Belly of the Sun (Pure Pleasure)
Cassandra Wilson
$49.99
180 Gram Audiophile Virgin Vinyl LP - 2 LPs Sealed
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Cassandra Wilson continues to move down a highly eclectic path on "Belly Of The Sun", the somewhat belated follow-up to "Traveling Miles". While displaying a jazz singer's mastery of melodic nuance and improvisatory phrasing, Wilson draws on a variety of non-jazz idioms -- roots music, rock, Delta blues, country, soul -- to create a kind of earthy, intelligent pop with obvious crossover appeal. Her core band includes guitarists Marvin Sewell and Kevin Breit, who blend marvelously, Sewell mostly on mellow acoustic and Breit adding atmospheric touches on electric, 12-string, and slide guitars, as well as mandolin, banjo, and even bouzouki. Bassist Mark Peterson and percussionists Jeffrey Haynes and Cyro Baptista provide a superbly sensitive rhythmic foundation. But because Wilson returned to her home state of Mississippi to record most of this album, she made sure to book some time with local musicians. Thus guitarist Jesse Robinson guests on (and co-writes) the funky "Show Me a Love", and the octogenarian pianist "Boogaloo" Ames plays an unpolished yet utterly heartfelt duet with Wilson on the classic "Darkness on the Delta". Other guests include drummer Xavyon Jamison, trumpeter Olu Dara, pianist and vocalist Rhonda Richmond (who penned the slowly swaying "Road So Clear"), guitarist Richard Johnston, backup vocalists Patrice Monell, Jewell Bass, Henry Rhodes, and Vasti Jackson, and the children of New York's Middle School 44. Wilson delves into vintage blues with Mississippi Fred McDowell's "You Gotta Move" and a brief yet dynamic rendition of Robert Johnson's "Hot Tamales". But the best tracks are the rock/pop covers: the Band's "The Weight", Bob Dylan's "Shelter From the Storm", James Taylor's "Only a Dream in Rio", Jobim's "Waters of March", and Jimmy Webb's "Wichita Lineman" (a 1968 hit for Glen Campbell). Wilson and band are in peak interpretive form on these ethereal reinventions. While her own lyrics may not rise to the level of a Robbie Robertson or a Bob Dylan, her versatility and focus come through clearly on the originals "Justice", "Just a Parade" (a collaboration with neo-soul rookie India.Arie), and the Caribbean-tinged "Cooter Brown".
Musicians:
- Cassandra Wilson (guitar)
- Kevin Breit (vocal, mandolin, guitar, banjo, bouzouki)
- Olu Dara (trumpet)
- Rhonda Richmond (vocal, piano)
- Mark Peterson (bass)
- Xavyon Jamison (drums)
- Jeffrey Haynes (percussion)
About Pure Pleasure
At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Pure Pleasure all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.
During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existent tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.
A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.
We should like to emphasize that Pure Pleasure Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle.
We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.
To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.
Track Listing:
1. The Weight
2. Justice
3. Darkness On the Delta
4. Waters of March
5. You Gotta Move
6. Only A Dream In Rio
7. Just Another Parade
8. Wichita Lineman
9. Shelter From the Storm
10. Drunk As Cooter Brown
11. Show Me A Love
12. Road So Clear
13. Hot Tamales
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Blue Light 'Til Dawn (Pure Pleasure)
Cassandra Wilson
$49.99
180 Gram Audiophile Virgin Vinyl LP - 2 LPs Sealed
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Cassandra Wilson started out as a jazz singer, doing gigs with several innovative bands (including Brooklyn's experimental M-Base collective) and at the same time recording typical jazz-singer let-me-entertain-you stuff - "Night and Day" and "Blue Skies" and shooby dooby dooby. Eventually the Mississippi-born New York–based vocalist, who reigned among the elite jazz singers of the 1980s, became restless, and began to look beyond torch songs for inspiration.
Musicians:
- Cassandra Wilson (vocal)
- Don Byron (clarinet)
- Olu Dara (cornet)
- Brandon Ross, Chris Whitley (guitar)
- Charlie Burnham (violin, mandocello)
- Kenny Davis, Lonnie Plaxico (bass)
- Tony Cedras (accordion)
- Lance Carter, Bill McClellan (drums, percussion)
Format: 2 LPs 33rpm / gatefold sleeve
About Pure Pleasure
At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Pure Pleasure all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.
During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existent tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.
A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.
We should like to emphasize that Pure Pleasure Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle.
We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.
To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.
Track Listing:
1. You Don't Know What Love Is
2. Come On In My Kitchen
3. Tell Me You'll Wait For Me
4. Children of the Night
5. Hellhound On My Trail
6. Black Crow
7. Sankofa
8. Estrellas
9. Redbone
10. Tupelo Honey
11. Blue Light 'Til Dawn
12. I Can't Stand The Rain
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Blue Note Trip - Sunrise
Various Artists
$34.99
180 Gram Audiophile Virgin Vinyl LP - 2 LPs Sealed
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The legend of Blue Note lives on in the second volume of the Blue Note Trip-series, lovingly compiled by Holland's most trusted Jazz DJ Maestro. And again he makes a selection based on the principle of 'the night before' and 'the morning after'. On Sunrise you can listen to the sweet sounds of Horace Silver, Nancy Wilson, Chico Hamilton and Marlena Shaw.
Track Listing:
LP 1
1. Patti Drew - Beggar For The Blue
2. Clare Fisher – Morning
3. Chico Hamilton - The Morning Side Of Love
4. Booster - Manzana
5. Charlie Hunter Feat. Norah Jones - Day Is Done
6. Marlena Shaw - Feel Like Makin' Love
7. Nancy Wilson – Sunshine
8. Edc - Samba In Solitude
Lp 2
1. Horace Silver - Que Pasa
2. Joe Henderson - Blue Bossa
3. Coralie Clement - L'ombre Et La Lumiére
4. Molly Johnson - Melody
5. Soulive - Romantic
6. Ronny Jordan Feat. Mos Def - A Brighter Day
7. Cassandra Wilson - Show Me A Love
8. Blue Mitchell - Good Humor Man
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