With AXPONA 2025 safely in the past, it’s time to hop back into the listening room with some records. I didn’t spend a penny on vinyl at the show (too expensive!), and have cut back on new vinyl purchases, but I’ve found a few records nonetheless.
New Grooves
Here are some recent new and sealed additions to the collection.
A long-awaited (and long ago preordered) record showed up in late April – Joe Jackson’s Body and Soul, remastered at 45 RPM by Kevin Gray for Intervention Records. While the music hasn’t aged so well with me, the sound of this recording, made in an old masonic lodge in New York City (which the Vanguard label used for classical recordings), explodes from the speakers with full dynamics and all the beautiful ambiance this hall has to offer. It offers a bigger than life presentation during louder passages, yet is well-recorded, and even the quietest moments are presented clearly. It is a treat to listen to how well this album was recorded and it has a warmth to it that belies its digital roots.
If you can find the original A&M pressing on KC-600 vinyl (which appears purple when held up to the light), that version holds up quite well and is worth buying. But this version takes it to the ultimate level on vinyl – this is a demo record even if you don’t really care for Joe Jackson. The packaging is a sturdy tip-on gatefold jacket with “rice paper” inner sleeves – a class product. If you’re a big fan of Joe Jackson and audiophile-quality sonics, I’d urge you to buy this before it sells out. Not a vinyl fan? Intervention also reissued this on SACD.
Next are a couple of Blue Note Classic Vinyl series reissues released in recent months. The reissue of the long-overlooked record Serenade to a Soul Sister, by Horace Silver, was one I’ve looked forward to for months. Kevin Gray’s magic touch eliminated some of the stuffiness I heard on the old vinyl version (a decent “player” copy I bought months ago) and gives the music the refresh it needed. This was Silver’s second-to-last album featuring his final classic quintet/sextet group before he got into his “message/healing” albums in the 1970s. Can I beg for The Jody Grind and You Gotta Take a Little Love to be reissued next?
Another Classic Vinyl release is Don Pullen’s excellent 1988 album New Beginnings. This was a case of taking a chance on music I’d never heard before – I played the album half a dozen times using Qobuz before purchasing on vinyl. Pullen’s style leans toward the avant-garde and free jazz, yet his grooves are often melodic and ear-friendly. Pullen also gives his trio mates plenty of space for soloing. This was already a good sounding CD, but the new mastering on vinyl sounds even better, with piano, bass (Gary Peacock) and drums (Tony Williams) sounding vibrant and lifelike, especially on “Warriors,” where Williams does some delicate work on his drum kit.
Pivoting to the Verve Acoustic Sounds Series, I got a heavily discounted copy of Jimmy Smith’s album The Cat. While musically some may argue it’s not his best work, I still find a lot to like about it. Part of that is due to Lalo Schifrin, who arranged the songs on this record. It is at times big and brassy, which is typical of Schifrin’s style. I’ve owned this on a CD for decades, but this LP bests it, likely due to using a proper master tape. Those brassy Schifrin-isms are fully projected, and the overall sound is less stuffy than other versions I own. As with others in the Acoustic Sounds Series, this record is in a gatefold tip-on jacket. But keep reading, as I have more information about this record at the end of the article.
Cheap Grooves
There are still plenty of good used vinyl bargains out there in the wild! Here are some recent finds from a trip to a couple of local brick and mortar stores.
Many jazz buffs hate Bob James, largely due to his “lite jazz” style through the mid ’80s. I always felt his albums were stronger when he had a collaborator, like David Sanborn on their album Double Vision, as his records benefitted from a more lively lead voice, and more interesting melodies to work with. In a sense Sign of the Times is a collaboration, as three of its six tracks are penned by Rod Temperton, best known for his work in the group Heatwave, and as a composer of chart-topping hits for artists such as Michael Jackson.
This doesn’t completely transform this album, but it does add some variety to the typically mellow fare that James recorded during this era. The title track had a lot of airplay locally, and the other two tracks, “Hypnotique” and the funky “Steamin’ Feelin’” have more meat on the bones than was typical on some of his other records. There are a few production touches where you get the sense that James or Temperton were trying to channel some of the Quincy Jones sound on this record. Sign of the Times wasn’t all that expensive on vinyl – I picked up a used copy for $6, the right price for what might be considered a “guilty pleasure” record.
In other finds, I added two Andreas Vollenweider records to the collection – Dancing with the Lion, and White Winds. They were only $2 and $3 each, respectively, and looked to be unplayed. I was also considering ordering a sealed, new old stock copy of a rare Kenyon Hopkins soundtrack on Verve, Mister Buddwing, but found a copy for $2. A fair price, as the song that attracted me to the album, “Hard Latin,” was the only one that stuck with me.
Another good score for $6 was a David Benoit album, This Side Up. This album on the Spindletop Records label immediately preceded his long tenure with GRP Records, and was recorded straight to 2-track digital with no overdubs. While there is no shrink wrap or hype sticker to indicate otherwise, the vinyl is semi-translucent, making me think it is one of the variations of “virgin vinyl” that were available back then. The music isn’t quite as polished as it would become on his later records, but there is no mistaking his style on the piano.
Defrauded Grooves
The aforementioned Jimmy Smith record involved an ordeal with Amazon. When I received the record, it was not shipped double-boxed, as all of my new vinyl purchases from Amazon have been. Looking it over, the edges of the jacket looked a little frayed, as though they’d shifted around in the box. Once I saw a small cut on the front of the jacket, that was it – I filed a claim for a replacement copy, which arrived a couple of days later. I never took it out of its plastic wrapper.
While boxing up the damaged copy, it suddenly struck me that the jacket on the replacement was a darker hue, and more maroon than red. Huh. Was the printing off by that much? It was then that I started noticing a couple of other differences. Such as, the incorrect catalog number at the top of the front of the jacket – Verve’s records usually started with a “V6” for stereo releases, and this catalog number was “MV-2065.” Flipping the jacket over, in the bottom right corner, ”Manufactured by Polydor K.K., Japan.” A Japanese pressing, in other words. This was certainly not the new Verve reissue.
This record arrived to me sealed, with the proper Acoustic Sounds sticker on the front. This Verve series ships in loose plastic with a perforation at the top. From the front, nothing looks wrong. But from the rear? See if you can spot the evidence.
Apparently, someone opened only the rear perforation, slipped out a brand new record, and replaced it with their own Japanese import copy. They sealed the rear perforation with thin, clear tape (pictured here), and shipped it back to Amazon for a refund. In essence, they “stole” a new record. Whoever did this knew exactly what they were doing (by opening only the rear perforation), and I’m willing to bet that this particular Amazon customer was a repeat offender.
I have to admit that as much as I dislike Amazon these days, when certain records go on sale I am never able to find a lower price, including shipping. Out of dozens purchased over the past several years, I’ve only had to return maybe two or three records total. This issue was a rarity, and involved some detective work to figure out exactly what happened. The average buyer would have seen the Acoustic Sounds sticker on the plastic and perhaps never would have given it a second thought.
As always, buyer beware!
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