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Suddenly a large pile of mid autumn box sets and pre-ordered vinyl reissues arrived on Thursday and Friday. Chief among them were long awaited John Coltrane Classics, on Impuse Records – “A Love Supreme” (ALS) and “Ballads.” This is just a quick early review that I promised a reader.

First things first – I have loads of albums from Analogue Productions (AP) and Quality Record Pressings (QRP) – and they are really a hallmark for great sounding audiophile vinyl. Moreover, the “Verve” Acoustic Sounds (AP) series is being mastered by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sounds – again, virtually everything that I have by him is outstanding.

So, first things first: the albums look – well – meh! Remember, Impulse! records were premium products back in the 1960s, due to Creed Taylor’s insistence the ABC used high quality glossy gatefold sleeves and labels – using Van Gelder as the recording engineer. Every Impulse! reissue in every format that I already have (and I have loads of them) – looks really good. The AS versions look – well – the same: no Tone Poet heavy duty cardboard here. The records are housed in plastic inner sleeves – totally generic – not the lovely QPR sleeves that you get from AP or Vinyl Me Please (VMP). The records weigh 186g each – solid but not the solid 200g AP Prestige reissues. So, this does not look like a premium product. However, keep in mind that these records cost $27 in the USA (the equivalent of about €30 inculding VAT) and cost €39 in Europe: standard pricing in the USA – premium pricing in Europe.

I have really nice versions of Ballads and ALS on Impulse! of undetermined provenance: maybe they are 1995 reissues, maybe not (both were bought in 2009). I also have 24 bit and CD reissues of both and a DSD version of ALS. I have listened to both albums A LOT.

Be aware – most of the Impulse! master tapes burned in 2008 – these two survived but as to whether the ALS master tape is the “master” is very controversial. My understanding is that ABC sent the masters out for some post-production to a different lab (Bell Sound), to put some controlled fade at the end of side 1 and beginning of side 2. They then used that version (a copy of the original) and dumped the master. Furthermore, a lot of the “masters” were copied in the 1970s (they were shedding oxide) and the originals were dumped. A Speaker’s Corner reissue of ALS and the 2002 CD reissue (and probably all current digital versions) came from the UK “master” tape – a first generation copy, that might be better (no doubt there is a Japanese one somewhere). Whatever way you look at it – ALS is not the best sounding album to come out of Van Gelder’s studio. “Ballads,” in all its versions, sounds better. However, ALS is widely considered one of the top 5 jazz albums ever recorded. The music is wonderful and every music collection should have a copy. If you really like the album, Ashley Kahn’s book about the album is worth a read.

The sound:

Neither album jumps out at you like the Music Matters Blue Notes, the Analogue Production Prestiges, the Tone Poets or even Ryan Smith’s recent VMP reissues. The albums are very well engineered lending a precision and tonal balance that my previous vinyl versions lacked.

Ballads – the AS version is slightly dryer than my older vinyl reissue, but smooth with excellent instrument separation. Lots of top end, good soundstaging, clear bass. It took me a while, but I enjoyed the album. It was not engaging enough to be rewarded with multiple flip over replays, nonetheless.

ALS – again compared with the older vinyl – the new version has less boomy bass and better midrange (it is like the “loudness” switch was turned off). Not necessarily more involving, mind. One of my major issues with ALS is the stereo image – Coltrane off to one side – the bass, drums and piano competing for space in the other channel. It is not a headphone album. ALS is one of the few jazz albums that is easier to listen to in the car versus sitting in front of a pair of speakers. Part II, in particular, is really distracting. In comparison, the 24/96 version (HDTracks I think), is crisper with much better resolution between the different instruments. Overall, I think I prefer the digital version.

Should you buy the AS version of ALS? If you are looking for an AAA version of this classic on vinyl, it’s a no brainer. If you like your current version, including the CD – stick with it. Ballads is probably a better buy If you were to choose one of the two.

~ by Pat Neligan on October 18, 2020.

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