Sold Date: October 21, 2015
Start Date: December 1, 2014
Final Price: $35.00 (USD)
Seller Feedback: 3388
Buyer Feedback: 0

SR 52103 - Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington - The Great Reunion - 200g Quiex SVP* Classic Records Reissue - Still Sealed with Sticker

Released as a second volume of recordings by Roulette Records from a 1961 summit between two jazz icons, after hearing this collaboration you'll wish they had recorded ten volumes. And wit the musical talent and knowledge between them, they could have! Using Armstrong's regulars plus Ellington at the piano (who performs exceptionally well, comping understatedly behind the vocals), the duo romps through seven of the Duke's most famous and popular compositions. And when Satchmo decides to blow, he leaves the Dixie clich? at home and shapes his solos perfectly into the tasteful arrangements. With Trummy Young on trombone and Barney Bigard on clarinet plus a rhythm section of Mort Herbert on bass and Danny Barcelona on drums, these recordings are a once-in-a-lifetime dream summit meeting that thank God producer Bob Thiele was brilliantly astute enough to arrange and capture on tape. Selections include It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing), Solitude, Don't Get Around Much Anymore, I'm Beginning To See The Light, Just Squeeze Me, I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good) and Azalea. Transfered, for the first time, directly from the 3 track session masters at Bernie Grundman Mastering using Classic's "ALL TUBE" cutting system. Pressed on Classic's 200g Quiex SV-P - Super Vinyl Profile  for maximum playback fidelity.

*Background on Classic 200g Super Vinyl Profile 

In 2003, Classic Records launched its now famous Signature Blue Note Mono reissue series. As part of that series Classic developed an "authentic" 200 gram LP profile that replicated that of an original Blue Note record from the 1950's.  Comparing a test pressing on the new profile versus the same title on the normal 180 gram pressing it was discovered that the 200 gram version sounded significantly better.  The 200 gram pressing sounded louder, with more definition and solidity of notes across all frequencies and there was more detail - particularly low level detail like room or hall sounds, pages being turned, musicians whispering and automobile sounds outside the studio all became easier to identify.  At first it was speculated inside Classic Records that the extra weight resulted in the better performance as no one could come up with a better answer given that the stampers were the same as well as the vinyl pellets used on both 180g and 200g pressings.  One day, Michael Hobson, the founder of Classic Records was discussing this unexplainable sonic discovery with the Legendary Mastering Engineer and Sheffield Records founder, Doug Sax when Doug, without hesitation stated "Ah Michael you've discovered the difference in a flat versus conventional profile".  Puzzled, Hobson asked for an explanation which Sax described as going all the way back to 1950's mono pressings and what happened when stereo records came out in the early 1960's.  Sax explained that in the 1950's when mono records had no vertical modulation (only lateral), pressing PolyVinylChloride PVC (plastic) records were more easily pressed on "Flat Profile" dies fitted to the pressing machines since the grooves on the mono stampers were all the same height (no vertical modulation).  The molten vinyl was able to flow evenly across the stampers and fill properly during the molding (pressing) of the record.  The problems started when stereo record cutting came into vogue producing stampers that had variable height grooves sticking up across the diameter of each stamper.  Using the older mono pressing dies resulted in tremendous problems getting the areas between grooves of different heights to fill properly - a groove that is in front of another taller one often got passed over by the flowing molten vinyl resulting in "non-fill" which was audible and thus a "defective" record.  Pressing plants don't like to press defective records and are always looking for high pressing yields or a s few rejects as possible.

To solve the problem, the engineers developed a new pressing die profile which tapers from the center of the die, flattens in the middle of the diameter and then tapers again toward the outside of the die. The new profile was "concave" rather than flat.  When you put a flat stampers onto the concave dies the stampers distort and are no longer flat - the grooves are no longer perpendicular across the stamper and by association across a finished vinyl pressing.  This new die profile created "back pressure" on the flowing vinyl and solved the "non-fill" problem with stereo pressings and resulted in higher yields which was great for pressing plants and good for record companies who wanted good prices on pressings.  The problem was and still is that the new profile records don't sound as good as they could because they are not flat across their profile.  Using a micrometer across the diameter of a 1950's mono records reveals that the thickness is virtually the same across the record's diameter from center label to outer edge but not so for a newer stereo profile pressing which is convex across its diameter resulting from the concave profile dies / distorted stampers.  This is the dirty little secret that Classic had rediscovered was known to old school experts like Doug Sax who founded Sheffield Labs in the 1970's.  After the discovery, Classic Records never looked back and all of its releases and re-pressings after 2003 were on the new 200 gram Flat Profile dies that were specially made for Classic.  Some years later Classic discovered that the very same profile was used by JVC in Japan to produce the legendary UHQR pressings for Mobile Fidelity which are well known to sound better than the conventional Mobile Fidelity pressings of the same titles - it all makes sense now.  The long and the short of this is that Classic 200g Super Vinyl Profile (Flat Profile) pressings are as good as it gets for proper playback without groove distortion from non-flat pressings - Period.

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