Jerusalem vinyl reissue!

Picked this one up last month on a label I've never heard from before - Rockadrome. Reissue of a 1972 Deram record produced by Deep Purple's Ian Gillan.

Hell of a good record, very much in the Purple/Uriah Heep vein, very well played and sung, not exactly a lost masterpiece but more of a byway from an era where lots of great bands came and went, leaving behind minor gems like this one, that are now being resurrected by enterprising companies.

Excellent pressing. Excellent sound - whatever the source (I suspect analog) it's a very present, clear and warm sound that suits the music very well. I a way, records like this are far more interesting than another reissue of well tread material, and so I'm pleased to give this one 4 doobies and recommend the trip back 40 years.

WHITE HILLS H-P1

I have a fondness, or maybe even a passion, for space rock bands like White Hills, even considering bands that might otherwise be mis-classified as metal, like Pelican, Gnot, Red Sparowes and others, as part of the cosmic rock camp.

Just released on a beautifully pressed 2 LP set, H-P1 is a highlight of the year, and not just because it comes in such a well done package (the cover printing, colored vinyl, the whole thing is just really cool), it is a great, great record that bridges the psychedelic sixties, the fusion era Mahavishnu type genre, and the nu-metal ethic in a very compelling way. Closer to Mogwai, I suppose, more psych and out though, more cosmic in their vision as the pieces stretch out and build, a trasportation vehicle, a gate to fantastic visions. If I still did acid, this would be the one.

Actually, it should probably come with a tab sheet. Just kidding.

If you want one hell of a journey that has the feeling of being a modern piece but still, someplace you feel you have been to long agao, this is a trip worth taking.

A big five doobies. I think I paid about $18 for mine. A bargain. Up there on my list of 2011 revelations.

Black Market Clash reissue on Drastic Plastic

This may be the overlooked gem of the Clash catalog. Black Market Clash, here reissued by the excellent Drastic Plastic record on a 180g vinyl 10" platter that reproduces the Epic original straight down to the labels, features B- sides, dub mixes and the odd alternate on an EP that proves that more often than not, the best Clash was the B-side Clash.

Suffice to say - this is a fine reissue, that betters the rather mediocre sound and pressing of originals, and is a record that rocks straight through with a faithful remastering that has a clarity and depth not found on the original pressings. A major upgrade and a real keeper. A fantastic artifact of a pivotal period in music, from the pivotal band who were, at that moment, the best rock band in the world.

Highly recommended. Five doobies, and more. Limited press run that won't be around for long.

So far, Drastic Plastic has done the first Clash, Give 'Em Enough Rope, and this. Can we hope for London Calling (the Music On Vinyl reissue is merely ok) and even Sandanista? More likely Combat Rock, I'm guessing. Take them as they come.

MUSIC MATTERS ELVIN JONES 'GENESIS' - Best Music Matters so far!!

Just announced as coming in July, so I'll give my thoughts on the new Music Matters 45 vinyl of Elvin Jones "Genesis", from the test pressing shown in the picture on the left.

In a word - this is AWESOME. Without a doubt, this is the best sounding Music Matters reissue to date, and that is saying a lot in such distinguished company.

First - a note to Hoffmanites. There is ECHO on this record - yes!! Artificial echo!! Like they did in the mid 70's and such! So go crazy obsessive right now and get over it.

There's nothing Music Matters have done that sounds anywhere remotely like this one. Elvin positively thunders all over it. I've never heard him so powerfully rendered on record. The impact of his kick drum is physically tangible, and there has been no unfortunate attempt to take the sizzle off his cymbal work (and Elvin knew cymbals better than anyone). Gene Perla's bass is just so powerful and present, and tight, and full. It has a real bass power like no other Blue Note. And that three horn front line!

When I put on Side 1, opening with Frank Foster's alto flute solo, my 6 year old daughter came down two flights of stairs and stood in front of the speakers, transfixed, without saying a word.

Any record that can pull a six year old so totally under it's spell is a rare achievement.

I can't say enough good things about "Genesis" - you just simply have to get past any false notion that Blue Note in the 70's is in any way lesser than the grandpa stuff from the 50's and early 60's. Compared to the good, but rather staid and straight ahead "Putting It Together", "Genesis" is by light years a superior record.

I totally get the Music Matters model. mix it up with a fair bit of "classic" 50's and early 60's stuff to play to the old white male audience that stopped evolving musically around 1965 (if they ever really evolved at all), and throw in some more advanced material but of a very 'classic' nature, timeless early avant garde Blue Notes such as Point Of Departure, Inner Urge, Out To Lunch, and so on.

That's all to the good. It gets some stuff that the "base" probably wouldn't otherwise go for and expands the horizons, without going to far out. no one else would have the courage to do these titles.

The downside is that, of the artists that conservative base thinks of as being "out", like Sam Rivers, Andrew Hill, Elvin Jones, Larry Young etc., the titles are their most conservative - and not necessarily their best. Fuchsia swing Song is a great record, but Contours is much better. Point of Departure is impossible to argue against, yet Judgement and Smokestack are IMO superior. Unity may be a classic, but Peace On Earth is ultimately more satisfying. And on it goes, even into the 'staple' Blue Note artists - early Turrentine, for example, well mined by Classic, Analogue Productions and Music Matters - is nowhere near later stuff like Common Touch, or his CTI material. Turrentine simply didn't become a fully formed player until after Blue Note. Later Horace Silver is similarly more advanced and satisfying - In Pursuit of the 27th Man, for example, or Serenade To A Soul Sister. Wayne Shorter's best Blue Note is "Schizophrenia", but just the title may hit too close to home for the Hoffman forum types.

There are even some odd choices in the premium reissue business, again, presumably aimed at satisfying the conservative old guy limitations - Art Blakey's all time stone classic "Mosaic" is nowhere to be found, yet the rather weak "Like Someone In Love" is slated for reissue soon.

Yet here we have "Genesis" - and it stands out like a beacon, it is glorious, it transcends any limiting definition, it is essential.

Order it now. It will be the reissue of the year, and it will sell out fast.

Now - Joe and Ron - how about looking into "Polycurrents" and "Coalition" as well? Keep digging into the 70's Blue Note. It's sadly neglected and there are gems there that far exceed anything BN did before. Like "Genesis".

While I'm showing some test pressings of Music Matters material, I hope I'm not breaking any confidence by turning to the Music Matters 45 vinyl of Art Blakey's "Indestructible". Since I mention "Like Someone In Love" already, with a bit of mild disrespect as I consider it an inferior title ( "Mosaic" would have been a hugely better choice) I think it fair that I whet a little Blakey appetite for what may be his finest hour on record ( or 40 minutes or so, anyways) - "Indestructible".

If you want to hear thunder and lightning, look no further than the opener "The Egyptian". Blakey drops bombs, and there is a Curtis Fuller trombone solo that has so much color and tonal edge that it almost pops the left speaker. Hoffman's fear of high end cymbal sizzle is fortunately nowhere to be found here - Blakey's cymbals are sizzling hot, rightly so.

I'll have more on "Indestructible" when it gets nearer to release, but suffice to say at this point that "Indestructible" in many ways marked the end of a certain period for Blue Note, is a high point both for the label and for Blakey himself, was a new starting point for Lee Morgan and a point of departure for Wayne Shorter, and will definitely be a high point for Music Matters.

SHUGUANG TREASURES CV181 (6SN7), 300B, KT-66 - good as NOS? YES!!

As many know, over the past 15+ years, I have built a formidable collection of prime NOS tubes to feed my two amplifiers. Let's put it this way - I was into tubes in the early part of the tube revival, way ahead of the pack. And I didn't have two newborns to deal with, so I had some cash to burn through. And believe me, I burned through it acquiring tubes - and actually, at some point I started divesting of all the ones I found to be second tier, and actually probably ended up even or a bit ahead dollar wise as by the time I started culling my stash, prices had risen - a lot.

I was one of the very first, and without false modesty I can say still one of a handful of true experts on 6SN7, 6L6, 6V6, 45, 12AU7, 12AX7, 5U4 and other 5 volt rectifiers, and a bunch of others. There are maybe a dozen people in the world who can say they have had, and heard, virtually every 6SN7 produced in North America, Great Britain, Western Europe and elsewhere during the golden age of vacuum tube production. I have had dozens of pairs of metal base Sylvania's - A's and W's, and variants of both. B65's. True Holland made GT's. Ugly shit like 5692's - the best of the bad being Raytheons. Swedish 5692's. Visseaux. Neotron. Early Westinghouse GT's that nobody has ever heard. Rarities like RCA GTY's. Canadian GE GT's from 1953 that are super fine sounding. Dozens of Mullard CV181 variants. National Union, KenRad, Sylvania, RCA (I have here several pairs of the very first version RCA ever built), Tungsols (ever seen a square mouse ear Tungsol? Nope? I've got 'em.)The point of it all is - I know the 6SN7 like nobody's business, and every Russian or Chinese produced 6SN7 has been pure crap. Nowadays, you get tube dealers like Kevin Deal at Upscale extolling the virtues of some of these things trying to tag them as the new NOS, while a decade ago - while they had lots of good NOS to sell, they dismissed them.

I have been curious about the Shuguang Treasures tubes for awhile, though. For some reason, I thought - maybe now is the time to check out if things have moved along. They looked pretty nice in pictures I saw, even though I thought the CV181 designation is hucksterism at the level of selling fake Rolexes. But finally, I dipped into the right pocket seeing a well priced pair from a Chinese seller on Ebay (I figured buying as close to direct from the source is probably a good thing). I was expecting an ok sounding tube, but my expectations weren't too high - after all, I got rid of two dozen pairs of round plate Tungsols a few years back because I felt they were a bit tipped up and skittish on top, and lacked body in the presence range. Shit, I just about created the legendary Sylvania 6SN7GT 'Bad Boys' when I connected onto them with Neville in Australia. Can't be anywhere near those legends, right?

Well, not really. They may very well be just as good. In fact, they might be all around better. Crazy? No, not yet.

First - this tube has absolutely NO bass right out of the box. Like - zip. The bottle sounds nice out of the box - very nice. Right away, you know this is a contender. I has a hugely natural sound - neutral, relaxed, effortless, extended - except that bottom takes about 30 hours to fully develop. Once this tube settles in - all around, I can't say any NOS rivals it for absolute neutrality and natural musicality. It will never have the propulsive bass of a KenRad 1942/43. It's a hell of a lot tighter and more detailed bass, though. It's not the chocolaty sound of my favored 1951 National Union black glass, or the organic color of that tube. On the other hand, it has an absolutely deadly accurate tonality on everything that passes through it, and a much wider color spectrum that any NOS existing. And it throws this uncanny wide, deep stage that literally bounces off the back wall and comes hitting back at you from behind. Amazing.

Some people may find the bass lean. It isn't - it is just very tight and accurate, not at all bloated or smeared. As I switched back to a few NOS like those KenRads, or early grey glass RCA, or even the National Union, the bass was obviously fatter, but that is an inaccuracy of those tubes - they smear a lot of detail. All the bass a good amp needs is on the Shuguangs, without the cholesterol.

To get the prime forward spot in either of my amps is quite a feat and yet, since November, both have had Shuguang Treasures CV181's in place.

Throw out the preconceptions about Chinese tubes like I have had to and try these. Give them about 30 hours. This is the best 6SN7 made since the early 50's - and maybe ever.

By the way, there is a prominent online dealer trying to jack up his margins by making absolute bullshit claims about "grading" and having "premium" versions of this and other Shuguang Treasures tubes. If it makes you feel good and you have the money - and let's face it, a lot of supposed audiophiles hear better when they have spent a lot of money or have been told by someone that they can hand them a lot of extra dough and join some special club - go for it. If you just want the tubes, buy them from a Chinese seller and skip the bullshit. There are no premium or select versions. And honestly, I couldn't imagine the tube sounding any better, because the 4 pairs I have all sound perfect.

So, on I went to both the Shuguang Treasures KT-66 and 300B.

The KT-66 really does look like an original Genalex/GEC tube proportionally and construction wise. I have to be up front here - I've had many British KT-66's, from 1950's grey glass through to late production, and I thought it was a good tube, not a great one. It doesn't come anywhere near a WE350B, not actually near a 1940's Raytheon 6L6G for that matter. The Treasures KT-66 has the same out of box bass shyness the CV181 does. There isn't a modern 6L6 variant that comes close to the Shuguang, and here it's absolute neutrality and stability are the most prominent virtues. I'm still enchanted by them, and so they are still in my Komuro 300B amp. I would say that I prefer the Raytheon early 40's 6L6G, or even a Visseaux straight bottle. But those are clearly colored tubes, particularly the Visseaux. I would say that the Shuguang is the most true.

The 300B is a different story. Here there are a number of strong contemporary contenders. Right up, it tosses the overblown TJ/Full Music/Sophia/whatever punched plate totally to the side. It seems to me a better tube that the several variants of the KR I have around here. It's better than the stock EML 300B, and close but a bit back of the EML 300B-XLS, and back a bit further from the EML mesh 300B. No 300B comes close to the AVVT 300B mesh, I am keeping a few pairs of those for retirement (and if I don't make it, contact my kids about them, they'll need the money). Overall, the Shuguang Treasures 300B is the best value for money out there today. It's a very stable tube electrically, hum is low and stays low, and it has no funny arcing or other behaviors. Many won't notice any difference from superior tubes like the EMLs. It's a very fine tube and deserves to be experienced.

Catching up on Music Matters - Wayne Shorter Night Dreamer, Grachan Moncur Evolution

It's been awhile since I checked in on Music Matters and their Blue Note 45 rpm vinyl series. Two of hottest have been on my table a lot lately - Wayne Shorter's first BN "Night Dreamer" with Tyner, Elvin, Morgan, and Workman. A great early session, it really needs no introduction. Morgan is perhaps the best trumpet foil for Shorter. The Coltrane rhythm section gives a nice Crescent-era vibe to things. Shorter's tunes are great. Although this is perhaps Shorter's most conservative, straight BN record, it is very worthy of the Music Matters treatment, and here (unlike Juju IMO) the team gets the sound nearly perfect - Shorter's dry tone is well reproduced, as is Morgan's hot sound, the cymbal work of Elvin is prominent and well integrated, the piano sound is natural. Without a doubt the best this record has ever sounded, and a sure sell out if it hasn't happened already. So get it.

And while you're at it, lobby Music Matters for Shorter's greatest Blue Note record - "Schizophrenia" which contrary to the cover and title, is a harmonically and compositionally advanced session that is still highly accessible, swings like a mf, and is the one I keep coming back to most often.

How about it, Ron and Joe? Schizophrenia. Bring it back.

On to Grachan Moncur's "Evolution", again with Lee Morgan, and with Jackie McLean's alto, Bobby Hutcherson, Tony Williams and the always reliable Bob Cranshaw. It's clearly a seminal avant-garde date. McLean's tart tone is well reproduced, but I had a slight - very slight - sense that the sound here fell into Hoffman's unfortunate tendency to make things too polite, and also perhaps his unfamiliarity with avant garde black classical music. It ain't the opera here, and it sure as hell isn't going to work as background to an elegant suburban dinner party either. It's hard, tough, warm, vibrant, uncompromising music that DEMANDS the listener's complete absorption. As opposed to, say, a Three Sounds record, or a BN Grant Green, it's an out of body listen, rather than an experience in the body. It's out. It's fantastic. It'll take you places you'll never find again.

Most remarkable about this record is Bobby Hutcherson's vibes. They have a unique combination sonically of a metallic, percussive warmth that no other version of Evolution can get close to.

But then again...the sound of those vibes on Music Matters "Destination Out" by Jackie McLean eclipses even what is on Evolution, but that's a story for another day (soon).

If you haven't got Night Dreamer yet, get it now. If you have the spirit to go to an even more out of the way place, get Evolution too.

STEVE GROSSMAN "Homecoming" new CD from the underappreciated tenor giant!

A new CD from Japan, showing just how badly American labels and music lovers have fallen. Why on earth would a new recording made in NYC from a giant like Steve Grossman only be released in Japan? I have my feelings, but they run along the lines of plastic disposable culture, voyeuristic shallow celebrity-ism, and the conservatism and living in the past of the genteel middle aged jazz buyers that still remain in the USA.

Grossman first cam up in Miles Davis' electric band of the early 70's, replacing Wayne Shorter for all intents and purposes. He was a fiery fusion player who mainly wailed on soprano, often got edited out by Miles and Teo, never really was accepted by Miles, and went on to be in Elvin Jones band in a two horn front line with Dave Liebman. Stints with others followed, but drug problems marred his career (coke mostly as I recall) and he disappeared from the scene, re-emerging some years later in Europe to make a fine string of records where he dropped the soprano and became a tenor player of outstanding technique that abandoned all fusion trappings and favored a straight ahead, highly advanced hard bop style. During his dark period, Grossman's tenor technique took massive steps forward, to the point where he is today among, if not the, best tenor players in the world.

But nobody on this side of the Atlantic knows about it.

So a recording by Steve Grossman in 2010, with a New York band backing him made on his home soil is just a great event, on a par with Dexter Gordon's late 70's homecoming.

And a wonderful record it is.

Grossman expands his sound by adding latin percussion to most tracks, guitar and/or trumpet on a few, along with a strong core trio backing plucked from New York's A-list. The material is largely standards with two Grossman originals. Tunes like Ceora, Una Mas and others are given a latin treatment, with hard straight ahead blowing by Grossman that demonstrate a deep technique, big brawny tone and the type of soloing that gives whoever is up next an energy and and emotional lift that is pure excitement. The lone ballad, an unsentimental take on In A Sentimental Way,shows just how good a straight bopper can be on a ballad if he doesn't try to be a soppy Ben Webster.

Grossman is a giant, yet largely forgotten. Search out this CD (I got mine from HMV Japan) and be rewarded. If I have any reservations at all, it's that Steve Grossman's live NYC appearances last summer were simply red hot, and I hope that some of those were recorded also. In the meantime, this is a very, very welcome return.