A TON OF NEW SACD-XRCD-24K CD TITLES!!!* and MORE on the way!!!
All DISCS ARE BRAND NEW/FACTORY SEALED/MINT
SACDs (Mostly Analogue Productions, but some others mixed in!)
Cannonball Adderly – Somethin' Else $30 Analogue Productions – check this lineup – Cannonball, Miles, Hank Jones, Sam Jones and Art Blakey. Kevin Gray and Steve Hoffman breathe new life into this all-time classic
Cannonball Adderly with Bill Evans - Know What I Mean? $25 Analogue Productions In a remarkable display of their musical range and sensitivity, the buoyant alto sax of Adderley and introspective piano of Evans move effortlessly toward a middle ground that shows both to great advantage. Recorded in 1961, the sound quality of these master tapes is breathtaking: a real audiophile dream disc! Featuring Percy Heath on bass and Connie Kay on drums. Mastered by Doug Sax.
Allman Brothers - At Fillmore East*$25 Mercury Hybrid 2 SACD set - Okay we can all argue, but for me the SACD is the DEFINITIVE VERSION - particularly lifelike in the mix is Berry Oakley's bass - you can hear speaker flap on the stage! Includes SACD Stereo, Surround Sound and CD Audio mixes
Allman Brothers - Eat a Peach*$19 Mercury Hybrid SACD Includes SACD Stereo, Surround Sound and CD Audio mixes
Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers - Moanin'*$30 Analogue Productions - Kevin Gray and Steve Hoffman mastering prowess make this the DEFINITIVE edition of this classic title.*
John Coltrane - Blue Train*Analogue Productions $30 (Kevin Gray/Steve Hoffman mastered) The DEFINITIVE version of this classic. I can never keep it in stock for more than a day or two!
John Coltrane - COLTRANE Analogue Productions $30 First out of the gate in APO's new Impulse SACD series Recorded over the course of three months in 1962, Coltrane was John Coltrane's third album for Impulse, but his first for the label devoted entirely to his regular working group. It was also the first album on any label to showcase what came to be known as the classic John Coltrane Quartet. That group – with McCoy Tyner on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass and Elvin Jones on drums – established itself in its four years of existence as one of the most influential ensembles in jazz. (Kevin Gray mastered) (3 in stock)
John Coltrane - Lush Life*Prestige Hybrid SACD $18 Sealed
John Coltrane - A Love Supreme*$16 Impulse/Universal SACD-only pressing Sealed
Sam Cooke – Night Beat $30 Analogue Productions Clearly Sam Cooke’s most intimate, most soulful and ultimately most real recording. This one has the feel of a private performance captured after hours when the audience had gone home and the singer was singing purely for the love of his songs. The performance put forth is simply straight from Cooke’s soul. His selection of songs include spiritual, bluesy ballads and gospel classics. Cooke owns these songs, making each interpretation all his own. This is warm music that’s easy to connect with. Mastered by George Marino at Sterling Sound from the original three-track masters. The SACD includes all three channels!
Lou Donaldson – Blues Walk (stereo) $30 *Lou Donaldson's undisputed masterpiece,*Blues Walk, marks the point where the altoist began to decisively modify his heavy Charlie Parker influence and add a smoky, bluesy flavor of his own. The material is still firmly in the bebop style, and the mellower moments aren't as sleepy as some of Donaldson's subsequent work, so the album sounds vital and distinctive, even more so with superb mastering job of Hoffman and Gray.
Lou Donaldson – Here 'Tis $30 Analogue Productions A dedicated disciple of Charlie Parker, alto saxophonist Lou Donaldson focused his energies on the bluesier aspects of his hero's playing and rendered it with a sweeter edge that fashioned him a viable career for decades. His work for Blue Note showed his impressive mastery of the bop style. Recorded in 1961 the lineup is Dave Bailey, drums; Lou Donaldson, sax (alto); Grant Green, guitar and Baby Face Willette, organ Gray and Hoffman remastering make this essential!
Kenny Dorham – Whistle Stop $30 Analogue Productions Rightfully considered one of Kenny Dorham's best, this album features great originals and great trumpet playing. The superb cast consists of Hank Mobley, Kenny Drew, Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones. The title tune and "Philly Twist" are often heard, but the entire album represents a great compositional achievement* Hoffman and Gray once again handle the remastering honors.
Gil Evans - OUT OF THE COOL $30 Analogue Productions Impulse SACD series "...Out of the Cool, perhaps even more than his collaborations with Miles Davis, spotlights Gil Evans' brilliance as a writer and arranger...The results are lovely, sometimes cerebral jazz meditations, and the soundstage is expansive, with soloists firmly rooted within; the musicians unfurl ribbons of fabulously layered tone colors, and the recording captures the orchestra's terrific dynamic range." - Wayne Garcia, The Absolute Sound, June/July 2009
Mastered by Kevin Gray. (2 in stock)
Dexter Gordon - Dexter Calling*$30 Analogue Productions Gordon's second Blue Noth album from 1961 with an amazing lineup of Paul Chambers, Philly Joe Jones and Kenny Drew on piano. Kevin Gray/Steve Hoffman mastered (2 in stock)
Dexter Gordon – Go*$30 Analogue Productions Gordon's fourth Blue Note album from 1962 – with Sonny Clark, Butch Warren and Billy Higgins – Gray and Hoffman mastered!
Grant Green – Idle Moments $30 Analogue Productions - Unique in Green's discography for its relaxed, lengthy performances and almost dream-like lyricism, this Blue Note classic could well be called*Ballads for the Ages. Hoffman and Gray mastering make it you in the studio, 1963.
Grant Green – Green Street $30 Analogue Productions Green Street, recorded on April 1, 1961, was Grant Green's second Blue Note album as a leader and remains one of the finest albums of his prolific Blue Note output. Supported by just Ben Tucker's bass and Dave Bailey's drums, the guitarist seems inspired by the absence of any other chordal instrument. Hoffman and Gray man the board.
Peter Green Tribute - Man of the World*$18 (Hoffman mastered - Great disc! includes Rory Gallagher, Ian Anderson, Lonesome Dave Peverett from Foghat) M/M
Joe Henderson – Page One $30 Analogue Productions Page One*introduced the jazz world to the unusually mature and original young tenor saxophonist, Joe Henderson. "Recorda Me" and "Blue Bossa" have become jazz classics for their mix of Brazilian rhythms with Hard Bop muscle.* (Kevin Gray and Steve Hoffman mastering)
Humble Pie – Smokin' $30 Analogue Productions – I've just finished playing this through three times in a row. Possibly the best rock SACD in terms of soundstaging and dynamics. Clem Clemson's stellar Les Paul guitarwork ignites a barrage of soulful struttin' from Steve Marriott. And thick, thick bass...really amazing presence
Fred Jackson - Hootin N Tootin $30 Analogue Productions In Hootin' 'N Tootin', the listener is afforded the opportunity of hearing numbers of a famous orchestra noted for its smart arrangements along the rhythm and blues influence. The moods expressed are in the "down home" and "down to Earth" groove. Under the leadership of Fred Jackson, tenor sax, the listener is propelled into the world of the new truth. Hoffman & Gray piloted the remastering session.
Jackie McLean - Jackie's Bag $30 Analogue Productions In terms of composition, leadership and playing, this is probably Jackie McLean's greatest album, culled from two different sessions, separated by 20 months. A sextet session with Tina Brooks and Blue Mitchell.
An amazing lineup: Tina Brooks, sax (tenor), Donald Byrd, trumpet, Paul Chambers, bass, Sonny Clark, piano, Kenny Drew, piano, Philly Joe Jones, drums, Jackie McLean, sax (alto), Billy Mitchell, sax (tenor), Blue Mitchell, trumpet, Art Taylor, drums Gray-Hoffman man the board (3 in stock)
Jackie McLean – Capuchin Swing $30 Analogue Productions This is pure exceptional hard bop by Jackie McLean with Blue Mitchell, Walter Bishop, Jr., Paul Chambers and Art Taylor with all the wonderful elements of any classic Blue Note album: memorable compositions, strong solos and great feeling. But*Capuchin Swing*also finds the great alto saxophonist looking toward new frontiers with the harmonically edgy "Francisco." Hoffman/Gray remastering.
Charles Mingus - MINGUS MINGUS MINGUS $30 Analogue Productions Impulse Series. Produced by Impulse! A&R director Bob Thiele in 1963, this recording is a major showcase of the talented Charles Mingus as a bassist, pianist and writer. In his 1963 original liner notes, critic-at-large Nat Hentoff said that of all the musicians, it is impossible to remain indifferent to Mingus. This recording more than any other testifies to Hentoff's claim. More so today than in 60's, there is truly only one Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus.
Originally released in 1963. Mastered by Kevin Gray. (3 in stock)
Hank Mobley - A Caddy for Daddy $30 Analogue Productions Hank Mobley was a perfect artist for Blue Note in the 1960s. On this LP, which is a straight reissue of the 1965 session, Mobley is joined by trumpeter Lee Morgan, trombonist Curtis Fuller, pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Bob Cranshaw and drummer Billy Higgins (a typically remarkable Blue Note lineup) for the infectious title cut, three other lesser-known but superior originals, plus Wayne Shorter's "Venus Di Mildew."
Lee Morgan – Leeway $30 Analogue Productions another all-time classic from Blue Note 1960 Morgan teams up with Jackie McLean, Bobby Timmons, Paul Chambers and Art Blakey with Hoffman/Gray at the production helm. Steve Hoffman said this is the first time the actual mis-labeled master tapes were ever used on this mastering (see thread)
John Patton – Along Came John $30 Analogue Productions John Patton, Grant Green and Ben Dixon were introduced to Blue Note by Lou Donaldson and quickly became the quintessential rhythm section for Blue Note's funkier session. They came together for this, John Patton's first album, with two of the label's tenor saxophonists Fred Jackson and Harold Vick. The double tenors and organ trio make an unbeatable combination for some soulful, swinging music from 1963. Gray/Hoffman mastering make this the quintessential version*
Ike Quebec - It Might As Well Be Spring $30 Analogue Productions Two weeks after Ike Quebec recorded his comeback album Heavy Soul for Blue Note, he was back at the Van Gelder Studio with the same band (Freddie Roach, Milt Hinton and Al Harewood), making a second album. The confidence paid off because It Might As Well Be Spring is every bit the classic the first album proved to be. Quebec's big-toned, vulnerable tenor playing is a thing to behold, as his heart-stopping version of the title tune, "Lover Man" and "Willow Weep For Me" attest. "Easy – Don't Hurt" is one of his blues masterpieces.
Ike Quebec – Soul Samba Bossa Nova $30 Analogue Productions Quebec's take on the bossa nova craze that explored that year (1962) is more muscular than Stan Getz's and doesn't rely on the familiar Jobim and Gilberto songs of the day. He and Kenny Burrell solo on the sly, subtle rhythms of Wendell Marshall, Willie Bobo and Garvin Masseaux.Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray pilot the remastering session*
Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus*$25 Analogue Productions with classic lineup of Doug Watkins, Max Roach and Tommy Flanagan
Sonny Rollins - The Sound of Sonny*$18 Prestige Hybrid SACD with one bonus track, also features my favorite bass player Paul Chambers on three cuts
Sonny Rollins - Tenor Madness*$18 Prestige Hybrid SACD Red Garland, John Coltrane, Paul Chambers, Philly Joe Jones - 'nuff said!
Sonny Rollins - Way Out West $25 Analogue Productions SACD Mastered off the original two-track tape recorded with a tube AKG-C12 microphone on a tube Ampex 350 machine. Features Ray Brown on bass and Shelly Manne on drums. Over his long and distinguished career, Sonny Rollins has made many dozens of albums. Among those recorded during the fifties, Prestige's Movin' Out and Colossus, Blue Note's A Night at the Village Vanguard, Riverside's The Sound of Sonny, and Way Out West on Contemporary qualify as all-time Rollins classics.
Horace Silver - Tokyo Blues $30 Analogue Productions SACD Tokyo Blues, a quintessential mid-'60s Blue Note session, is Horace Silver's tribute to the Japanese people who have long supported his funky, Latin-flavored modern jazz. American jazz has always been wildly popular in Japan, and this album is Silver's homage to the many fans that he has encountered on various triumphant tours of the island nation. While Silver's trademark funky Latin/swing is at the forefront, the inspiration of eastern delights is clearly evident in all aspects of this grooving date.
The 3 Sounds - Bottoms Up $30 Analogue Productions - The Three Sounds were part of the trio explosion. Begun in 1956 in Benton Harbor, Michigan as the Four Sounds and consisting of Gene Harris on piano, Andrew Simpkins on bass and Bill Dowdy on drums (the saxophonist was dropped by the time the group moved to Washington, D.C. in 1957), the Sounds eventually migrated to New York City where they were "discovered" by Lou Donaldson. After a single record for Riverside with Nat Adderley, the Three Sounds signed an exclusive contract with Alfred Lion on Blue Note Records. Over the course of five years, the Sounds released nine LPs and appeared on albums by Lou Donaldson and Stanley Turrentine. Hoffman/Gray mastering.
Ben Webster - See You At the Fair $30 Analogue Productions Impulse Series Ben Webster's final American recording was one of his greatest. At 55, the tenor saxophonist was still very much in his prime but considered out of style in the U.S. He would soon permanently move to Europe where he was better appreciated. Webster's tone has rarely sounded more beautiful than on "Someone To Watch Over Me" and "Our Love Is Here To Stay." Mastered by Kevin Gray.
Junior Wells - Come On in this House*Telarc Hybrid SACD - getting hard to find $18
Junior Wells - Hoodoo Man Blues $30 Analogue Productions SACD One of the all-time great urban blues records and the best-seller in the famed Delmark catalog. Hoodoo Man Blues is so full of bravado and snap it'll make you feel tough just listening to it. Not all of the Delmark titles were recorded very well, but this one certainly was. Hoodoo Man Blues, which features Buddy Guy on guitar, is not only Junior Wells' first LP appearance, it's damn near the first LP by a Chicago blues band. Chess and a few other labels had reissued 45s by Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson, Howlin' Wolf, Jimmy Reed, Elmore James, etc., but virtually no one had tried to capture the Chicago blues sound free of the limitations of juke box/airplay promotion. Hoodoo Man Blues went a long way in the popularization of real Chicago blues and of Junior Wells. Kevin Gray manned the board for this SACD mastering.
The Zombies - Greatest Hits*$18 Audio Fidelity Hybrid SACD - awesome - makes me wish Steve did the Zombies box set in this glorious sound – fantastic soundstaging and amazing imaging makes you feel like you are standing right behind the mixing desk.
*AUDIO WAVE XRCDs - finally restocked! Compatible with ALL CD players - extended resolution and 24 bit mastering
"I recommend these highly...They can't stay in print forever so don't delay!" - Steve Hoffman, mastering engineer and notorious Blue Note afficionado
Tina Brooks - True Blue $29 Audio Wave XRCD - Fantastic packaging foldout digibook edition from Joe Harley and company with Alan Yoshida mastering
Sonny Clark - Cool Struttin' $29 Audio Wave XRCD - Detailed packaging and a classic lineup of Art Farmer, Jackie McLean, Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones. Going to listen to my own copy of this later tonight...
Hank Mobley - Soul Station $29 Audio Wave XRCD - Bound digibook packaging with extensive liner notes, Alan Yoshida mastering and another classic Blue Note lineup - this time Art Blakey, Wynton Kelly and Paul Chambers. Looking forward to hearing this one as well!
Horace Parlan - Speakin' My Piece $29 Audio Wave XRCD - Speakin' My Piece was Parlan's first album with horns, teaming his trio with the Turrentine Brothers. The music that the group plays, catchy originals including Parlan's most famous composition, "Wadin," is swinging and sophisticated but also bluesy, greasy and overflowing with soul. Speakin' My Piece, which has superb sound, is essential.
Audio Fidelity Gold Discs (all BRAND NEW and sealed!!!)
Doors - Soft Parade*$24 (Steve Mastered) HDCD encoded
John Mayall - Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton*$24 HDCD encoded MONO for maximum Clapton guitar godhead!!! M/M
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Second Helping*$24 (Kevin Gray Mastered) HDCD encoded M/M
Montrose - Montrose*$20 HDCD encoded Audio Fidelity GOLD for maximum Ronnie Montrose 1959 Les Paul-into-a-Marshall guitar godhead!!! Getting to be a tough title, I'm not sure if the supply is drying up on this one...
Rod Stewart - Never a Dull Moment $24 Before he became part of the world of blonde-spiked hair and colorful jumpsuits, Rod Stewart created a handful of magnificent records using an eclectic mix of rock, British folk, soul, blues and country, including his fourth album, 1972's Never A Dull Moment. It is Stewart's hardest-rocking album up to this point - he was at the top of his form singing from his soul and not his image. This recording stands aside Every Picture Tells A Story as the twin-peak achievements of his career. It is a stunning collection containing his trademark acoustic-electric mix of instruments and bluesy vocals - lots of mandolin, acoustic guitar, slide and slightly fuzzy leads courtesy of Ron Wood.
DCC Gold
Miles Davis - Miles Davis and Milt Jackson All-Stars Quintets/Sextets*M/M GZS-1113 OOP*
(Steve Hoffman mastered) $50 (price reduction!)
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or email direct: karl@puretoneaudio.com
