Generally speaking, I don’t know the Impulse catalog very well, and accordingly I have a harder time keeping track of the ‘first-first pressing’ melee associated with the label. Thus I’m not really sure if this is a ‘first-first pressing’ or just a ‘first pressing’, but it has the Van Gelder stamp of approval and, more importantly, it plays… More→
Deep Groove Mono is excited to announce that it is now sharing playlists on Spotify! The idea for this has been brewing for a while now, but the creation of the Thelonious Monk original recordings discography prompted me to create a Spotify playlist for the recordings in that database and to share it … More→
A rare record in any format, this is the genuine article right here: Van Gelder stamp, Plastylite “P”, mono. After its original release in 1964, The Way I Feel was never reissued on LP or CD in the United States, and it has only been reissued twice in Japan on CD. The reason for the scarce number of reissues could be related to the fact… More→
When I first began listening to Thelonious Monk, it didn’t take me long to pick out my favorite songs. As I explored his discography more though, I realized that he recorded most of his compositions multiple times over the course of his life. Wanting to hear every version of each, I created a … More→
I found this record several years back at the first WFMU record fair I ever attended in New York City. It’s not an “original original” pressing in the sense that it lacks the “NYC” address on the labels, but it’s still made from original Van Gelder mastering. On the ballad “My Funny Valentine” especially, you should be able to hear that this is a very… More→
Although Liberty pressings of most classic Blue Note albums are not original pressings, they still have the potential to sound great. They may lack the Plastylite “P” found in the runout groove of most originals but they do usually brandish the Van Gelder stamp in the runout groove, indicating that they were made from the same master lacquer… More→
After a couple years of collecting on a budget, the reality of the situation starts to sink in: you won’t be acquiring a first pressing of a holy grail like Kenny Dorham’s Quiet Kenny any time soon. What makes an album a holy grail? Simply put, a combination of being very rare and very in demand. More specifically, in the case of this… More→
Since its rise to dominance in the late ‘90s, eBay has firmly established itself as the world’s premier marketplace. A gift and a curse to collectors of all types, eBay has proven successful at making the things on your wish list that much more accessible while simultaneously pooling buyers together to drive up … More→
Technically the third copy of this I’ve owned, my first copy was acquired on eBay, overpriced, and in rough shape. The second wasn’t much better, but this copy, acquired at the WFMU Record Fair in New York City a few years ago for a very reasonable price, is in fantastic condition, as you will hear! Original pressing all around — I don’t… More→
Vintage jazz record collecting…ah, the highs, the lows, the insanity of it all. A lot has changed since I started collecting, but the biggest change is probably that I don’t feel the desire to maintain any sort of image for the sake of respect or credibility anymore. The following post should provide a … More→