hopkins

A lot of the Hep records catalog is available on Qobuz. You can purchase the albums for download only. You can also sample the tracks. Unfortunately they probably don't include the liner notes. Here's a link (in French) https://www.qobuz.com/fr-fr/label/hep-records/download-streaming-albums/145563

I also compared a few tracks of that latest Fremeaux release, which is now also available on streaming services (I use Qobuz) and it does sound very nice.

After reading the above comments I checked some of my CD versions of "Jack the Bear". This is from the 1999 RCA Victor "Centennial Edition" box set - https://www.discogs.com/release/3838895-Duke-Ellington-The-Duke-Ellington-Centennial-Edition-The-Complete-RCA-Victor-Recordings-1927-1973 https://storage.googleapis.com/cloudplayer/samples/02 Jack The Bear.flac There is indeed a lot of distortion. This version is from the 13 CD "Anniversary" box set - https://www.discogs.com/release/7759958-Duke-Ellington-Anniversary-13-Volumes-Box-Set https://storage.googleapis.com/cloudplayer/samples/183 Jack the Bear.flac This second version sounds very similar to some of the previous Fremeaux versions I have heard (on streaming services) - I obviously have not heard the latest Fremeaux set mentioned at the start of this thread. It sounds good. Blanton's bass is not bloated as in the RCA Victor set, and everything sounds cleaner and more "natural". The engineer on that 13 CD set is Christophe Hénault.

For some reason, they came out with another "remastered" version of these two CDs with different covers (see here:http://www.disquesdreyfus.com/catalogue/538422392-ko-ko.html) , and the sound is weird. From what I remember, the originals were indeed good. Here is a track from the "remastered" version (but with the original cover), that I found on YouTube: The albums are on the Internet Archive, with the liner notes, and some sound excerpts: https://archive.org/details/lp_duke-ellington-1940_duke-ellington The sound seems to be quite good (samples are vinyl rips). And here is another Smithsonian version packaged as a box set: https://archive.org/details/lp_an-explosion-of-genius-1938-1940_duke-ellington

Here is another performance from that same concert. enjoy!

In addition to "Crazy and Mixed Up", previously mentioned, her Brazilian albums should not be overlooked, though they often are. "I Love Brazil" is particularly enjoyable.

This vocal coach has some good things to say about her singing, and the track is quite nice as well:

I just got these bargain speakers: https://lu.teufelaudio.com/ultima-40-105781000 400€! Hard to beat. They sound good. The bass could be a little tighter, but for the price they deliver a nice sound. Here's a good review: I will be "modding" them by completely replacing the crossover with a simpler design. But as is, the sound quality is hard to beat for the price. I don't think they deliver outside the EU. It is a German company.

Pine Gap. Enjoying season 1.

Rothko exhibit here in Paris. A bit overwhelming given that you can get so absorbed in a single painting and there are hundreds. Well worth a visit.

I found the equivalent on my digital player (converts on the fly) and I really enjoy listening to a lot of albums that way. I do prefer listening to the mono versions, when they are available. Out of curiosity, I recently purchased a few mono LPs that I already had in digital format in stereo. The mono version of Ellington's "Back to Back", for example, sounds great (played on a single speaker).

My Sunday afternoon...

I started seriously appreciating jazz only 10 years ago. It had always been there, but only for casual listening. You can imagine that I have a lot to catch up to...

I'll share my modest opinion, being someone with much less experience and knowledge than most of you here. As a "casual" jazz fan, I listened to Oscar Peterson a lot. Dave Brubeck as well - basically artists whose albums are always included in those "top 10" lists.... I then developed a much deeper appreciation for jazz, and broadened my very limited "scope". I don't listen to Oscar Peterson any longer, other than through his collaborations. What makes some artists so much more popular than others is a bit of a mystery to me, but I don't lose sleep over it. There are other artists in those "top ten" lists that I don't "get" (dare I say Miles Davis? Keith Jarrett? Late John Coltrane?). Perhaps some day I will. Until then, there is so much to discover, and so little time...