Fred Kaplan

Sort By: Post Date | Title | Publish Date
Masterpieces by Ellington at 45rpm
Fred Kaplan
Fred Kaplan  |  Jun 17, 2017  |  4 comments
In 2014, Chad Kassem, proprietor of Acoustic Sounds and Analogue Productions, released a 200-gram QRP vinyl pressing of Masterpieces by Ellington, one of the Duke's least-known but possibly finest and finest-sounding albums, to wild acclaim and (by audiophile standards) brisk sales. Now he's put it out at 45rpm, and while the 33 was a startler, the new version—spread out on two LPs, to accommodate the wider grooves—will leave you breathless.
Continue Reading >
Masterpieces by Ellington, Finally, on Vinyl
Fred Kaplan
Fred Kaplan  |  Dec 10, 2014  |  4 comments
For five years in this blog space, I've been urging, begging, audiophile record labels to reissue Masterpieces by Ellington, to my mind Duke Ellington's finest (and finest-sounding) album, on vinyl. Now Chad Kassem of Analogue Sounds has done it, and his QRP pressing is the jaw-dropper of the year...
Continue Reading >
Masterpieces by Ellington, now on SACD
Fred Kaplan
Fred Kaplan  |  Jan 26, 2015  |  5 comments
I've probably raved enough about Analogue Productions' 200-gram vinyl reissue of Masterpieces by Ellington, one of the greatest (yet, strangely, least-known) albums in Duke Ellington's vast catalog—and, despite its vintage (1950, mono) his best-sounding. The good news here: for those of you who aren't into vinyl, AP has now issued it again as a hybrid SACD.
Continue Reading >
Miles Davis at Newport, 1955–1975
Fred Kaplan
Fred Kaplan  |  Aug 14, 2015  |  0 comments
News of yet another boxed-set of previously unissued Miles recordings never fails to zap the juices of anticipatory pleasure—and Sony's vaults, in particular, hold a lot of them. The latest, The Bootleg Series, Vol. 4: Miles Davis at Newport, 1955–1975 (Columbia Legacy), contains four CDs chronicling eight sessions from his appearances at the Newport Jazz Festival.
Continue Reading >
That's It!
Fred Kaplan
Fred Kaplan  |  Aug 07, 2013  |  2 comments
That's It! (Sony Legacy) is a hell of a fun album: the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, the treasure of New Orleans music, wailing with cylinders wide open.

Purists might protest. All the songs on this record are new (a first for the PHJB), and the solos tend more toward R&B riffs than trad-jazz polyphony. In short, the vibe seems to pulse more from the rowdy late-night clubs up on Frenchman Street than the band's usual stately sanctuary in the heart of the French Quarter.

Continue Reading >
The Blues and the Abstract Truth at 45
Fred Kaplan
Fred Kaplan  |  Dec 30, 2009  |  2 comments
With Analogue Productions’ new 45 rpm vinyl pressing of Oliver Nelson’s The Blue and the Abstract Truth, we finally have a reissue of this great album that’s worth buying.
Continue Reading >
The New Standard (and Joe Ferla's last thing)
Fred Kaplan
Fred Kaplan  |  Oct 06, 2014  |  7 comments
Joe Ferla is the preeminent jazz recording engineer of our time—or, I should say, was, as he recently decided to retire from the profession, after more than 42 years and nearly 400 albums, to run his attention to playing guitar. (I haven't heard him do that, but I hope he's good.) His last-released album, The New Standard, is out on CD and double-LP on the Rare Noise Records label, and it stands not only as another specimen of superlative sonics but also Ferla's return to analog.
Continue Reading >
The Shape of Jazz to Come in 45rpm
Fred Kaplan
Fred Kaplan  |  Mar 05, 2013  |  13 comments
A little over two years ago, I raved in this space over Rhino's 180-gram vinyl pressing of Ornette Coleman's 1959 album The Shape of Jazz to Come, one of the greatest and most important in all of jazz. Now I'm here to rave louder still (with one frustrating caveat) about another reissue, mastered by Bernie Grundman at 45rpm for the audiophile label ORG.
Continue Reading >
The Shape of Jazz to Come on Rhino vinyl
Fred Kaplan
Fred Kaplan  |  Dec 27, 2010  |  5 comments
The folks at Rhino Records have just released a 180-gram vinyl reissue of The Shape of Jazz to Come, Ornette Coleman’s groundbreaking (and still riveting) album of 1959, mastered at RTI from the original stereo tapes. It sounds in every way better than the original pressing, which itself sounds quite good.

Everything is clearer, highs are extended, bass is more defined, dynamics are wider. Ornette’s white plastic alto sax has more of that palpable whoosh through the reed and horn. Don Cherry’s pocket trumpet has an airier mouthpiece. Charlie Haden’s bass—you can hear the wood vibrate. And Billy Higgins’ drum set has more sizzle and snap.

Continue Reading >
The Thelonious Monk Quartet: The Complete Columbia Studio Albums Collection
Fred Kaplan
Fred Kaplan  |  Aug 08, 2012  |  3 comments
In a sense, I understand why Thelonious Monk's albums on Columbia, recorded between 1962 and 1968, have been neglected. His earlier sessions, on Blue Note, Prestige, and Riverside, were the ones where he introduced his classic songs, developed his eccentric style, and played with star-studded rhythm sections. The six quartet albums for Columbia feature a total of just six new Monk songs. And they find him playing with a working band of accompanists—no John Coltrane, Coleman Hawkins, Johnny Griffin, Art Blakey, or Roy Haynes here.
Continue Reading >

Pages

X