The Young Rascals – Groovin’ – Mofi – Limited Edition/ 45RPM 180G Mono Vinyl
Mastered From The Original Master Tapes For Supreme Sound
Simultaneously elevated and bypassed by the artistically prolific year in which it was released, the Young Rascals' Groovin' remains high-water mark of a collective Rolling Stone boldly proclaimed "the blackest white group of all" in 1970. Home to three Top 10 singles and a diverse array of pop music in step with the era's exploratory creativity, the set belongs aside the Beatles' Sgt. Peppers' Lonely Hearts Club Band, Love's Forever Changes, Jefferson Airplane's Surrealistic Pillow, and 1967's other pioneering recordings. Particularly now that it boasts definitive sonics.
Arthur Fiedler – Gershwin: An American In Paris – Rhapsody In Blue – Analogue Productions SACD
With Rhapsody in Blue, George Gershwin, a popular songwriter, established himself as a serious composer. His American in Paris tells the story of a trip through the streets and cafes of France. A first rate orchestra (The Boston Pops), a distinguished conductor (Arthur Fiedler), and a superb pianist (Earl Wild) combine to make this landmark recording something to be treasured.
ART PEPPER + Eleven – Contemporary Records (Acoustic Sounds Series)180g Vinyl
Throughout the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s, Lester Koenig’s artist-friendly Los Angeles-based audiophile jazz label documented career-defining performances by some of modern jazz’s most influential and accomplished improvisers, including Ornette Coleman, Sonny Rollins, Harold Land and Benny Golson. No musician is more closely identified with Contemporary than Pepper, whose cool tone and simmering lyricism made him one of the very few mid-century alto saxophonists to forge a path independent of bebop patriarch Charlie Parker’s pervasive influence.
Produced by Koenig and recorded in 1959, Art Pepper +Eleven: Modern Jazz Classics is one of the saxophonist’s masterpieces. Featuring brilliant arrangements by Marty Paich, the album elaborates on the lush but lithe sound introduced by the epochal Birth of the Cool sessions, which Miles Davis started to record almost exactly a decade earlier (like Birth, +Eleven kick offs with Denzil Best’s “Move”). Surrounded by the cream of the LA scene, including fellow saxophone masters Herb Geller, Bill Perkins and Med Flory, Pepper brings all his scorching lyricism to a program of modern jazz standards by Horace Silver, Thelonious Monk, Gerry Mulligan and Sonny Rollins.
The Thelonious Monk Quartet – Straight No Chaser 180g Audiophile Vinyl
180-GRAM 33RPM 2LP SET
This mid-period masterwork from jazz piano’s most uncommon voice find Monk and his quartet ( Charlie Rouse on tenor, Ben Riley on drums and Larry Gales on bass) exploring every texture, tone and melodic turn of seven expansive tracks. This group was subtle, mature and confident, easily supporting Monk’s more idiosyncratic side-tracks (check out the solo on “Locomotive” or the restless exposition on “Japanese Folk Song”) while allowing listeners freedom to move through or contemplate all the sublime subtexts Monk conjures from the endless well of his inspiration.
Jennifer Warnes – Famous Blue Raincoat 180g Impex Vinyl
Newly remastered by Bernie Grundman on his all-tube cutting system and personally supervised by Ms. Warnes, Famous Blue Raincoat is ready to be discovered by a new generation of vinyl enthusiasts seeking the purest musical alchemy, and vocal interpretation. Come see how far we’ll go for beauty.
Back in print, an exclusive 33-rpm all-analogue vinyl LP of her ground-breaking classic.
Mark Knopfler – Local Hero (Soundtrack) – MoFi 180g Vinyl Offer
IN STOCK
Mastered From The Original Master Tapes For Definitive Sound
Three years removed from crafting Dire Straits' third album, Making Movies, band leader Mark Knopfler elected to adhere to the record's title and try his hand at doing just that in an aural way. Written and performed to accompany the film Local Hero, the iconic guitarist's first soundtrack continues to serve as one of the decade's most prized scores. No wonder the BAFTA Award-nominated work has long eclipsed the Bill Forsyth film in stature, merit, and popularity – and emerged as the basis of a stage musical that debuted in Scotland in 2019.
The Groundhogs – Scratching The Surface – Pure Pleasure Records 180G Vinyl
The Groundhogs' debut album is a long way from the "classic" sound of the better-known Thank Christ for the Bomb/Split/Who Will Save the World? trilogy.
Indeed, the mellow classic blues through which the band pursues its nine tracks offer the unsuspecting listener little more than a direct blast from the peak of the British blues boom past.
Grant Green – Idle Moments – Blue Note 180G Vinyl
Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition on 180-gram LP
Time and troubles seem to melt away during the 15 enrapturing minutes of "Idle Moments," the opening track of Grant Green's sublime 1963 album of the same name. As the piece unfurls, all the unique colors of the ensemble present themselves with Green on guitar, Duke Pearson on piano, Bobby Hutcherson on vibraphone, Bob Cranshaw on upright bass, Al Harewood on drums, and Joe Henderson on tenor sax. Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition is all-analog, mastered from the original tapes on 180-gram LP.
Ben Webster – Gentle Ben Analogue Productions 200g 45RPM Vinyl
"The soundstage is intimate and inviting, Webster's horn beautifully captured with sweet, rich overtornes, the bass liquid, chugging, and textured, piano and drums easy and natural. As with each title, the music emerges from QRP's beautifully flat and wonderfully silent surfaces with that much more "there-ness." Sonics = 4/5; Music = 3.5/5 — Wayne Garcia, The Absolute Sound, January 2013
The Young Rascals – Groovin’ – MoFi Mono SACD
Mastered From The Original Master Tapes For Supreme Sound
Simultaneously elevated and bypassed by the artistically prolific year in which it was released, the Young Rascals' Groovin' remains high-water mark of a collective Rolling Stone boldly proclaimed "the blackest white group of all" in 1970. Home to three Top 10 singles and a diverse array of pop music in step with the era's exploratory creativity, the set belongs aside the Beatles' Sgt. Peppers' Lonely Hearts Club Band, Love's Forever Changes, Jefferson Airplane's Surrealistic Pillow, and 1967's other pioneering recordings. Particularly now that it boasts definitive sonics.
Elvis Presley – Blue Hawaii – MoFi SACD
The old adage about Elvis Presley is that his soundtrack work never held a candle next to his studio albums. Though true for a majority of his film-related outings, the traditional notion is forever disproved by his Blue Hawaii set. Originally released in 1961 in support of the film in which he starred, the triple-platinum LP spent nearly five months at the top of the Billboard album charts; outsold his two prior studio efforts; and ultimately, remains the second-best-selling soundtrack of the musical-dominant 1960s. And now, it has received sonic treatment befitting rock royalty.
Fritz Reiner – Richard Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra 180G Analogue Productions Vinyl
The legendary 1954 Fritz Reiner/Chicago Symphony Orchestra performance of a Strauss war horse. Recorded directly to 2-track analog by Jack Pfeiffer, the original session tapes were used in mastering for LPs and SACDS. Among the very first Living Stereo recordings ever made, these landmark performances document the start of the legendary partnership of Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
