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Bol
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Posts posted by Bol
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I never really liked big band jazz, but a new amplifier is prompting me to reconsider.
I moved from the US to the UK seven years ago, and brought with me an old Sony amplifier from the 1980's that my sister had given me when she upgraded. I had to use an electricity converter to use it here in the UK. As a Christmas present to myself, I bought a much better amplifier -- Quad Vena II integrated amplifier -- and I now no longer need to use a converter!
The chief benefit is the clarity of sound as well as added warmth. I was listening to the first Mosaic Lester Young set the other day, and big band music all of sudden made sense to me. And Lester Young never sounded so good!!! Compared to what I am hearing now, before, big band music just sounded like a sludge of sounds.
I am no audiophile, and I never thought an amplifier could make such a big difference. Now, I am thinking about a new CD player! I guess this is a dangerous road to travel on...
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Any recommendations as to which issues on vinyl of Fats Waller & Rhythm you'd recommend? Not 78's, but 12" LP's. Thanks in advance.
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On 9/13/2023 at 3:53 AM, JSngry said:
Yes, they have some really good ones. Unfortunately, I am in the UK, and the shipping would be prohibitive. Not to mention the customs. Sigh...
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2 hours ago, Ron S said:
The Tatrai Quartet's Haydn quartet recordings on Hungaraton--the first complete recorded Haydn quartet cycle--are generally highly regarded:
https://www.discogs.com/search/?q=haydn+tatrai&type=all&format_exact=LP
The Tatrai Quartet's recordings (on CD's) were my first introduction to Haydn's quartets back when I was in grad school in the 1990's! At some point, I moved on the the period instrument recordings and got rid of the Tatrai CD's. But now I like many of the older recordings on modern instruments. So I will check some of these out. Thanks.
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I'm getting slightly obsessed with listening to old string quartet recordings on vinyl. The strings sound so much richer and multi-dimensional than on digital recordings.
The two sets I've been playing repeatedly are:
Schneider Quartet's almost complete recordings (why not Op. 9?!) of the Haydn quartets issued by Haydn Society Records in the 1950s.
Vegh Quartet's recordings of the Beethoven quartets issued by Valois in the 1970's
If you know old pre-digital string quartet recordings that you particularly love, please recommend them. I am currently trying to get good copies of the Vegh Quartet's Bartok quartets, and eyeing Quarteto Italiano's Schumann quartets. What else?
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Does anyone know whether this is from analog source? And any opinions about how good this re-issue is? Thanks in advance.
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Thank you for these recommendations. I will look further into them.
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I live in London, but am about to spend about 3 months in Chicago. I would like to buy some records while I am there given the greater supply and better prices in the US. Ideally, I'd want to play them as I get them, so that I can enjoy them and also avoid bringing back defective pressings. I remember people with some small suitcase-sized and -shaped record players in the old days. Are any of them good and also still available? Any suggestions? Now, that we're past the pandemic, I plan to go back more often to the States, and I will also be in Japan for a month later this year. So I wouldn't mind a small investment.
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I was looking at a re-issue of a record recorded in the 1980's at a store today, and it said on the back that the record was "digitally mastered" by Kevin Gray at Cohearent. Does it make sense to buy records like this?
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This collection of short stories has been much written about recently. I'm reading it now, and it is an amazing collection, and Berlin clearly was a wonderful writer. One of the pleasures for me is the fact that Berlin knew jazz, and there are little intrusions/snippets of jazz in these short stories. In one of the stories, a woman's screams are compared to early Ornette Coleman in "The Lonely Woman" days, for example. Another story "Melina" is all about being the wife of a jazz musician. Apparently, Berlin was married 4 times, and 2 of her husbands were jazz musicians.
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I'm just getting into this series, and so far I love them. The only complaint I have is about the very thin cardboard used for covers. I wish that Blue Note had pursued a middle path between the thin covers for this series and the downright ridiculous amount of cardboard being used for the Tone Poet series. I also love the fact that the LP's in this series do not suffer from the warping problems that I have been experiencing with the Tone Poets and the Acoustic Sounds LP's. It's dismaying how the German plant producing the Classics does such better job of quality control than the plants in the U.S.
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20 minutes ago, sidewinder said:
I usually tolerate just the very minimum, if at all. If the effect is at all audible or if the arm shows significant up/down movement then that would be a no-no for me. Have to say, haven’t had too much of a problem with this on audiophile issues of the last few years, it was more of a problem with those thin 70s/80s e.g. ABC Impulse, Savoy, Atlantic, Inner City etc.. There seem to be lots of warp reports on the Hoffmann Board, maybe I have been lucky.
On recent issues, I don’t think I have had a single issue with warping on Blue Note Tone Poet, Classics or Music Matters. A pretty good record.
Some of the worst warping I ever saw were from cheap US cutouts I bought in the 1970s, including some Liberty Blue Notes, Motown, Stax and Atlantics. The rumour was that these were used as ballast in shipping between NYC and Liverpool, then sold for a pittance to the big UK chains. I wouldn’t be surprised if Morris Levy was behind it, nor if they had been stored in or near the ship’s boiler room !
Very helpful. Thank you. The one I have a problem with is from Acoustic Sounds.
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I've been buying more vinyl recently, and some audiophile LP's I have bought have a bit of warping. I'm wondering how much warping is OK, and at what point I should try to return the records? Is there some good rule of thumb? Thanks in advance.
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I got this on LP just now and it sounds really good to me. Paul Motian's drums appear a bit more recessed than on CD, which is unfortunate. But Hank Jones's piano sounds so much more natural to my ears. I am hoping that Blue Note will re-issue on LP the other two Lovano recordings that I love: "Joyous Encounter" and Scolohofo's "Oh!".
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I am always blown away by this recording whenever I listen to it. Excellent tunes and ensemble playing all around. And Thad Jones never sounded better. It is really too bad that the band did not record more.
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When I was in Austin, TX, there were a couple of used record stores that cleaned records for $1 each.
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Thanks. I think I have about 150 LP's. My collection has grown quite a bit during the pandemic, after being pretty constant in size for many years.
Loricraft looks fabulous! But it is a bit too much for me. Perhaps the next time I get an outside job offer! Something to aspire to, for sure.
I will look further into Spincare. Thanks a lot, folks.
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Hi everyone. I have some LP's that look very clean but are a bit noisy when played -- no skips or loud noises but just constant little static. I don't have a cleaning machine, and I have not found a record shop here in London that cleans records for fee. I've read somewhere that one can clean records with a sponge dipped in warm water. I was wondering whether this is advisable, and it can be done without damaging vinyl. Thanks in advance for your advice.
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4 hours ago, jazzbo said:
Hi my friend, happy holidays. I truly love the music in these three sets. Just transporting to another time and place and mood-influencing juicy goodness.
Happy holidays to you too, Lon. All the best in the new year.
I am also listening to the Commodore sets. It was you who introduced me to that music when we were both in Austin!
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I recently got on eBay the 3 early Blue Note sessions shown below for very reasonable/low prices, and they arrived today.
I have some of these recordings on Japanese TOCJ and some domestic Blue Note CD's (I think from the 1990's). But I hear new clarity and naturalness as I listen to the first Bechet LP right now. Glorious and noble music! A bit of balm for these horrible times.
Merry Christmas, everyone.
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Ah thanks. I will keep track, though I suspect that it sell for quite a bit.
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Verve France appears to have released 6 volumes of these on vinyl in the 1980's. They cover 1951-56 of Hodges' work on Verve. Any opinions about the quality of these LP's?
I am thinking that getting these might be more economical than getting the Mosaic LP set that covers the same period, or trying to get the individual LP's.
Thanks in advance.
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Sometimes, especially when I am working, I use iTunes shuffle and Blue Tooth to play music through a radio with a small mono speaker. The radio I have is an audiophile one, but a low end one put out by Revo. I am beginning to think that rock and other pop music sound better through a small mono speaker than on a full hi fi system. The music sounds more focused and distilled, and some of the vulgarity of the many pop productions is diminished in effect. Does anyone else feel this way?
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1 hour ago, peterintoronto said:
Why not list them here?
I was thinking that most people here are in the US, so it wouldn't be economical for them to buy from me here in the UK. And I also wanted to avoid the labor of making up a list. But as one member asked me to send him a list, I may draw up a list and post it here too.
Amplifiers & Big Bands
in Audio Talk
Posted · Edited by Bol
Hi Lon. Good to hear from you too. I remember your telling me about some of your upgrades. None of it really made sense to me at the time, but now I understand. I was chatting yesterday with a colleague who is a huge audiophile. He told me that the next thing is cables! That sounds less daunting and expensive than a new CD player, but who knows? But I shall tread carefully.
Thanks for the tip. Alas, I don't do Facebook, and I also just got rid of the electricity converter, so I cannot really plug the old Sony amplifier in any more. Most likely, the next time I travel to the US, I will bring the old amplifier with me and give it to someone.