Parker, Gillespie, Powell, Mingus & Roach Hot House: The Complete Jazz at Massey Hall Recordings 180g 3LP

Analog Planet Rated 11/10 Music, 7/10 Sound!

Seventy years on from the legendary 1953 concert at Massey Hall in Toronto – featuring jazz legends Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Charles Mingus and Max Roach on stage together – comes this complete 3-LP set pressed on 180g vinyl with lacquers cut by Kevin Gray. Including two insightful essays and previously unseen photos, this expanded collection features mastering and audio restoration by Paul Blakemore.

Frankly, this new 3LP edition is probably (arguably) even better than the original pressing because the vinyl quality is so much higher than the styrene plastic Mingus pressed his original run on. The fact is, Hot House: The Complete Jazz at Massey Hall Recordings is an important document for jazz music enthusiasts, both present and future. Go into it expecting some amazing performances — and don't dwell too much on the fidelity per se. I gave the Sound a 7 rating, which is no way a reflection on the mastering or the quality of the pressings themselves — it is just the reality of this being a 70-year-old imperfect, but wonderful, monaural concert recording. As for the Music, it is an 11 all the way. My listening suggestion is to just relax, float downstream, and bask in the glow of five musical legends creating timeless music for the ages before your very ears.