The 1970s were a great time to be a jazz fan in France and throughout Europe. Whereas in the States, jazz had fallen on hard times with big bands disbanding and rock and disco to follow, taking over the airwaves, jazz musicians were welcomed as heroes in Europe. Many of the jazz greats appreciated the adulation and moved to the continent to enjoy work  the European scene. The Black and Blue recording label under their series, The Definitive Black and Blue Sessions, has put out an extensive series of recordings remastered for CD, featuring American jazz greats either playing together or with French sidemen. Remastered quality has been consistently high, and jazz collectors are always on the lookout for these CDs.

 

To sweeten the pot considerably, Pure Pleasure Records out of Britain has reissued some of these sessions in glorious 180 gram vinyl. They lack the extra tracks that the Black and Blue CDs feature, but the sound is so warm and in-the-room soundwise, that it is worth the $25-30 premium price.

 

Such is the case with Illinois Jacquet’s God Bless My Solo, from a Barclay studio March, 1978 issue. We’ve got the best accompanist in the business in Hank Jones, who never hit a wrong note and swings more with fewer notes than most any other pianist. In Duvivier and Heard, the ideal rhythm section is found for Jacquet’s bluesy solos. As did Buck Clayton on trumpet, Illinois Jacquet drips soul and swing feeling.

 

We get the pure pleasure of Illinois reprising his famous solo style of Hampton’s Flying Home on the title track, God Bless My Solo. On Ellington’s Things Ain’t What They Used to Be, Jacquet matches Hodges for honors with his tenor version approaching Johnny’s definitive version. Not to be outdone in bringing other sax icons to mind, Illinois throws us a little Pres on Jean-Marie’s Den.

 

With so much mediocrity on sale at $15-18 a shot at your local CD emporium, spend the extra few bucks to get pristine sound quality and jazz masters showing their genius on Pure Pleasure Records audiophile vinyl LPs. A few less lattes and it’s all yours in collectible fashion.

 

 

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

PALLAS