Just received an email from The Lost Recordings talking about their new line of Vinyl… The Sapphire Edition.  This line boasts a whole host of features that you can read about here….

https://thelostrecordings.store/en/products/thelonious-monk-live-in-rotterdam-19...

Needless to say that I had to buy one when I noticed that Kevin Gray was involved.  The albums are expensive, so I emailed the company and told them that I was a vinyl collector, and that I was interested in the Thelonious Monk album.  I humbly asked for a small discount being a newly registered customer, and to help offset the shipping charges from overseas. I did receive a nice email from the company who offered me a  5% discount. It’s a preorder…so once it arrives, I will report back.

Congrats! This is great music--I have tht two UHQCD set which sounds really great as well. This was an interesting tour with the Quartet expanded. . . I have other recordings of this tour as well. And the movie "Straight No Chaser" has filmed performances.

The Fitzgerald and Blakey music is pretty good, and the sound on the Redbook versions I have is quite good.

Hot off the vinyl press from France….i just received my Lost Recordings Sapphire Edition of the Oscar Peterson Trio Live in Finland 1963 to 1965.  Ray Brown on Bass, Edward Thigpen on drums, and Clark Terry on the trumpet/flugelhorn on select tracks.  Limited to 500 albums, this comes in at #119.  Oscar Peterson has always been in my top 3, so this purchase was the one of the most exciting purchases I have made of the Sapphire recordings.  The anticipation was well worth the wait!!  

Right off the bat the dynamic range is excellent with great detail and clarity.  Instrument separation is very good, and as anticipated dead silent.  No pops or clicks were ever heard.  

Last week I had switched out my 7062 Amperex Holland Pinched Waist Getter after 1.5 years, to a NOS Mullard Blackburn 12AU7.  While this tube is still breaking in, the Mullard sounds great in the ZRock2.  It’s slower than the 7062 with a bit less gain, but with this albums it was a nice welcome.  Richer tone on the ivory’s, with a sense of realism.  One thing I have noticed for myself lately with the Zrock2, I prefer rear switch for jazz in the “ Up” position, and vocals in the “ Down” position.  

As I have stated in the past, I feel that with vinyl recordings that are subpar, the ZRock is a must have IMHO.  For this recording with the Kevin Gray mastering, it’s so good, that the Zrock is not as impactful on this album.  While the bypass I rarely use anymore, I like to see how an album sounds with and without the Zrock..especially with quality recordings.

If you are an Oscar Peterson fan, I would not hesitate to get this album.