[chadh]

I've listened to three discs this evening, all from roughly the same period:

Blue Train - John Coltrane (1957)
Birth of the Cool - Miles Davis (1957)
Free For All - Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers (1964)

The last two were RVG remasters.  I have lossless copies of all three CDs on the hard drive, and they are streamed through the modified SB2.

Free for All doesn't sound all that great a recording. Birth of the Cool is much better sounding to me. But wow...Blue Train just sounded awesome.  The cymbals sounded really natural, not tinny.  And the horns were so clear.  It really made me sit up and take notice of how good some older recordings could sound.  Maybe I'm crazy, and maybe Blue Train doesn't sound any better than thousands of other discs of the same period...but I need to know!

Does anyone have any other recommendations from this era of discs that sound really great?  Or maybe even better that Blue Train?

Thanks for any and all suggestions.

Chad

[mfsoa]

Yeah but how sicko is Art on Free For All!!

Somethin' was up with him on that gig!

[mfsoa]

Oops forgot my suggestion. My vinyl copy of the Jazz Messengers "Caravan" sounds great.

[chadh]

Oh, agreed. Art Blakey is wonderful.  No wonder everybody wanted to play in this guy's band.

I truly love the album, and it gets a real workout here, especially as my four year old has a thing about sharks, and will often demand to hear "Hammerhead".

Chad

[lonewolfny42]

Eric Dolphy - "Out To Lunch"....1964....remastered cd is very good.....Link...

[SET Man]

Oops forgot my suggestion. My vinyl copy of the Jazz Messengers "Caravan" sounds great.

Hey!

   I agreed. To truly experience those Jazz classics you have to get it on LP vinyl. I've got "Birth of the Cool" on Classic Record and the sound is just beautiful even through my inexpensive Rega Planar 2 with BPS EVO III

Take care,
Buddy

[chadh]

Oops forgot my suggestion. My vinyl copy of the Jazz Messengers "Caravan" sounds great.

Hey!

   I agreed. To truly experience those Jazz classics you have to get it on LP vinyl. I've got "Birth of the Cool" on Classic Record and the sound is just beautiful even through my inexpensive Rega Planar 2 with BPS EVO III

Take care,
Buddy

Thanks for the suggestion.  Now you'll have me spending every waking hour trying to work out how to afford a vinyl rig AND the record collection to play!

Chad

[lonewolfny42]

Charles Mingus - "Tijuana Moods".....1957....remastered....link...

Another like the Dolphy....good tunes/good recordings....I own both.

[chadh]

Eric Dolphy - "Out To Lunch"....1964....remastered cd is very good.....Link...

I've never heard this album, but it looks mighty interesting.  I think the only thing I own featuring Eric Dolphy is "Ole Coltrane".

Thanks, for this one as well as the Mingus.

Chad

[eric the red]

Jimmy Smith 'Organ Grinder Swing' on Verve (1965). I've played this disc 100s of times and never tire of it. Great music and great sonics. The Verve jazz reissues on cd are very nice. If you like Miles check out the Epic/Legacy remasters of Freddie Hubbard (early 70's). Freddie's 'Red Clay' is a great album...hmmm...I think I'll listen to it now....Check out Bill Frissell's stuff on Nonesuch. 'East-West' and 'Good Dog, Happy Man' are well recorded, very nicely packaged and great great music.

[michaelavorgna]

Here's a site that lists recommended recordings by year. One I'd highlight is Mal Waldron's "The Quest". I'll also 2nd or 3rd the vinyl suggestion

http://www.scaruffi.com/jazz/50.html

[eric the red]

Here's a site that lists recommended recordings by year. One I'd highlight is Mal Waldron's "The Quest". I'll also 2nd or 3rd the vinyl suggestion

http://www.scaruffi.com/jazz/50.html

Great link. Look at the jazz giants on those lists wow!

[lonewolfny42]

Thats a good site.....thanks for posting.

One more....Horace Silver - "Songs For My Father"....its a good remaster....link...

[michaelavorgna]

My pleasure. Yea that's a great list. Kinda makes me realize how little I've heard and how many LPs I get to hear for the 1st time. Yum.

[andy_c]

Maybe I'm crazy, and maybe Blue Train doesn't sound any better than thousands of other discs of the same period...but I need to know!

Does anyone have any other recommendations from this era of discs that sound really great?  Or maybe even better that Blue Train?

When it comes to sound quality of jazz discs from the early '60s, my all-time favorite reference disc is Miles Davis' "Someday My Prince Will Come".  This was a reference LP for me back in the early '70s when I first heard it, and the CD continues that tradition.  Be aware that there is excellent low-frequency reproduction of Paul Chambers' bass playing, and if it sounds boomy to you, then it's likely a room mode issue.  I had this problem when I first got the CD and mistakenly concluded that they mixed the CD with too much bass.  Then I measured my in-room response and found 15 dB peaks at 40 Hz and 80 Hz.  The piano, cymbals, and bass are extremely clean and pure sounding, and the trumpet is suitably intense without being overbearing.

The year was 1961, and Coltrane had left the band but returned as a guest artist.  In the intervening time, his playing had progressed by leaps and bounds from the time he was a regular member of Miles' band.  His playing on this date is amazing (but he only plays on two tracks).  Many audiophiles go ga-ga over "Kind of Blue", but I think "Someday My Prince Will Come" is better both musically (debatable) and sonically (no contest).

I'd also like to recommend two great-sounding Ellington CDs - "Ellington Indigos" and "Blues in Orbit".  The former sounds like it was miked with a small number of microphones, somewhat distant from the orchestra.  This gives a sense of the acoustics of the venue, and a nice reverberant sound without being unnatural.  The latter was remastered in DSD and sounds even better than "Ellington Indigos".  Both are excellent musically as well.