (and did) the OJC. They are not made on the same quiet vinyl but the Analogue Productions versions are not worth 3x the price, and seem to lack a lot of the groove the OJCs have.

Generally, I would try to buy one of each of one record and see which one you groove on more.

Good luck !

Bob

Posted on: 02 October 2000 by Paul B
Buy the OJC - some are digital remasters though and will sound thin - they don't always say if digital or not. The Analogue Productions are big and fat sounding (more like analogue some would claim) but perhaps don't swing as well in all cases. I have not heard them all though. Cookin' by Miles Davis is better on Analogue Productions so there is no hard and fast rule to follow. Buy the titles you want on OJC as they are cheap and try a couple of your favourites on AP and see.

If you see the two record set by Miles of KOB from Columbia/Classic, buy it, as it is now out of print. It is possibly the definitive version and worth the extra outlay.

Paul

Posted on: 03 October 2000 by Tony L
quote:
I am starting my vinyl collection (mostly jazz), and I am looking for titles as: Miles Davis Quintet w/Coltrane, Bill Evans Trio w/Lafarro, Sonny Rollins-Way out Wes-Contemporary Leaders..., MJQ-Django-Concorde, Red Garland Trio, and many more currently available under the Original Jazz Classics label.
I am not sure if I should get the remasters by Analogue Productions ($30) or the recordings by OJC ($10).

There are quite a few labels producing very nice "audiophile" (i.e. expensive) vinyl re-issues at the moment. My favourite label in this genre is Alto Analogue, who's re-issues of 'Out of the cool' by Gill Evans, and '234' by Shelly Manne are amongst the best sounding vinyl I have ever heard - these are much better than the originals. If you like jazz and vinyl buy these, they are absolutely stunning.

Classic Records are also very good, as are DCC, both are pretty close to the original pressings, and quite a bit better in some cases. I second the recommendation for the Classic Records 'Kind of blue' double album - it is excellent. The current 180 gram Blue Note re-issues are good, and the Impulse vinyl is not actually bad, though Alto shows just how good the masters actually are.

I don't rate Mobile Fidelity at all, they do something that totally kills the groove of the music. I am afraid I have nothing on OJC or Analogue Productions, so can't comment about them.

Try www.vivante.co.uk for mail order - they are pretty good, though not cheap.

Tony.