Elmo Hope-The Complete Beacon & Celebrity Rec.

[doubleM]

I put this cd on hold, and thought I'd nab it. But first, I thought I'd ask some of you folks if it's worth it. I guess it's rare, as half/eBay didn't have it, and Amazon wanted like $90 for their only copy. So, what's the word?

[jazzbo]

WORD! Not his best work, but worth having if you are an Elmo fan. Is this the Fresh Sounds or the Prevue version (the Prevue sounds best). . . . Good stuff, to me along the lines of the Specialty sessions.

[Eric]

I like it, but would not pay $90. It seems these sides drift in and out of print ... although the Prevue copy will probably have the best sound ...

[ghost of miles]

A tad rough but still a must-have for Elmo fans.

[doubleM]

It's the Prevue one, and it's only $8.50. I'm THERE! Thanks, dudes.

[jazzbo]

Alright! I was hoping that was the case, that it was the Prevue and reasonably priced!

[DrJ]

These are great recordings, IMHO, not Hope's "best" but still excellent. Not the finest fidelity, but highly listenable. If you have a turntable, you might consider getting the Japanese vinyl editions (2 LPs) of these if they are still being offered by Mosaic...they sound quite good and were reasonably priced as "going OOP" items a while back, although I haven't A/B'd with the CD issues.

[Bill Nelson]

tI found the Beacon sides to be tame and not terribly well recorded (2 LPs, U.S. reissues from the 80's). It's Hope's Contemporary and Riverside albums that sparkle. The Beacons are for serious completists only.