Michael Fremer's 100 Recommended All-Analog LP Reissues Worth Owning - Rated 21/100!
100% Analog 180g Vinyl LP!
Remastered from the Original Analog Stereo Masters for the First Time! Hear this album as it was meant to be heard! Absolutely Stunning!
The greatest assembly of musical talent ever on one album! Features Performances by John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Ben Webster & 27 More Jazz Greats!
TAS Super LP List! Special Merit: Informal Hi-Fi News Rated 95/100 Sound Quality! Rated 10/11 Music, 11/11 Sound by Michael Fremer!
This item not eligible for any further discount offers!
In 1958, a young, successful French composer-arranger with a major infatuation on American jazz, worked his way to New York and convinced the very best players of the time to record an album of largely jazz standards. Michel Legrand would go on to win numerous prizes and accolades (3 Oscars, 5 Grammies, 2 Palmes D'or, etc.), but little of what followed matched the sheer brilliance of Legrand Jazz.Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Ben Webster, Phil Woods and practically every other session man in town signed up for sessions with Legrand to record his idiosyncratic arrangements of standards ("Django", "Dont Get Around Much Anymore", "Night in Tunisia", etc.). Instead of regurgitating then current bop styles, he reinvented the very nature of orchestral jazz band repertoire to make a unique and forward-looking statement on the genre.
The sound of Impex's all-analog LP preserves the wide soundstage of late 50s Columbia recordings while creating intimate spaces between players on the stage for maximum definition. This rare, highly-praised recording has never sounded as good as it does now. Go big with Legrand Jazz.
Legrand Jazz was greeted by an enthusiastic review in the magazine Down Beat. Dom Cerulli awarded it five stars out of a possible five.
The meticulously recreated outer jacket is packaged in a gatefold with an original photo montage inside honoring Michel Legrand's masterpiece of reinvention and sublime fan-boy enthusiasm.
"The music is luscious and this just may be one of the best-sounding records you'll ever hear." - Ken Kessler, www.hifinews.co.uk, Rated 95/100 Sound Quality!
"The result is superior in every way to an original, and the stereo is so good that the oft-stated preference for mono jazz titles fades away. Is this the best sounding jazz orchestral recording of all times? I know of none that is better recorded. From the magic of Ben Webster's mellifluous sounding horn on 'Blue and Sentimental' to the four trumpets blasting out 'Stompin' At The Savoy', played loud and without distortion, this is pure audio musical catnip. Absolutely gorgeous." - HiFi+, 10/10 Recording, 10/10 Music
"The new Impex vinyl reissue, which used an all-analog chain, offers a wide, full soundstage. Detailed and warm, the LP has an in-the-room presence with lots of air. If texture and timbre appeal to you, this is a must-hear audiophile reissue." - Jeff Wilson, The Absolute Sound
"It is about time Legrand Jazz, this historic jazz LPor shall I say "hard bop"was reissued properly. The Impex LP is the 36th LP version of Legrand Jazz in the world, and the best, I think, by a country mile. Made from the Columbia session tapes and cut on the all-tube Bernie Grundman mastering and cutting system, it got RTI's best treatment, supervised by Rick Hashimoto. Impex's brilliant Bob Donnelly oversaw production, and Chris Bellman did the cutting. The album art is fresh and first class all the way, with a gate fold jacket, too. This is the kind of "high cotton treatment" for which Impex Records is famous in all of their releases..."
"The performances are all amazing and luscious. Dynamics are powerful and precise. The bass is open and deeper than deep. Sound stage width is wall to wall, and depth is excellent and clear. The personnel play like theres no tomorrow, with lots of heart and energy. Imaging is absolutely, positively perfect. Every instrument and ensemble is mic'ed to perfection. The tonality and layering is fresh and tape-like. The session tapes were well cared for and fresh for the remaking. Legrand Jazz is 180 grams of musical tour de force. I kept saying WOW! over and over again with each superb solo. Who knew this album, the recording, and the engineering was this phenomenal? I did not..."
"With superb performances, exquisite surfaces, perfect LP cutting and pressing, and Impex Records extremely high production standards, Legrand Jazz is in my current estimation the ultimate reissue ever. Legrand Jazz is a true reference LP and worth including in any top-notch record library for the jazz aficionado or devoted audiophile. Well done Impex! Legrand Jazz receives my highest recommendation." - Robert H. Levi, Positive Feedback Read the entire review here
"This IMPEX reissue is sourced from an "analog mix-down transfer of the original 1958 work tape by Mark Wilder at Battery Studios" and cut by Chris Bellman and Bob Donnelly at Bernie Grundman Mastering on Grundman's all-tube mastering system. I have a clean, original 6-Eye pressing that this superbly pressed reissue betters in every way. This will make both your stereo and your heart sing. Some of the greatest jazz musicians of that or any era wailing and clearly having a Legrand time. Limited to 3000 [numbered] copies. Don't miss it!" - Michael Fremer, analogplanet.com, Rated 10/11 Music, 11/11 Sound
"Legrand Jazz is a must for any jazz fans music library, but its provenance is like Ancestry.com on steroids. When searching for the original recording, one encounters 32 different versions, multiple album covers, and different labels! Which begs the question: Will the real Legrand Jazz please stand up?"
"Finally, it has. Los Angeles-based audiophile label Impex Records recently reissued the original album. Sourced from the original master tapes, its been cut on the all-tube Bernie Grundman mastering and cutting system, and put on whisper-silent 180-gram vinyl by RTIs Rick Hashimoto. The album comes packaged as a gatefold LP with photos on the inside that show Legrand at work. Kudos to Impexs Robert Sliger for the album art and Robert Donnelly, who oversaw production. This Impex reissue of Legrand Jazz is a dream come true for both jazz fans and audiophiles. It is truly the ne plus ultra of jazz reissue, so dont let this one slip by you." - Tom Schnabel, kcrw.com Read the entire review here
Features:
100% Analog 180g Vinyl LP!
Mastered by Chris Bellman and Bob Donnelly on Bernie Grundman Mastering's all-tube cutting system, Hollywood, CA
Analog mix-down transfer of the original 1958 work tapes by Mark Wilder at Battery Studios, New York, NY
Plated and pressed at RTI, supervised by Rick Hashimoto
Gatefold jacket housed inside a resealable, protective plastic sleeve
Musicians:
Michel Legrand, conductor, arranger (All songs)
For "The Jitterbug Waltz," "Django," "Wild Man Blues" & "'Round Midnight" Recorded June 25, 1958 (New York City)
Herbie Mann, flute
Betty Glamann, harp
Barry Calbraith, guitar
Miles Davis, trumpet
John Coltrane, tenor sax
Phil Woods, alto sax
Jerome Richardson, baritone sax, bass clarinet
Eddie Costa, vibes
Bill Evans, piano
Paul Chambers, bass
Kenny Dennis, drums
For "Nuages," "Blue And Sentimental," "Rosetta" & "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" Recorded June 27, 1958 (New York City)
Ben Webster, tenor sax
Herbie Mann, flute
Frank Rehak, trombone
Billy Byers, trombone
Jimmy Cleveland, trombone
Eddie Bert, trombone
Major Holly, bass, tuba
Don Lamond, drums
Hank Jones, piano
George Duvivier, bass
For "Night In Tunisia," "Stompin' At The Savoy" & "In A Mist" Recorded June 30, 1958 (New York City)
Ernie Royal, trumpet
Art Farmer, trumpet
Donald Byrd, trumpet
Joe Wilder, trumpet
Frank Rehak, trombone
Jimmy Cleveland, trombone
Gene Quill, alto sax
Phil Woods, alto sax
Seldon Powell, tenor sax
Teo Macero, baritone sax
James Buffington, French horn
Don Elliot, vibes
Milt Hinton, bass
Osie Johnson, drums
Nat Pierce, piano
Selections:
Side 1:
1. The Jitterbug Waltz (Fats Waller)
2. Nuages (Django Reinhardt)
3. Night In Tunisia (Dizzy Gillespie)
4. Blue And Sentimental (Count Basie)
5. Stompin' At The Savoy (Benny Goodman)
6. Django (John Lewis)
Side 2:
1. Wild Man Blues (Jelly Roll Morton)
2. Rosetta (Earl Hines)
3. 'Round Midnight (Thelonious Monk)
4. Don't Get Around Much Anymore (Duke Ellington)
5. In A Mist (Bix Beiderbecke)
