10-12 years ago, I posted several lengthy articles about jazz
which were pretty well received by the A-gon membership. You
can probably find them listed under my "Sdcampbell"
name. That said, I'll try to add a few ideas to those above. I
have a large collection of jazz LP's, and some of the best for
both quality of music and sound include:
1. Contemporary Records recordings from the latter 1950's
through the 1970's. In particular, the sessions done by
recording engineer Roy DuNann are excellent. A number of these
lp's have subsequently been remastered and released on high
quality vinyl.
2. "88" Records, a small Japanese label, has
released some lp's with superior sound quality, featuring
"elder statesmen" of jazz. Great attention was paid
to sound quality, and if this appeals to you go to the
website for "441records.com".
3. Verve Records, owned and operated at one time by Norman
Granz, has some first-rate lp's, many of which have been
remastered and issued on heavy virgin vinyl. You can find
these lp's for sale at Analog Sounds; Elusive Disc; and
MusicDirect.
4. Pablo Records, also owned by Norman Granz, did some superb
small group jazz recordings by some of the world's best
musicians. Check out the lp's by Art Tatum, Zoot Sims, Oscar
Peterson, Sarah Vaughn, Joe Pass, Count Basie, and other
greats.
5. Concord Records has already been mentioned, but let me
close by mentioning some of the labels that released generally
superior jazz lp's: Muse; Constellation; Palo Alto Jazz
(short-lived label owned by Dr. Herb Wong); Pacific Jazz;
Riverside; Prestige; and the following European-based labels:
Black Lion; Soul Note; and SteepleChase.
6. Although already mentioned above, it bears repeating: the
Blue Note recordings made by Rudy van Gelder. The current
reissue program has some great stuff.
