Barney Kessel with Shelly Manne and Ray Brown The Poll Winners (Contemporary Records Acoustic Sounds Series) 180g LP

Analog Planet Rated 9/11 Music, 9/11 Sonics!

Released as part of the Acoustic Sounds Series celebrating 70 years of Contemporary Records, The Poll Winners brings together the talents of Barney Kessel (guitar), Shelly Manne (drums) and Ray Brown (bass). First released in 1957 and recorded by legendary engineer Roy DuNann this new edition features ALL-ANALOG mastering from the original tapes by Bernie Grundman. The record is pressed on 180-gram vinyl at QRP and presented in a Stoughton old-style tip-on jacket.

The choice of material, the interplay between the three players, and the lead work all meld together beautifully on The Poll Winners, making it a classic guitar album in a small-group setting.

I'm sure by now, you're wondering how The Poll Winners album sounds and compares to my original. In short, it is pretty fantastic. The Poll Winners is generally a great-sounding recording to begin with, and some of you might even want to consider using this as a demo disc with its simple but sweet stereo soundstage. This recording is a classic West Coast jazz trio setting, with these sensitive players performing swinging versions of now-classics like 'Satin Doll,' 'On Green Dolphin Street,' and 'Mean to Me.' However, some of that dynamic might have been pulled back on the low end a bit, so as to not cause mistracking on average turntables of the period. Thus, the new edition is much bigger-sounding in many ways, notably on the low end. Ray Brown's bass here is richer and rounder than on my original. The high end on my original is a wee bit better, but that isn't surprising if you understand the nature of magnetic tape - it deteriorates over time, losing bits of information with every pass of the tape. I'm no doubt splitting hairs as the new edition sounds excellent, all things considered. And I think that, at the end of the day, I'd rather have richer, rounder lows and mids than worry about a slightly brighter high end. Kudos to Bernie Grundman for his fine finesse on this all-analog mastering from the master tapes. The 180g black vinyl Contemporary Records Acoustic Sounds Series pressing from QRP is well-centered, dead-quiet, and, ultimately, musically invisible. All these factors are easily checked off my list... I'm more than happy to keep my original as a reference copy, but will likely play the new Craft Recordings issue from here out for regular listening. And that's the best compliment I can offer: I've enjoyed listening to this fine reissue of The Poll Winners featuring Barney Kessel, Shelly Manne, and Ray Brown. I suspect you will too.