[immtbiker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by patman657 If you are enjoying Monk, you absolutely must get Brilliant Corners. I have a 20 bit, K2 mastered CD from the Riverside label that is simply fantastic. It's unlike any other jazz album I own and a true masterpiece.

Patman657...I am looking for the album. Is this the one that says Ken Burn's Jazz on the cover, and has the song Brilliant Corners on it? Or is he doing Monk's songs? And...is it a mono recording?

 

[philodox]

I think he means this one:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p...0:1sq5g4jbtv8z

 

[immtbiker]

OK... Thanks. Amazon has the Riverside 20 bit and the Orig. Jazz Classics available on CD. I can't find the LP, though. There was one released in 1995 on Riverside. I downloaded the Ken Burn's Thelonius Monk 14 songs in 320 kbps, and it sounds great. It has Brilliant Corners on it, with 13 more.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=music

 

[patman657]

This is the one I have: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...232135-8037619 It's only five songs, though, so you might think that the Ken Burns disc is a better value. I can't attest to its sound quality, though, since I have never heard it.

 

[goldenear]

Riverside 20bit K2 beats the Ken Burns stuff hands down.

 

[immtbiker]

Thanks...ordered!
20 bit won't be as effective if you have a 16 bit player,
though.

Is this mono or stereo?

Elusive disc has it on mono SACD (that's unusual!)...

...and on 2 45rpm LP's for $49. Whoa

http://www.elusivedisc.com/prodinfo....ber=APLP226-45

 

[goldenear]

Mono, but it sounds sweet.

 

[patman657]

Quote:

Originally Posted by immtbiker Thanks...ordered! 20 bit won't be as effective if you have a 16 bit player, though. Is this mono or stereo? Elusive disc has it on mono SACD (that's unusual!)... ...and on 2 45rpm LP's for $49. Whoa http://www.elusivedisc.com/prodinfo....ber=APLP226-45

I wouldn't put out the money to get the SACD. Keep in mind that when I say the sound quality is great, I am comparing it to other albums recorded during the mid-50s. This means that there will be background hiss and the microphones don't pick up all the detail, but the sound is clear and lively. I wouldn't pay for an SACD because it probably wasn't recorded well enough for SACD to be a noticeable improvement over the already very well mastered CD. You won't be disappointed.

BTW, 20 bit mastering doesn't mean 20 bit recording. CDs can only support 16 bits, so the recording is converted to 16 bit before it is burned to the disc.

 

[VicAjax]

as long as we're talking about monk... i highly recommend monk and coltrane, on riverside, and possibly my very favorite monk album, monk's dream, on columbia. the latter was remastered and released a couple of years ago. don't know how the remaster is, i have the old '91 cd release, which sounds good to me (i'm no audiophile, so take that for what it's worth).

also, look into the rudy van gelder (RVG) 24-bit remasters on blue note. he's got a rep as one of the best producers/sound engineers in jazz. they say RVG on the spine, and some record shops keep them in a single section.

here's the link.

 

[immtbiker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by VicAjax as long as we're talking about monk also, look into the rudy van gelder (RVG) 24-bit remasters on blue note. he's got a rep as one of the best producers/sound engineers in jazz. they say RVG on the spine, and some record shops keep them in a single section.

This quite ironic. B4 this thread got started, I ordered some of my free Cd's from BMG and one of them was the remaster of Herbie Hancock's - Maiden Voyage. I was stunned at the quality of a 1965 recording (although the best recording I own is a Fantasy Series 2 45 rpm LP remaster of a 3 track Sonny Rollins recording of "Way Out West", from 1957).
Maiden Voyage is on Blue Note and 24 bit remastered by Rudy Van Gelder.

 

[PatrikO]

Incidentally - I find Mountain Dance on the album Dave Grusin Collection to be exeedingly good for judging a HiFi setup. The entire CD (GRP) is very well recorded, but the haunting intro of Mountain Dance is smashing - it has everything from high's to low's - tempo, bass, crispness. A joy to play loud!


/Patrik

 

[White Fox]

Quote:

Originally Posted by VicAjax also, look into the rudy van gelder (RVG) 24-bit remasters on blue note. he's got a rep as one of the best producers/sound engineers in jazz. they say RVG on the spine, and some record shops keep them in a single section.

Rudy - a producer???

Rudy had a distinctive sound as an engineer, however, I still think his recordings (50s - 60s anyway) of the piano and bass sound weird - the bass thin and the piano hard to describe in words.

Horns were his strength IMO, even better than some contemporary recordings. Drums were good, too, but never understood why Elvin Jones always sounded so muddy when recorded by RVG.

The RVG series represents good value and contains lots of classic music, but I would be careful of the early re-issues - the stereo spread has nearly been collapsed to mono. The early RVG re-issues sound much better on speakers IMO, even if cross-feed isn't needed. Also, all of the RVGs I've heard (even recent re-issues) are mastered on the 'hot' side, but this is the trend of most 'remasterings' these days.

 

[labrat]

Deleted.

 

[Asterix]

John Coltrane - Blue Train
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue