I haven't posted here in quite a while, and I wasn't sure whether to put this here or in the music circle. But I decided to put it here because it may be of particular interest to vinylphiles.
Late last month I received a newsletter from Acoustic Sounds announcing the upcoming release of the complete Riverside recordings of Bill Evans, remastered by Steve Hoffman and cut by Kevin Gray. Each album this 11 title set is presented on two 180g vinyl LPs cut at 45RPM, and pressed at Pallas Records in Germany. This release is limited to 1,500 copies and is priced at $599.
One thing to keep in mind is that Analogue Productions has previously issued all of Evans' Riverside recordings on 45RPM vinyl on an individual title basis. These releases were also mastered by Acoustech Mastering. Several of these titles, such as
Waltz for Debby and
Portrait in Jazz sold out almost immediately. Others are still available, such as
How My Heart Sings. These albums are also presented on two 180g 45RPM long players, pressed at RTI. I'll spare everyone a rant about RTI and quality control. Suffice it to say that I was pleased to learn that this set was pressed at Pallas.
The question on most minds is probably whether or not the set is worth the $599 price of admission. The answer is that it depends. For anyone even remotely interested in this set they already know all about Bill Evans and this music, and no doubt are familiar with the work of Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray. If you have most or all of the RTI pressed 45s and you are happy with them, then this set really doesn't bring anything new to the table. On the other hand, if you missed out on some of the RTI pressed 45s then you have a golden opportunity to acquire this music on a high quality 45RPM vinyl pressing....but you will have to buy the complete set to get them. I was missing a few of the RTI pressings:
Waltz for Debby,
Sunday at the Village Vanguard, and
Portrait in Jazz. So I wasted no time placing a pre-order for this set. I have so far listened to
Waltz for Debby and
Explorations. They are everything I would expect in a high quality audiophile pressing. But at a cost of about $54 per album they aren't exactly affordable. On other hand, to someone who cherishes this music and is itching to have it in the best sounding presentation possible, cost is probably not the deciding factor. It wasn't for me. This set is highly recommended. For those interested you can order it
here while supplies last.
--Jerome
