Very nice score on those Tim! Yep... I have several of the Black 'B' Liberty pressings of Herbie and and a nice clean A Love Supreme that sounds great (The Acoustic Sounds does edge it out though) But, those all sound really good and like you said can be found quite reasonably. And yes, Maiden Voyage is quite good, I probably have a later pressing of that but just about all of Herbie's stuff is really good. He is one of the best composer/performers out there in my opinion. The only two albums of his I just can't get into are I believe Crossings and perhaps Empyrean Isles because, if those are the ones I'm thinking of they are a bit too disjointed and jarring for my taste. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Miles experimental stuff like In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew, etc., but for that particular type of more 'Out There' kind of stuff, he had a certain knack of an underlying 'Groove' or foundation which would give styles like that more of a feeling of coherence and continuity, rather than just others like those two Herbie albums where they just come across as too spastic and jarring for my 'taste', such as it is...
Tim - a good strategy for picking up jazz. I am more and more preferring mono. So I am willing to buy G+/VG mono pressings that range from first pressings to second or third pressings. Also to your point on the importance of digging at your local store, just today after work I decided to go to a local record store and I picked up an original UK pressing of XTC’s “English Settlement” with Townhouse in the deadwax and the textured cover (2 LPs) …. can you say score. By the way it was literally the last 1/2 of the last bin I looked in. I was about to leave before going through that crate.
Even though I would prefer RVG mastered copies, I really do love the 60’s-70’s non RVG pressings. I have a non RVG 73 Blue Train that sounds incredible, also first pressing non RVG Adam’s Apple which is amazing. Also it is easier getting those pressings for rare blue notes. I have a non RVG early 70’s Sonny’s Crib which is one of the best blue note sessions ever. Really enjoy that one and don’t feel the need to look for a RVG pressing instead
