"Remastered by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound from the original analog tapes, the record was plated and pressed at Quality Record Pressings. The depth and space when those rich chromatic harmonies create a wide and well-defined soundscape, the timbre of the orchestra as a whole as well as individual instruments, and the thick, wooden sound of Wendell Marshall's bass are among the aural pleasures provided when you drop a needle on this platter; expect goose bumps." — Music = 5/5; Sonics = 4.5/5 - Jeff Wilson, The Absolute Sound, May-June 2015.
"I chose the CD reissue of this album as one of my R2D4s for 2012, but now from Chad Kassem's Analogue Productions comes this QRP LP, and it's an occasion for popping corks. Released in 1950, this was Ellington's first LP, and he used the new medium to stretch out four of his biggest hits. The arrangements are jaw-droppingly gorgeous and the sound just slightly less so. Recorded by Fred Plaut, who later miked Kind of Blue and other Columbia classics, it has the dynamics, depth, and in-your-face tonal realism of a modern (mono) audiophile thumper. Among the best jazz albums ever. How about a 45rpm pressing, Chad?" — Fred Kaplan, for Stereophile - "Records To Die For" - February 2015.
"Among the first recordings arranged and produced to take advantage of the LP's longer playing time, this album was released in 1950 on Columbia Records' classical imprint, Masterworks, with a whimsical cover by Stan Fraydas (author of Hoppy, the Curious Kangaroo) that's reproduced for this edition. (Columbia soon replaced it with an image more "modern" and more mundane.)... Freed from the 78rpm single's three-minute constraint, Ellington could score and record concert-length arrangements similar to those enjoyed by his concert audiences. Three of the four selections, including 'Mood Indigo' and 'Sophisticated Lady,' are familiar Ellington classics stretched and elasticized to luxurious effect. The harmonically saturated, transparent mono sound is astonishing for any era of recording. It's sure to leave you swooning, and wondering how and why recorded sound has since gone so far south." — Michael Fremer, for Stereophile - "Records To Die For" - February 2015.
Tracklist:
A1 Mood Indigo 15:15
A2 Sophisticated Lady 11:20
B1 The Tattooed Bride 11:40
B2 Solitude 8:15
Recording information:
Title: Masterpieces By Ellington
Artist: Duke Ellington And His Orchestra
Genre: Jazz
Media: 1x 180g LP Vinyl Stereo 33rpm, Limited, Remastered, . Remastered at Sterling Sound from the original analog tapes. Recorded on an Ampex 200, using 3M-111 magnetic tape running at 15 inches per second.
Label: Analogue Productions
Cat#: AAPJ4418
Released: 2021 in US
Original release: 1951 by Columbia ML 4418
EAN: 0753088441813
Discogs rel.#: 18271444
