Comments on: Developing a Thing For European Prestiges

By: Mattyman

Mattyman — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 23:13:14 +0000

For those into the Esquire pressings that Al is developing a thing for: you really should pay a visit to London Jazz Collector's blog. - Plenty of good stuff to read and an incredible amount of superb Esquire pressings. Of course y'all know that LondonJazzCollector on occasion is present in the comment field as "London Calling" ;-)

By: Aaron

Aaron — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 21:13:40 +0000

The black Atlantic label was discontinued in 1960 and while the east coast pressed Atlantics discontinued the deep groove around 1960 the west coast copies retained this feature for quite a few years.

By: gandi

gandi — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 20:48:39 +0000

Giant steps on black label but without deep groove … It must be a later pressing (how old? after 1962?), isn’t it? Labelkunde Vinyl of Frank Wonneberg is listing various variants of Atlantic black labels, but all american pressings (1954-1960)should have deep groove (the same about bull’s eye label that came directly afterwards)…

By: Rudolf

Rudolf — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 14:59:31 +0000

Al, I find myself in good company, I don’t have a black label Giants Steps either and I think I will never have.
My first original was on the London/Atlantic label. Thereafter I bought Danish and French first pressings, both with bull’s eye labels, but the latter with alternative cover art.

By: Clifford Allen

Clifford Allen — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 03:19:03 +0000

Depends, really – it’s an inexact science just as it is with US pressings.

I’ve had Teldec and Polydor pressings from the late ’60s/early ’70s that sound like crap even if looking M-, and private pressed Dutch LPs that sound wonderful. Some Dutch Fontanas sound great, others not so great. And so it goes…

bullsite2000 always has some interesting bits. That Eje Thelin LP is real nice, musically. Would love the Kühn Bros. LP on CBS but alas, out of my price-range as usual.

By: Drew

Drew — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 20:43:15 +0000

Hello,

As always… enjoy the website and content immensely !!! Since European pressings are in the spotlight, can anyone comment about the over-all sound quality regarding European labels ? Are they typically on par with their American cousins ?

Foolishly-regretfully I’ve passed on a number of European and South American records over the years. Simply didn’t have enough knowledge about records/labels outside the USA. I’ve never collected for any other reason than my own pleasure, regardless of dollar value. With so many Jazz records out there I feel I’ve been unnecessarily neglecting many great treasures.

Any advice about where to obtain more info regarding various music labels/companies, mastering, pressing plants, sound quality, etc.. would be sincerely appreciated.