Hard for me to enjoy a jazz quartet or quintet when the bass and piano are buried in the mix. This is why the mono versions sound better.
And if the stereo mixes did indeed take priority for RVG, then he is grossly overrated.
As someone who's done mono and stereo recording, folddowns, worked with RVG and a bunch others, I say you do not know what you are talking about if you think mono folds bring you better bass and piano.