Jazz

Whats the word on the Verve by Request pressings? Seen some bad reviews but are there any good ones?
Haven’t liked any I’ve gotten so far so I gave up on the series. Probably the worst big jazz reissue campaign as of late but we’re also spoiled by how much care has gone into stuff like the Tone Poets, OJC, etc. the few I’ve heard sounded dull and lifeless
 
Whats the word on the Verve by Request pressings? Seen some bad reviews but are there any good ones?
They are the best they can be considering the tapes no longer exist. RKS does a good job from digital. A true mint OG will be better in every case. For example, an OG Alice Coltrane - Ptah sounds better. The RKS clearly shows a relatively mid-res digital source. But still, it sounds quite good, entirely enjoyable and true to the music. Same with Shepp-Kwanza, and the Roy Brooks.

BN, Craft etc. have the luxury of good condition original tapes. Universal do not. Unless you want to go through the pain of finding a quiet OG, these are entirely serviceable.
 
Whats the word on the Verve by Request pressings? Seen some bad reviews but are there any good ones?
Alice Coltrane is perfectly fine. I’m happy to own it bc, for me, there’s a lot of room between OG/Audiophile options and bad. This fits comfortably in that space (for me(, and the relative scarcity of Alice Coltrane vinyl options make it worth owning on vinyl (for me). Then again, i could see many just deciding to stream it over a not-ideal reissue, and that makes sense to me also bc I make the same choice with many albums that I feel vinyl won’t make a difference to my experience.
 
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I agree with her. I found it very self-concious and preachy...and not very pleasant listening.

I have about 5,000 records and over 20,000 hi-res digital files (not very discriminating!), and this record doesn't get a spot in either.
 
It is supposed to be self conscious and preachy. It is a funeral for Jazz formated as a Catholic Mass that quotes a movie that proclaimed jazz dead 60 some years ago. It also uses African American musical idioms to tell its story.
 
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She thought the church part and the musical quoting was nifty. She hated the dissonance.
Fair enough. I very often like jazz that goes outside. But I did not find that to be the case here, it was too often just cacaphony.

It wouldn't last half a side with my wife around.

I guess I just don't like preachy, and it smacked of taking itself way too seriously.
 
Another ex VMP exclusive


Black Rhythm Revolution! Is the first solo album from the jazz-funk legend Idris Muhammad, a New Orleans-bred rhythm king who successfully made the leap from the finest soulful jazz records of the ’60s to the nastiest fusion funk of the ’70s.

Here we catch him literally on the cusp of the two in 1970, with one good foot in the get-down of “Express Yourself” and “Super Bad,” and the other in his own heady excursions into modal rhythm and melody, accompanied by virtuosos Kenny Barron, Ron Carter, Melvin Sparks, who came together for sessions overseen by legendary producer Rudy Van Gelder.

This 180-gram Jazz Dispensary reissue of Black Rhythm Revolution! was cut from the original analogue tapes by Kevin Gray and pressed at RTI, and comes packaged in a tip-on jacket.
 
Another ex VMP exclusive


Black Rhythm Revolution! Is the first solo album from the jazz-funk legend Idris Muhammad, a New Orleans-bred rhythm king who successfully made the leap from the finest soulful jazz records of the ’60s to the nastiest fusion funk of the ’70s.

Here we catch him literally on the cusp of the two in 1970, with one good foot in the get-down of “Express Yourself” and “Super Bad,” and the other in his own heady excursions into modal rhythm and melody, accompanied by virtuosos Kenny Barron, Ron Carter, Melvin Sparks, who came together for sessions overseen by legendary producer Rudy Van Gelder.

This 180-gram Jazz Dispensary reissue of Black Rhythm Revolution! was cut from the original analogue tapes by Kevin Gray and pressed at RTI, and comes packaged in a tip-on jacket.
I said all these VMP JD “exclusives” would come out on black vinyl for half the price and VMP said it would never happen…now I think they have done 3 of em.
 
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