{"product_id":"kessemusic_2511_1x__","title":"Kessel, Barney - Music To Listen To Barney Kessel By (Stereo) - Super Hot Stamper","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e*NOTE:\u003c\/strong\u003e This record was not noisy enough to rate our M-- to EX++ grade, but it's not quite up to our standards for Mint Minus Minus either. If you're looking for quiet vinyl, this is probably not the best copy for you.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis vintage Contemporary Stereo LP from has Demo Disc quality sound.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHow can you beat a \u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%22roy-dunann%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRoy DuNann\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e recording of five reeds, piano, guitar and a rhythm section that includes Shelly Manne and \u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%22Red-Mitchell%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRed Mitchell\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e? 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe sound on this copy is really something to hear -- all tube, live-to-two-track direct from the Contemporary studio. It’s pretty much everything you want in a recording from this era. I’d love to keep it but when would I have time to play it? I can assure you I will sleep very well knowing that it’s going to a good home.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat The Best Sides Of Music To Listen To Barney Kessel By 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\u003ch3\u003eWonderful West Coast Jazz\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMusically this is one of my favorite jazz records. Delightfully insightful liner notes from Andre Previn by the way.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDid you know that Kessel won every major jazz poll for guitarist in 1956?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat’s interesting about that is that this album allows all the other players plenty of time to share the spotlight. Barney is a member of a team here. The sophisticated arrangements find space for everyone’s contribution to be heard.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt least one track has five woodwind players and you can easily pick them all out. Others have short duets for pairings such as bassoon and oboe.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrom an audiophile perspective, this one is hard to beat.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat We're Listening For On Music To Listen To Barney Kessel By\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\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.)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Players\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%22barney-kessel\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBarney Kessel\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e - guitar\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBuddy Collette - flute, alto flute, clarinet\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eJunie Cobb - oboe, English horn\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eGeorge W. Smith - clarinet\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eJustin Gordon - clarinet, bass clarinet\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHoward Terry - clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%22andre-previn%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAndré Previn\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e, Jimmy Rowles, Claude Williamson - piano\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBuddy Clark - bass\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%22shelly-manne%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eShelly Manne\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e - drums\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eVinyl Condition\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMint Minus Minus 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\u003c\/ol\u003e","brand":"Kessel, Barney","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51041573437736,"sku":"kessemusic","price":119.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0257\/3415\/2295\/files\/kessemusic_49f05121-f556-460e-9d22-49c641569ea8.jpg?v=1763406800","url":"https:\/\/better-records.com\/products\/kessemusic_2511_1x__","provider":"Better Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}