I think piano must be pretty difficult to record well. Either it sounds too close or too small and many recordings don’t convey the gravitas of a full sized concert piano in the low registers or the "air" around the notes in the higher registers.
I listen for the timing of the attack and the decay of the note as well as the spatial characteristics of the presentation, which should resemble the size and placement of the instrument. Obviously, if the instrument is mic’d through a PA system, that changes things too.
One of the best recordings I’ve heard (though you may or may not like the music, I do and Cecil McBee plays bass on it) is the original Leo Records (US) pressing of Amina Claudine Meyers "Salutes Bessie Smith" cat.# LR 103. I have not heard the UK pressing, but the audiophile re-do that was around a dozen years ago (and strangely doesn’t show up in Discogs) does not have the mojo even though Kevin Gray cut it if memory serves and I generally find his work terrific. It’s improvisational blues.
I listen for the timing of the attack and the decay of the note as well as the spatial characteristics of the presentation, which should resemble the size and placement of the instrument. Obviously, if the instrument is mic’d through a PA system, that changes things too.
One of the best recordings I’ve heard (though you may or may not like the music, I do and Cecil McBee plays bass on it) is the original Leo Records (US) pressing of Amina Claudine Meyers "Salutes Bessie Smith" cat.# LR 103. I have not heard the UK pressing, but the audiophile re-do that was around a dozen years ago (and strangely doesn’t show up in Discogs) does not have the mojo even though Kevin Gray cut it if memory serves and I generally find his work terrific. It’s improvisational blues.