Various Artists – The Wonderful Sounds Of Quality Record Pressings

Six sides that invite discovery

The Wonderful Sounds Of Quality Record Pressings offers an unusually broad journey through the Analogue Productions catalogue. Across three LPs, jazz, blues, rhythm and blues, female vocalists and classical music share a thoughtfully organised programme. Released in 2022, the compilation contains 27 tracks arranged across six themed sides. That structure gives the transition from a solitary voice to a large orchestra a clear purpose. For anyone looking to buy an audiophile vinyl sampler with real musical variety, this set provides familiar names alongside worthwhile opportunities for discovery.

Chad Kassem’s selection supplies the connecting thread. The recordings express themselves in different ways: through the shape of a vocal phrase, the insistence of a rhythmic figure, or the unfolding colours of an orchestra. Reference Recordings contributes to the classical selection, while Michael Fremer provides notes on the individual tracks. Together, the programme and its accompanying information create a useful introduction to the artists and albums from which these performances were drawn.

The first side immediately demonstrates how much individuality a voice can carry. Rickie Lee Jones opens with Show Biz Kids and returns at the end with The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys. Between those two performances come Nancy Bryan, Susan Tedeschi and Myra Taylor. Jones therefore frames a sequence that brings different approaches to character, storytelling and song into close proximity. There is no need to commit to a single style of vocal jazz or blues singing to enjoy the connections.

The physical format encourages exploration. Each side forms a manageable listening chapter, with a different musical setting waiting after the record is turned. You can follow the whole collection across a long evening or spread the discoveries over several days. The six sides cover five musical areas, with jazz occupying the final two. That extra space is useful: the distance between a concise standard and an extended live performance shows how differently music can develop within the same medium.

From the concert platform to the blues club

The classical side brings together four selections involving noticeably different ensembles. Eiji Oue and the Minnesota Orchestra appear in the Dance Of The Tumblers from Rimsky-Korsakov’s Snegurochka and the finale of Stravinsky’s 1919 Firebird Suite. Between them are Eugene Istomin, Gerard Schwarz and the Seattle Symphony Orchestra in the Andante from Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21. Frederick Fennell and the Dallas Wind Symphony add Blues For A Killed Cat. The sequence alone offers a compelling invitation to consider orchestral colour, piano and wind instruments side by side.

Side C moves into the blues. Little Hatch begins with Driving Wheel, followed by Wild Child Butler and Jimmie Lee Robinson. Eomot RaSun, Big George Brock and Harry Hypolite complete this part of the programme. These are precisely the encounters for which a compilation can be valuable: a single performance introduces a voice and provides a starting point for further listening. Even in an extensive record collection, that possibility can be more rewarding than another opportunity to play a familiar demonstration track.

The R&B side turns to several immediately recognisable songs. The Staple Singers’ I’ll Take You There sits alongside Isaac Hayes’ Theme From Shaft and Jean Knight’s Mr. Big Stuff. Susan Tedeschi closes the side with Rock Me Right and Just Won’t Burn. The programme thus combines distinctive individual hits with two consecutive selections by one performer. If her contribution on the opening side catches your attention, these later appearances give you another opportunity to explore her musical personality.

The sequence is equally appealing as a collection of musical forms. An orchestral finale asks for a different kind of attention from a blues performance; following a familiar rhythmic figure is another experience again from concentrating on a sung story. This sampler allows room for all of them. You can focus on the performers or follow the relationship between voice, accompaniment and space. Each recording retains its own origins, rather than being presented as part of a single imagined session.

Jazz from a familiar melody to an extended story

The fifth side begins with Shelly Manne’s Poinciana, drawn from Sounds Unheard Of!. Next comes Alternate One from The Alternate Blues, featuring Clark Terry, Freddie Hubbard and Dizzy Gillespie. Three trumpeters with distinct musical identities within one performance already provide a reason to listen closely. The focus then moves to Chet Baker’s September Song, Bill Evans’ My Foolish Heart and Wes Montgomery’s ‘Round Midnight. Familiar melodies connect the selections without smoothing away the individuality of their interpretations.

The proximity of trumpet, piano and guitar makes this side especially approachable. Listeners who do not regularly explore jazz can begin with the tunes and then follow the treatment of a phrase. Where does a performer pause? How is a line extended? How much significance can a single note acquire? These questions arise naturally from the music. They also reward repeated listening, because the next play may draw attention to a different detail or a different relationship within the performance.

Hugh Masekela occupies the final side with Abangoma and the approximately ten-minute Stimela. After a succession of shorter encounters, the programme allows a longer musical arc to develop. It is an effective way to conclude a set of this kind. The last side no longer needs to provide a rapid survey; it can give one musical personality and two related selections the space they need. For listeners using the compilation as a starting point, it provides a particularly clear direction for further exploration.

This variety can also help you become more familiar with your playback system. Speech intelligibility, the separation of instruments and the organisation of a larger ensemble can all become points of attention within an enjoyable music programme. The recordings come from different contexts, however, so differences between them do not automatically indicate a playback problem. Their diversity is part of the collection’s value. It demonstrates several approaches to recorded sound without proposing one aesthetic as the standard against which everything else should be judged.

This Analogue Productions edition

The edition offered here is AAPP 147: three 180-gram stereo LPs playing at 33⅓ RPM. It should be distinguished from the SACD version of the compilation. Kevin Gray is credited for mastering at AcousTech Mastering; the pressing documentation identifies both Quality Record Pressings and Record Technology Incorporated. Stoughton Printing supplied the sleeve. These details concern this particular compilation and should not be applied indiscriminately to earlier editions of every album represented in its programme.

The most useful buying question is whether that breadth suits your listening habits. If an evening spent moving between voices, orchestras, blues and jazz sounds appealing, this set offers considerable choice within one coherent collection. If your interest begins with a particular original album, the sampler can introduce some of its wider musical surroundings. The complete tracklist makes it possible to check the actual selections and performers before deciding where the set belongs in your collection.

The track-specific performer list beneath the story also makes further exploration easier. Production and mastering information is explained separately, so the person responsible for cutting a record is not confused with a musician heard on it. That keeps the compilation useful as a reference point: from a track to an artist, and from a familiar name to a new discovery. Three records can then become more than an extended playlist; they can open the door to several other albums worth spending time with.

You order from Michael 45 in Germany. We arrange the US import and dispatch from Hilden.

Customer question: Buying Analogue Productions records in Europe

Musicians

Participants and documented credit status. Track references correspond to the tracklist.

• Rickie Lee JonesperformerParticipation: A1, A5
• Nancy BryanperformerParticipation: A2
• Susan TedeschiperformerParticipation: A3, D4, D5
• Myra TaylorperformerParticipation: A4
• Eiji OueconductorParticipation: B1, B4
• Minnesota OrchestraensembleParticipation: B1, B4
• Eugene IstominpianoParticipation: B2
• Gerard SchwarzconductorParticipation: B2
• Seattle Symphony OrchestraensembleParticipation: B2
• Frederick FennellconductorParticipation: B3
• Dallas Wind SymphonyensembleParticipation: B3
• Little HatchperformerParticipation: C1
• Wild Child ButlerperformerParticipation: C2
• Jimmie Lee RobinsonperformerParticipation: C3
• Eomot RaSunperformerParticipation: C4
• Big George BrockperformerParticipation: C5
• Harry HypoliteperformerParticipation: C6
• The Staple SingersensembleParticipation: D1
• Isaac HayesExisting illustration; not a session depictionperformerParticipation: D2
• Jean KnightperformerParticipation: D3
• Shelly ManneExisting illustration; not a session depictiondrumsParticipation: E1
• Clark TerryPortrait reference: 1964trumpetParticipation: E2
• Freddie HubbardPortrait reference: 1962trumpetParticipation: E2
• Dizzy GillespieExisting illustration; not a session depictiontrumpetParticipation: E2
• Chet BakerperformerParticipation: E3
• Bill EvansPortrait reference: 1964pianoParticipation: E4
• Wes MontgomeryPortrait reference: 1959guitarParticipation: E5
• Hugh MasekelaperformerParticipation: F1, F2

Chad Kassem: selection, executive production and notes; Michael Fremer: track-by-track notes; Kevin Gray / AcousTech Mastering: edition mastering credit. QRP and RTI appear in the pressing documentation; Stoughton Printing: sleeve. Chip Kalback and Eliot Cusick: photography. The table identifies the credited performers by track; complete personnel for every source recording is not documented here.