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. It turns out 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 these, perhaps my favorite is 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 the work of Roy DuNann and the folks at Contemporary Records might be the star of the show here. The recording is stunning, with big, solid, weighty bass, drums that 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 important, 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 in this shoot out. I do not have nor do I have access to the 1963 release of WOW, which according to the entry on Discogs is a repress. If the 1963 issue is in fact a repress, then the same stampers were used for this release as were used for one of the originals, and therefore we’d expect it would sound reasonably similar to the original. At the very least it would sound more like an original pressing than my 70’s reissue, which is a stereo version, or the 1988 Orginal Jazz Classics reissue which, as I understand it, was digitally remastered.
After spending some time with each of these copies, I was startled at how different each was 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 were 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 room. 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 tube so the “tubey” sound is no doubt increased 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 jazz album before. The drum kit sounds HUGE and 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 there’s huge weight but the top end sounds rolled off, as one might expect from an all tube mastered record played on tube equipment.
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 serious weight, arguably the right amount of weight for this music. Sonny’s sax has more bite to it and Shelly’s drums have more pop with the brush strokes on the symbols sounding more airy and with greater 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 studio space, especially on “Come, Gone” on which 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 mind this record overall 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!
1988 Original Jazz Classics Digital Remaster
In 1984 Contemporary Records was bought by Fantasy Records in Berkeley. Shortly thereafter Fantasy began reissuing some of the Contemporary catalogue. At this time, compact discs were growing rapidly in popularity and it not doubt made the most sense to remaster Way Out West and other albums digitally. As I understand it, the same digital remasters were used to produce the vinyl versions to be released under the moniker Original Jazz Classics.
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 quality of the mono original. The drums have good “snap” to them and sound very live. The saxophone, however, lacks some breathiness and fullness such that it comes across as “squawky” and harsh. I’ve found other digital remasters to have some similar qualities. Put simply, the edges are satisfyingly solid and sharp but on a horn the sharp edges can be a liability if the mastering isn’t right or the pressing is lacking midrange.
As I was listening to this version, I suspected this issue with the horn could be improved upon with a better pressing of the record. To this point, when I flipped the record over and played side 2. The saxophone on this side had significantly more presence and the overall presentation had improved such that the studio space played a much bigger role, bringing the recording much more to life than it had on the first side.
I should acknowledge here that these records represent a single version of each of these releases and therefore it’s more than likely that there are other copies out there that better represent this performance, the recording and the individual mastering work done for each. 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 in no way making hard fast generalizations about ALL copies produced for each release.
Nonetheless, with the marked improvement that the 1988 OJC reissue showed 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 certainly don’t dislike the sound of the mono original. The sound of this version just is just 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. My friend took his home!