Recently I reconnected with an old friend who is also an audiophile and the timing couldn’t have been better. He had just inherited a pretty extensive record collection and needed help sorting through it all. There were quite a few gems in the collection, including many first or early pressings of some classic jazz titles.

I don’t own many early jazz pressings, but I do have quite a few reissues. This was an opportunity to listen to some early versions of some of my favorite records.

Among those he had, perhaps my favorite was Sonny Rollins’ Way Out West. Recorded in 1957 at Contemporary Records, Way Out West features Ray Brown on bass and Shelly Manne on drums. These 3 musicians are so completely dialed on this record, and Sonny’s playing is beyond engaging.

But it’s the work of Roy DuNann and the folks at Contemporary Records that might be the star of the show here. The recording is stunning, featuring big, solid, weighty bass, drums with loads of pop and symbols and brush strokes that swish and sparkle.

Sonny’s saxophone is so clear, intense and biting that it takes a good pressing to flesh it out and add texture to balance its edges. But perhaps most importantly, WOW has the live in the studio sound that audiophiles like myself live for.

I own a 70’s reissue of WOW, and I borrowed my friend’s mono original which is in terrific shape and a worthy contender for this shootout. I also borrowed my friend’s 2009 OJC reissue.

After spending some time with each of these copies, I was startled at how different each sounded from the others. This is no doubt due to the fact that not only were each of these records mastered by different engineers, but each was mastered with very different equipment, and I found that those differences clearly audible in the finished work.

1957 Mono Original

In the 1950’s transistors were still relatively new and not yet a component in the equipment used in the mastering chain. At the time that WOW was recorded, the equalizers, compressors and limiters used for bringing the master tape to vinyl were all built with vacuum tubes. While this is likely true for all of the records released in the 1950’s, some of which I’ve had the pleasure of hearing, I have yet to hear a jazz record from this era that reveals this all tube mastering chain the way that this album does.

Note: My electronics are also tube, so the “tubey” sound is likely emphasized even more when played on my system.

The size and weight of the bass on this mono original is dramatically bigger than I’ve ever heard on this or any other jazz album before. The drum kit sounds HUGE! The leading transient edges of the saxophone are softened a bit compared to the other copies, taking a bit of edge and bite off the horn. The brush strokes on the symbols sound a bit distant on this copy, and overall the top end sounds rolled off.

1970’s Yellow Label Stereo Reissue

By the 1970’s transistors were a common component in most electronics. I wasn’t in the mastering room when this album was remastered, but having heard the all tube mastered original, I’m pretty confident in saying that transistors made up a significant part of the mastering chain with this reissue. It’s there in the grooves.

The bass and drums don’t have quite the size and weight of the mono original, but the bass is tighter and still has decent weight, maybe the right amount of weight for this music. Sonny’s sax has more bite to it on this copy, Shelly’s drums have more pop, and the brush strokes on the symbols sound more airy and with better sparkle.

This record, perhaps in part because it’s in stereo with Sonny playing from the left channel and Shelly and Ray from the right, has more ambience and sense of the studio space, especially on “Come, Gone.” Sonny must have moved toward the other musicians near the end of the track, as you can hear him drift across the studio and back again.

To my ears, this record brings this recording to life better than the mono original. Still, in the back of my mind I can’t stop thinking about the size and weight of the rhythm section on the original!

2009 Original Jazz Classics Remaster

What surprises me about this version is the the “tubey” quality of the bass. It’s bigger and rounder than I expected, and without the rolled off top end of the mono original. The drums have good “snap” to them and sound very lively. The saxophone, however, lacks some breathiness and fullness, and it comes across as “squawky” and harsh.

Put simply, the transient edges on this copy are satisfyingly solid and sharp, but the horn is something of a liability. The mastering just isn’t right on this copy, and the record lacks something in the midrange.

As I was listening to this version, it occured to me that the issue I had with the horn could be improved with a better pressing of the record. Sure enough, when I flipped the record over and played side 2, the saxophone did sound better, and the studio space seemed more apparent, bringing the recording much more to life than it had on the first side.

I should acknowledge here that these records represent a single copy of each of these versions. It’s more than likely that there are other copies of these versions out there that better represent this performance than the ones I had. I have tried to highlight the differences that reflect the specific qualities of these 3 versions, as they are all very different, and I am not making hard fast generalizations about ALL copies of these versions.

Nonetheless, with the marked improvement that the 2009 OJC reissue showed me on side 2, I find myself a bit torn between this version and my 70’s reissue. I like the liveliness of the drums and bass on the OJC, but find the saxophone and overall sound of the 70’s version warmer, sweeter and more engaging.

Meanwhile, as a lover of tube equipment I don’t entirely dislike the sound of the mono original. The sound of this mono is bigger and warmer than either of the others by a long shot, but in the end, it’s not the sound I ultimately would choose for Way Out West. And with copies of these mono originals in good condition priced at upwards of $400, it’s safe to say I won’t be investing in my own copy, and my friend took his home!