Pure Pleasure / Black Lion - BLPP 30119 - 180 Gram Virgin Vinyl -
AAA 100% Analogue - Pressed at Pallas in Germany - Limited Edition
Pure Analogue Audiophile Mastering by Ray Staff at Air Mastering London
AAA 100% Analogue This LP was Remastered using Pure Analogue Components Only, from the Master Tapes through to the Cutting Head
A really great sounding, intimate introduction. Plus it’s his last studio recording and among his best sounding ones Music 9/10 Sound 9/10 Michael Fremmer Analogue Planet
"There’s nothing weak, indecisive or “washed up” about Monk’s playing here. He sounds strong, in great humor and thoroughly engaged....The piano sound is absolutely superb harmonically, texturally and especially dynamically. It’s big, intimate and close with the hand separation giving you unusually clear access to Monk’s musical thinking." musicangle.com,
Alan Bates took Thelonious Monk into the studio for his first trio recording in 15 years with his old sidekick Art Blakey. It has been said often enough that Blakey is the ideal drummer for Monk, and one has only to hear them together again after all this time to realize the truth of the statement. If Blakey at times seems to push the pianist almost too hard, that is in fact the nature of their musical relationship. And, throughout the session, Blakey appeared to be vying with the producer in alternately cajoling and coercing Monk into fulfilling various requests from the small invited audience.
The suggestion of recording "Criss Cross" had been hanging in the air for at least an hour-and-a-half when Monk suddenly interrupted a conversation between Blakey and photographer David Redfern by launching into the intro. He stays pretty close to the theme, but what a theme it is! The melodic balance of the first four bars is something that could probably only be expressed diagramatically, while the following phrase is a kind of contracted mirror-image of the same idea. And Al McKibbon certainly knows what he's doing because he was on the 1951 recording as well. Monk positively hammers out "Jackie-ing" (a tune dedicated to his niece) written originally for a 1959 Quintet date for Riverside and prominently featured by Thelonious with his Quartet on world tours during the '60s. "Nutty" is vintage Monk, dating back to 1954 when it was first recorded (in trio form with Art Blakey and Percy Heath) for Prestige. Blakey himself is in superb form throughout, propelling the whole number and himself into an exhillarating solo in the process.
The two outstanding performances here are probably the two spontaneous blues pieces. "Blue Sphere," which says a lot in a short space, begins with only one chord per bar in the left hand but with a very strong 2/4 feel in the right, preparing one for the eventual stride pattern at a typical James P. Johnston tempo; this builds so well to the percussive finale, in which the rhythm is suspended once more, that Al McKibbon could not restrain his discreet applause. The slow "Something in Blue," though it builds equally well to a climax, is more complex, alternating double-time with triplets and single notes with funky two-note chords in the right hand, while the left mixes stride with a relaxed boogie pattern. There is, too, an absolutely typical touch in the antepenultimate chorus, where the ascending bass line which has begun cropping up in the 10th bar of each chorus occurs this time in the 9th bar, only to be followed by a repeat in which everything seems to fall on the wrong beat.- (Brian Priestley's Sleeve Notes)
Far from sounding “washed up,” Monk went into the studio the night after the final concert of the eight week “Giants of Jazz Tour” and created this superbly recorded album for Alan Bates’s Black Lion label. Yes, that Alan Bates: the British film actor who starred in so many memorable movies including "Zorba the Greek" where he played the eligible bachelor to Anthony Quinn’s unforgettable Zorba.
Engineer Jonathan Timperley gives Monk center stage and stage-left too, putting Monk’s left hand in the center and his right hand stage-left where he also scrunches Blakey’s drums. This set was all about Monk and no doubt McKibbon and Blakey were happy to play second rhythm section to Monk. Monk performs his classics along with a typically off-kilter cover of George and Ira Gershwin’s “Nice Work If You Can Get It.”
The set begins with a pure stride version of “Blue Sphere,” then a spirited “Hackensack,” followed by the cover and then a devilish “Criss-Cross” to end the side. There’s nothing weak, indecisive or “washed up” about Monk’s playing here. He sounds strong, in great humor and thoroughly engaged.
Side two tracks four Monk faves: “Something In Blue,” “Evidence,” “Jackie-ing,” and “Nutty,” with Monk giving all of them a “roots” reading: relatively slow, deliberate and well-enunciated. The solo reading of “Something In Blue” is alone worth the album’s cost. The piano sound is absolutely superb harmonically, texturally and especially dynamically. It’s big, intimate and close with the hand separation giving you unusually clear access to Monk’s musical thinking.
London’s Chappell Studio rolled in a nice piano for Monk to play. Obviously, this album is not an essential title in Monk’s long recording career but it’s one fans will really dig having and for those unfamiliar, a really great sounding, intimate introduction. Plus it’s his last studio recording and among his best sounding ones
Music 9/10 Sound 9/10 Michael Fremmer Analogue Planet
Musicians:
Thelonious Monk, piano
Al McKibbon, bass
Art Blakey, drums
Thelonious Monk Something In Blue Track Listing
1. Blue Sphere
2. Hackensack
3. Nice Work If You Can Get It
4. Criss Cross
5. Something in Blue
6. Evidence
7. Jackie-ing
8. Nutty
Pure Pleasure Records
The Restoration of the Art of Sound
180g Vinyl Mastered From The Best Available Sources
At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Pure Pleasure all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records. During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existent tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.
A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.
We should like to emphasize that Pure Pleasure Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production. To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.
There really is nothing quite like it. It’s the touch, the feel, you have to stop and stare, the cover, the real thing, even the smell.
Its tangible, you can feel it, see it, study it, muse/dream over it, it’s real, someone has spent hours and hours over its construction and presentation. Pure Pleasure Records is just that, Pure Pleasure and that is what it has set out to be.
The music and the physical record. Something to keep, treasure, admire and above all enjoy.Of course with vinyl it’s not just a record, it’s the cover, the sleeve notes, you are holding a unique package, produced by craftsmen.
Pure Pleasure Records bring you vinyl albums of quality Jazz - Blues - R+B - Soul - Funk, remastered by some of the best engineers in the world and pressed on 180 gram audiophile vinyl at what is probably the best pressing plant in Europe
Pure Analogue Audiophile Mastering
Plated and Pressed at Pallas in Germany on 180 Gram Virgin Vnyl
Released in Limited Quantities
Audiophile Vinyl - Made in Germany For over 60 years the family business in the third generation of the special personal service and quality "Made by Pallas" is known worldwide. Our custom PVC formulation produces consistently high pressing quality with the lowest surface noise in the industry. Our PVC complies with 2015 European environmental standards and does not contain toxic materials such as Lead, Cadmium or Toluene. Our vinyl is both audiophile and eco-grade!
