Sticking with #hardbop & #NowSpinning #Cookin’ with the #MilesDavis Quintet, another fantastic repress of the #Prestige series by #AnalogueProductions. #Relaxin’ remains my favourite of this run of early Miles, but some of the playing here is smoking. The line up is, once again, incredible, the set list nigh on perfect, with that irresistible swing that just makes you want to get up and dance.

It’s yet another #KevinGray cut & is perfect.

#NowPlaying #NowListening #VinylRecords #Vinyl #Jazz

Another Sunday & I’m #NowSpinning #Indestructible by #ArtBlakey & the Jazz Messengers.

This adds #CurtisFuller bringing Mingus-eque vibes on the trombone, but, imo, #WayneShorter is the star unleashing some killer sax. Plus it has the irrepressible #LeeMorgan who is worth the price of entry alone.

This #record is cut by #KevinGray as part of the #BlueNote Classics series which, in a world of spiraling #vinyl costs, still represents great value.

#NowPlaying #NowListening #VinylRecords #Jazz

Long day & in need of a pick me up & so I’m #NowSpinning #TheBigBeat by #ArtBlakey and the Jazz Messengers.

#Moanin’ is my favourite Blakey album with this a very close second. The lineup here is peerless, #LeeMorgan, #BobbyTimmons, #WayneShorter, & Blakey just smokes.

Every track is a winner & It’s Only A Paper Moon is one hell of a way to sign off.

This is another #KevinGray cut from the consistently great #BlueNote Classics series.

#NowPlaying #NowListening #Vinyl #VinylRecords #Jazz

Home after a hard day at work & so, naturally, I’m #NowSpinning #Relaxin’ with the #MilesDavis Quintet.

This is cut by #KevinGray for the #Prestige series by #AnalogueProductions & it’s a really close call between this & the recent Craft Small Batch one step cut by #BernieGrundman. I’m glad to have both, & most times incline towards the Craft - but the AP is smoother - which suits the music on a night like this :)

#NowListening #NowPlaying #VinylRecords #Vinyl #Jazz

Sunshine & blazing heat is perfect for some West Coast #jazz. So I’m #NowSpinning #LeeKonitz Plays with the Gerry Mulligan Quartet & it’s a swinging, toe-tapping delight. Carson Smith, in particular, is stand out, particularly on the opening track. Oh, & Chet Baker makes an appearance.

This is another #TonePoet cut by #KevinGray & it really is well done. Great SQ, well put together & this particular copy cost me £3.99. Yep you read that right.

#NowPlaying #NowListening #VinylRecords #Vinyl

Early Friday finish, returned home to this & so I’m #NowSpinning #TheloniousMonk with #JohnColtrane from the all new #Craft reissue of the #OJC series &, on the basis of a first listen, it’s a beaut. High quality tip on jacket & reproduction of the original artwork, flawless pressing, incredible musicianship & playing which is delicate & wild, melodic & then inventive in turn.

This is cut by #KevinGray & so the SQ is bang on.

#NowPlaying #NowListening #Vinyl #VinylRecords #Jazz

Returned from a few days away, & I’m #NowSpinning #Steamin’ with the #MilesDavis Quintet from the recent repressed #Prestige batch from #AnalogueProductions.

As is typically the case with this series, this is a #KevinGray cut & sounds utterly sublime. I do have the 1989 OJC with which to compare & the AP wins out by a margin with greater punch, better tone on the horns & more space.

The pressing itself is flawless & the jacket high quality.

#NowListening #NowPlaying #Vinyl #VinylRecords #Jazz

A word on the pressing: as is the norm with these Tone Poet releases, everything is impeccable. The record is flat, centred & flawless. The gatefold jacket is heavy weight card, high gloss & the reproduction perfect. The addition of session photos into the gatefold is really welcome.

The record is mastered by #KevinGray & so you know what you are getting: whisper quiet blacks, great tonality, & spectacular dynamics.

Oh, & this album, like the #Coltrane, has #PaulChambers underpinning it all.

Coming back to this, I forgot what a great job #KevinGray did with the mastering on this.

I’ve a bunch of records by Mingus including OneSteps, 45, stereo, & mono cuts. Even some of the best struggle to keep everything in check: there is just so much going on. Oftentimes, the tell is in the bass which can either become lost or distort into mush.

That isn’t the case here. You get a proper sense of scale with utterly mad dynamics… And yet everything is nimble, delicate even.

Really great SQ.

Kirsten Edkins' "Shapes & Sound” - the first release from Kevin Gray's new record label: an all-tube/valve recording that tries to replicate Rudy Van Gelder's setup, and I have to say this is just a spectacular sounding record (great set, too!) - highly recommended.

(Sorry for all the reflections…)

#jazz #saxophone #NowPlaying #vinyl #vinylRecords #KirstenEdkins #CohearentRecords #KevinGray

Returned from a few days away & am #NowListening to #Milestones by #MilesDavis.

This is the #KevinGray cut for the Columbia Legacy series (this is one of the limited numbered issues).

I find myself going back & forth between this & the #MoFi & it’s so so close. This is very natural, realistic, but *maybe* with a little less definition & space. Whereas the MoFi shimmers with hyper definition in places. For me, this just about wins out (I think)…

#VinylRecords #Vinyl #NowPlaying #Jazz #Music

#NowListening to #PetSounds by the #TheBeachBoys.

This is the mono AAA #AnalogueProductions cut at 45 by #KevinGray. I’ve played this a couple of times since it arrived & half-heartedly A-B-ed it against the stereo 45. Both sound incredible & are worth having, but I incline towards the (DSD sourced) stereo.

The mono is definitely punchier (*that* snare on Wouldn’t It Be Nice) with better bass - but this is an album which benefits from space & air.

#NowPlaying #Vinyl #VinylRecords #Music

Recovering from flu & #NowListening to my favourite #jazz #album & one of my favourite performances by #MilesDavis, #SomethinElse by #CannonballAdderley.

This is just one of those perfect records - each track irresistible with impeccable musicianship from a truly world class line up.

This is the #BlueNote Classic repress & I challenge you to find better value for money in the #vinyl world. Heavy, flat & centred vinyl, well pressed & mastered by #KevinGray.

#NowPlaying #VinylRecords #Music

Sticking with the #MilesDavis theme, I’m #NowPlaying #Milestones again for the multiple time this week.

I’m #NowListening to the #MobileFidelity pressing to confirm my recollection. It’s very close between this & the #KevinGray cut (#ColumbiaLegacy). The #MoFi sounds warmer which suits, perhaps, the surging horns of, say, Sid’s Ahead. The Legacy, however, wins out in nimbleness & pace as, for example, on Straight, No Chaser.

Both sound very, very good.

#Vinyl #VinylRecords #Jazz #Music

#NowPlaying #SoulTrane - one of my favourite #albums by #JohnColtrane. #RedGarland on amazing form, & #PaulChambers underpinning everything that is good here. #IWantToTalkAboutYou is just magical, & that reoccurring riff on #GoodBait.

I think that the recording is maybe just so so, but this #KevinGray for #AnalogueProductions fantastic #Prestige series sounds incredible - balanced, detailed, lush, but pacey where it needs to be.

#NowListening #AmListening #Jazz #Music #Vinyl #VinylRecords

Today I’m #writing & #amlistening to #jazz, starting with #Milestones. This is the #KevinGray cut from #ColumbiaLegacy, picked up this year alongside the #MoFi pressing.

Both sound amazing, but the Gray cut is, I think, more natural with a slightly tighter low end & consequently feels more nimble.

This #album, alongside #InASilentWay, #SketchesOfSpain, #SomethingElse, &, of course, #KindofBlue are my go to #MilesDavis (at the mo, anyway).

#vinylrecords #jazz #NowListening #NowPlaying #vinyl

#ALoveSupreme marked my first encounter with #JohnColtrane & it was too much. I just didn’t get it. Later #Ballads, his #Prestige stuff, & this, #MyFavoriteThings, offered a more accessible entry point.

This Christmas gift includes the ster. Both are #KevinGray cuts & reported to be #AAA. The mono is from a newly discovered tape &, imo, is preferable to the stereo. The presentation is so so, but the booklet is solid & the SQ is outstanding.

#vinyl #vinylrecords #listening #jazz #amlistening

#Listening to #SoulStation by #HankMobley. This is just one of my favourite #jazz records with three of my favourite musicians of this period: #ArtBlakey has such a distinctive room-filling sound, #PaulChambers gives the thing backbone & colour to the rhythm, & Mobley manages to be both melodic & surprising by turn. Just love this record.

Incidentally, #BlueNote have done a really great job with this series: AAA, mastered by #KevinGray, well pressed, decent jackets, at a great price.

#vinyl

It took me a while to get into #Coltrane but Blue Train was, for me, the entry point into his earlier stuff. And this #BlueNote anniversary issue is just so well done: high quality gatefold jacket, top quality mastering by #KevinGray, and an immaculate pressing. This copy is the Complete Masters in stereo (with outtakes on a second disk), but the mono pressing is no slouch imo, both are worth having.

And the music is so rich, so memorable, and so atmospheric. Really great stuff.

#jazz #vinyl