{"product_id":"davisbasic_2608","title":"Davis, Miles - Basic Miles - White Hot Stamper (With Issues)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e*NOTE:\u003c\/strong\u003e There is a mark that plays 6 times \u003cu\u003every\u003c\/u\u003e lighty to lightly about 1\/8\" into track 3 on side 1, \"Sweet Sue, Just You.\" There is another mark that plays 18 times lightly about 1\/2 way into the same track. There is also a swoosh that plays 12 times lightly at the start of track 1 on side 2, \"On Green Dolphin Street.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWant to know how good our Hot Stamper Kind of Blue pressings sound? Listen to this very record. If you play the tracks that were recorded in 1958, the year before Kind of Blue, you will hear practically the same lineup of musicians.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat means \"Stella By Starlight\" and \"Little Melonae\" on side one, and \"Green Dolphin Street\" and \"Fran-Dance (Put Your Little Foot Right Out)\" on side two. We're talking Bill Evans, John Coltrane, and Cannonball Adderley in their prime, 1958, with top 1958 sound to match.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe nine-minute plus \"Green Dolphin Street\" that opens side two is nothing short of amazing, some of the coolest jazz you will ever hear. With \"Fran-Dance\" on the same side, that gives you about 17 minutes of great-sounding jazz by Miles' classic Kind of Blue lineup.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSide one has the same cats playing for more than 12 minutes. By my calculation, that's close to another album's worth of material from the group. The rest of the material on this compilation is best seen as gravy; maybe not essential, but never less than interesting.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat The Best Sides Of Basic Miles Have To Offer Is Not Hard To Hear\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe biggest, most immediate staging in the largest acoustic space\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe most Tubey Magic, without which you have \u003ci\u003ealmost\u003c\/i\u003e nothing. CDs give you clean and clear. Only the best vintage vinyl pressings offer the kind of Tubey Magic that was on the tapes in \u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%221973%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e1973\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTight, note-like, rich, full-bodied bass, with the correct amount of weight down low\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNatural tonality in the midrange -- with all the instruments having the correct timbre\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTransparency and resolution, critical to hearing into the three-dimensional studio space\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNo doubt there's more but we hope that should do for now. \u003ci\u003ePlaying the record is the only way to hear all of the qualities we discuss above,\u003c\/i\u003e and playing the best pressings against a pile of other copies under rigorously controlled conditions is the only way to find a pressing that sounds as good as this one does.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCopies with \u003cstrong\u003erich lower mids and nice extension up top\u003c\/strong\u003e did the best in our shootout, assuming they weren't veiled or smeary of course. So many things can go wrong on a record. We know, we've heard them all.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTop end extension\u003c\/strong\u003e is critical to the sound of the best copies. Lots of old records (and new ones) have no real top end; consequently, the studio or stage will be missing much of its natural air and space, and instruments will lack their full complement of harmonic information.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTube smear\u003c\/strong\u003e is common to most vintage pressings. The copies that tend to do the best in a shootout will have the least (or none), yet are full-bodied, tubey and rich.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat We're Listening For on Basic Miles\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eEnergy\u003c\/strong\u003e for starters. What could be more important than the life of the music?\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThe Big Sound\u003c\/strong\u003e comes next -- wall to wall, lots of depth, huge space, three-dimensionality, all that sort of thing.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThen \u003cstrong\u003etransient information\u003c\/strong\u003e -- fast, clear, sharp attacks, not the smear and thickness so common to these LPs.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eTight, full-bodied bass\u003c\/strong\u003e -- which ties in with good transient information, also the issue of frequency extension further down.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNext: \u003cstrong\u003etransparency\u003c\/strong\u003e -- the quality that allows you to hear deep into the soundfield, showing you the space and air around all the instruments.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eExtend the top and bottom\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003ci\u003evoila\u003c\/i\u003e, you have The Real Thing -- an honest to goodness Hot Stamper.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Players\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAlto Saxophone – \u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%22cannonball-adderley%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eJulian \"Cannonball\" Adderley\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%22Lee-Konitz%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLee Konitz\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBass – \u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%22Paul-Chambers%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePaul Chambers\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBass Clarinet – Danny Bank\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDrums – \u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%22philly-joe-jones%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"Philly\" Joe Jones\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e, Art Taylor, Jimmy Cobb\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFlugelhorn – Miles Davis\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePiano – \u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%22Bill-Evans%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBill Evans\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e (tracks: A2, B1), \u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%22Red-Garland%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRed Garland\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%22Wynton-Kelly%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWynton Kelly\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTenor Saxophone – \u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%22John-Coltrane%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eJohn Coltrane\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%22Wayne-Shorter%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWayne Shorter\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTrombone – Frank Rehak, Jimmy Cleveland, Joe Bennett\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTrombone [Bass] – Tom Mitchell\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTrumpet – Bernie Glow, Ernie Royal, John Carisi, Louis R. Mucci, Miles Davis, Taft Jordan\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTuba – Bill Barber\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eKind of Blue on the Red Label\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is our considered opinion that many of the best-sounding copies are pressed on the rather common domestic plain Red Label from the 70s. We're fully aware of just how outrageous a statement that may be to you jazz collectors out there, and even more outrageous to the audiophiles reading this, the ones who are still holding on to the idea that originals have the best sound.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut we've known about these amazing sounding Kind Of Blue reissues for more than two decades, and in all of those years, played back on many different stereo systems, we have yet to hear any early pressing that would make us change our minds.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eUnimpeachable Audiophile Credentials\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe know we're asking a lot of money for a record that any jazz record dealer would be embarrassed to charge more than $25 for. (Actually, these are starting to sell for $40+ pretty regularly on eBay and elsewhere. Apparently, the word got out that these can sound incredible. Blame us!)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHowever, with all due respect, jazz record dealers don't know anything about sound. They know about collectibility. They know about price guides. They know their market -- jazz collectors -- and I know mine: audiophiles. This record has unimpeachable audiophile credentials. It has the sound in the grooves like you have never heard before. And who else but your friends at Better Records are going to be able to tell you that?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eQuick Listening Test\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is an easy one. Just listen to the trumpet. Most copies do not fully convey the transient information of Miles's horn, causing it to have an easily recognizable quality we talk about all the time on the site: \u003cstrong\u003esmear\u003c\/strong\u003e. No two pressings will have precisely the same amount of smear on his trumpet, so look for the least smeary copy \u003ci\u003ethat does everything else right too\u003c\/i\u003e. (Meaning simply that smear is important, but not all-important.)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eVinyl Condition\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMint Minus Minus and maybe a bit better is about as quiet as any vintage pressing will play, and since only the right vintage pressings have any hope of sounding good on this album, that will most often be the playing condition of the copies we sell. (The copies that are even a bit noisier get listed on the site are seriously reduced prices or traded back in to the local record stores we shop at.)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThose of you looking for quiet vinyl will have to settle for the sound of other pressings and Heavy Vinyl reissues, purchased elsewhere of course as we have no interest in selling records that don't have the vintage analog magic of these wonderful recordings.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf you want to make the trade-off between bad sound and quiet surfaces with whatever Heavy Vinyl pressing might be available, well, that's certainly your prerogative, but we can't imagine losing what's good about this music -- the size, the energy, the presence, the clarity, the weight -- just to hear it with less background noise.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Davis, Miles","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52226089320744,"sku":"davisbasic","price":399.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0257\/3415\/2295\/products\/davisbasicm.jpg?v=1786382434","url":"https:\/\/better-records.com\/products\/davisbasic_2608","provider":"Better Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}