{"product_id":"garlagroov_2607","title":"Garland, Red - Groovy - Super Hot Stamper","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e*NOTE:\u003c\/strong\u003e The edge and first 1\/2\" (approx.) of track 1 on side 2, \"Willow Weep For Me,\" play a little noisier than Mint Minus Minus.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat makes this vintage piano trio album in mono so special? Allow me to quote a review from a few years back for a pair of recordings that Red Garland made with Miles Davis back in the mid-50s: Workin’ And Steamin’.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003eTo the Jazz Fans of the World, we here present one of the \u003ci\u003ebest\u003c\/i\u003e sounding jazz recordings we have ever had the \u003ci\u003eprivilege\u003c\/i\u003e to place on a turntable. I cannot ever recall hearing a better sounding Rudy Van Gelder recording, and I have a theory as to why this tape is as good as it is: it’s MONO. It also sounds like it’s recorded completely \u003ci\u003elive\u003c\/i\u003e in the studio, direct to one track you might say. As good a recording as Kind of Blue is, I think the best parts of this album are more immediate and more real than anything on KOB.\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe size, the weight, the solidity, the clarity, the energy, the rhythmic drive -- it’s all here and more. We’ve never heard the record sound better, and that’s coming from someone who’s been playing the album since the 80s.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese guys are playing live in the studio and you can really feel their presence on every track -- assuming you have a copy that sounds like this one.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBased on what I’m hearing my feeling is that most of the natural, full-bodied, smooth, sweet sound of the album is on the master tape, and that all that was needed to transfer that vintage sound correctly onto vinyl disc was simply to thread up the tape on a high quality machine and hit \"play.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe fact that nobody seems to be able to make an especially good sounding record these days -- certainly not as good sounding as this one -- tells me that in fact I’m wrong to think that such an approach would work. Somebody should have been able to figure out how to do it by now. In our experience that is simply not the case today, and has not been for many years, if not decades.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%22George-Horn%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGeorge Horn\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e was doing brilliant work on scores of Rudy Van Gelder’s recordings all through the 80s. This album is proof that his sound is the right sound for this music.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis vintage Prestige recording has the kind of Tubey Magical Midrange that modern records can barely BEGIN to reproduce. Folks, that sound is gone and it sure isn't showing signs of coming back. If you love hearing INTO a recording, actually being able to \"see\" the performers, and feeling as if you are sitting in the studio with the band, this is the record for you. It's what vintage all analog recordings are known for -- \u003ci\u003ethis sound\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf you exclusively play modern repressings of vintage recordings, I can say without fear of contradiction that you have never heard this kind of sound on vinyl. Old records have it -- not often, and certainly not always -- but maybe one out of a hundred new records do, and those are some pretty long odds.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat the Best Sides of Groovy 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:%221957%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e1957\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\u003eTalk About Timbre\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMan, when you play a Hot Stamper copy of an amazing recording such as this, the timbre of the instruments is so spot-on it makes all the hard work and money you’ve put into your stereo more than pay off. To paraphrase The Hollies, you get paid back with interest. If you hear anything funny in the mids and highs of this record, don’t blame the record. (This is the kind of record that shows up audiophile BS equipment for what it is: audiophile BS. If you are checking for richness, Tubey Magic and freedom from artificiality, I can’t think of a better test disc. It has loads of the first two and none of the last.)\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWarning: Stereo Editorial Follows\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe same is true for audio equipment, as I’m sure you’ve experienced first-hand. Some stereos can bore you to tears with their dead-as-a-doornail sound and freedom from dynamic contrasts. Other stereos are overly-detailed and fatiguing; they wear out their welcome pretty quickly with their hyped-up extremes.\u003c\/p\u003e \n\u003cp\u003eAs Goldilocks will gladly tell you, some stereos are just right; they have the uncanny ability to get out of the way of the music. Some equipment doesn’t call attention to itself, and that tends to be the kind of equipment we prefer around here at Better Records. After decades in this hobby I’ve had my share of both. Ninety percent or more of the stuff I hear around town makes me appreciate what I have at home. I’m sure you feel the same way.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat We're Listening For On Groovy\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\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\n\u003ch3\u003eA Jazz Masterpiece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe consider this Red Garland album his Masterpiece. Others that belong in that category can be found \u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%22jazz-masterpiece%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ehere\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n","brand":"Garland, Red","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52126495375656,"sku":"garlagroov","price":99.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0257\/3415\/2295\/files\/garlagroov.jpg?v=1779038489","url":"https:\/\/better-records.com\/products\/garlagroov_2607","provider":"Better Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}