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Strata East reissues

A very interesting article about the history of Nimbus West and the current state of affairs - which by the sound of it couldn’t be in better hands (see the end of the article for near future releases and reissues, as well as a second press of Pan Afrika People’s Arkestra):

https://www.analogplanet.com/content/horace-tapscott-tom-albach-and-story-nimbus-west-records

Looking forward to the reissue of the Jesse Sharps title:
https://www.nimbuswestrecords.com/news
https://www.nimbuswestrecords.com/shop-5
 
I don't see any mention of it in the thread so just to add the 2020 reissue of Shirley Scott's One For Me. A great record that makes you wonder what she might have done if she'd continued recording through the 1970s.

Sold out on Bandcamp but still seems to be in stock in plenty of places and not expensive.
 
paulfromcamden said:
I don't see any mention of it in the thread so just to add the 2020 reissue of Shirley Scott's One For Me. A great record that makes you wonder what she might have done if she'd continued recording through the 1970s.
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Paul - I assume it sounds good and is a decent pressing? I only know it on CD, and I see this is Giles Peterson’s label - which are usually good.
 
That really is a highly detailed and informative article. I am a fan of Tapscott and am really looking forward to all the unreleased material and reissues in store. Nimbus albums have always been hard to find so these new records are really going to be something. Instead of the same old tired classics put out by Chad Kassem...

paulfromcamden said:
I don't see any mention of it in the thread so just to add the 2020 reissue of Shirley Scott's One For Me. A great record that makes you wonder what she might have done if she'd continued recording through the 1970s.

Sold out on Bandcamp but still seems to be in stock in plenty of places and not expensive.
Click to expand...
 
hockman said:
That really is a highly detailed and informative article. I am a fan of Tapscott and am really looking forward to all the unreleased material and reissues in store. Nimbus albums have always been hard to find so these new records are really going to be something. Instead of the same old tired classics put out by Chad Kassem...
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I think you posted the wrong quote if you’re referring to Nimbus West - but agreed - it’s an interesting article, by Joseph W. Washek, and schedule, overseen by Matt Whitehurst. Nice to see unissued material as well as reissues - as it should be. I see Kevin Gray will be at the controls - can’t be bad.

Juno have notifications ready for the Jan 2022 NW releases; Jesse Sharps’ “Sharps and Flats”and Horace Tapscott’s previously unreleased “Tapscott +Winds”.
 
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The PP reissue of First Impression doesn't sound that great to me; I'd venture it's a needle drop. LJC takes PP to task for not being upfront about the source of their reissues. Yes, I am curious too but I understand that PP just takes the 'best' source that it can get from the owners. Sometimes it's the mastertape and sometimes it's a digital file. What I do like about PP is that they pick interesting titles to reissue and then try to do a decent job with whatever they have to work with, unlike some other audiophile labels...

On a sidetrack, does anyone have opinions of the PP Tribe reissues vs the Now Again reissues? I don't know the provenance of the PP reissues but Now Again claims that theirs are from the mastertapes and lacquered by Bernie Grundmann. Personally I've found that some of the PP titles at least, sound better than the Now Again ones I have (comparison are of different titles though). The Bernie Grundmann stuff does not sound like what you would expect from him; they are not as good. I wonder if their being pressed at GZ in Czech republic has anything to do with it? That plant puts out some major crap pressings...
 
hockman said:
The PP reissue of First Impression doesn't sound that great to me; I'd venture it's a needle drop.
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I was referring to the music, not the pressing. As far as recording/mastering of First Impressions, I’ve heard far worse. Sounds nice and dynamic here, if a tad unrefined. But I think LJC has a point, not sure how great some of the Strata East recordings were in the first instance. I’ve not heard enough originals for comparison to have an informed opinion - few people here or at Hoffman have. But nice to see some interesting titles being reissued, many of which I’ve really enjoyed.

Can’t help with the PP Tribe reissues. Agree with you about GZ. My success rate with Pallas pressings is very high.

Edit - some interesting comments added to the LJC thread, not by me I hasten to add.
 
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hockman said:
The PP reissue of First Impression doesn't sound that great to me; I'd venture it's a needle drop. LJC takes PP to task for not being upfront about the source of their reissues. Yes, I am curious too but I understand that PP just takes the 'best' source that it can get from the owners. Sometimes it's the mastertape and sometimes it's a digital file. What I do like about PP is that they pick interesting titles to reissue and then try to do a decent job with whatever they have to work with, unlike some other audiophile labels...

On a sidetrack, does anyone have opinions of the PP Tribe reissues vs the Now Again reissues? I don't know the provenance of the PP reissues but Now Again claims that theirs are from the mastertapes and lacquered by Bernie Grundmann. Personally I've found that some of the PP titles at least, sound better than the Now Again ones I have (comparison are of different titles though). The Bernie Grundmann stuff does not sound like what you would expect from him; they are not as good. I wonder if their being pressed at GZ in Czech republic has anything to do with it? That plant puts out some major crap pressings...
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Sorry I can’t help either regarding the PP Tribe reissues.

I have though brought a few of the PP Strata East reissues since Graham’s opening post in this thread following my query in the the Tone Poet thread about these releases and also your responses. It is unfortunate that PP are less than clear about the true provenance of the source of there reissues unlike Speakers Corner, who are, and that Pure Pleasure distribute in the UK. I don’t doubt that they do the best they can with the best source available to them. Those I have bought so far are a bit of a mixed bag for sound quality, some like Glass Bead Game I agree are a needle drop and others I think are all from a digital source including perhaps a CD. I think as LJC suggests that a lot also has to do with the quality of the original recordings and/or the engineer. I think the best sounding two I have of these so far are Billy Harper ‘Capra Black’ and Music Inc. ‘Live at Slugs Vol 1’ (I have will get Vol 2) and theses two both were engineered by Orville O’Brian.

As I won’t be buying Originals, then as you said back in your post (13) “So if you are at all interested in this music (& contrary to some, I do think Strata East recordings are important musically not just historically), your best bet are the PP reissues.“
 
Another fair Glass Bead Games shoot-out:

https://thevinylpress.com/clifford-jordan-glass-bead-games-shoot-out/

I’m beginning to wonder whether cutting engineers themselves actually know what they have as a source. A label provides a 24 bit file and the engineers do the best job they can with it. But what’s on the 24 bit file? Tape transfer?upsampled 16/48 or 16/44 DAT transfer from a previous reissue programme? or worse still upsampled CD transfer or needle drop? No wonder Kevin Gray and Joe Harley are receiving so much adoration for their meticulous attention to source material.
 
Graham H said:
Another fair Glass Bead Games shoot-out:
https://thevinylpress.com/clifford-jordan-glass-bead-games-shoot-out/
https://thevinylpress.com/clifford-jordan-glass-bead-games-shoot-out/

I’m beginning to wonder whether cutting engineers themselves actually know what they have as a source. A label provides a 24 bit file and the engineers do the best job they can with it. But what’s on the 24 bit file? Tape transfer?upsampled 16/48 or 16/44 DAT transfer from a previous reissue programme? or worse still upsampled CD transfer or needle drop? No wonder Kevin Gray and Joe Harley are receiving so much adoration for their meticulous attention to source material.
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Graham,
I had seen that comparison before. I think Hockman posted the link before back in this thread as well plus I do look at that site from time to time.
Kevin Gray seems to do a better job than most no matter whether the source is analog or digital. He has stated he prefers to work from the analogue tapes. If he has to work from digital or that is how it was recorded then he prefers to make the mastering decisions himself, or with someone with similar preferences like Joe Harley. He only makes it sound a certain way (eg with excess compression) if that is what the client insists on.
 
I guess I am on my own wrt the Tribe reissues.

I can highly recommend the Tribe albums - interesting music from the same era as Strata East and with similar ethos. Again a mixed bag with the reissues but both Pure Pleasure and Now Again are decent although nothing great. But I've never ever seen an original Tribe album in the wild, so these are my best bet.
 
hockman said:
I guess I am on my own wrt the Tribe reissues. I can highly recommend the Tribe albums - interesting music from the same era as Strata East and with similar ethos.
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I had a brief listen via streaming a few years back and wasn’t entirely captivated. But with your recommendation I’ll be revisiting them over the next week.


poco a poco said:
I think Hockman posted the link before back in this thread as well plus I do look at that site from time to time.
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He did. Apologies, but this thread was quiet for a while. Anyhow - that’s my excuse.........
 
Crazy prices on those Nimbus records but I guess those are the going rates...Even the OJC Bill Evans is 50 pounds, gosh.

I have an Outernational reissue of the Creative Arts Ensemble album on 45 rpm (not a favorite format for me) that sounds surprisingly good.

I thought these records should be just 'Nimbus' because they were never officially known as Nimbus West.
 
Got an original Adele Sebastian ‘Desert Fairy Princess’…paid £15 for it…wonderful sounding record…goes for silly money these days..used to see it all the time in record shops in the early nineties
 
hockman said:
I thought these records should be just 'Nimbus' because they were never officially known as Nimbus West
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https://www.discogs.com/label/106512-Nimbus-West-Records

and this great article that I posted last year:

https://www.analogplanet.com/content/horace-tapscott-tom-albach-and-story-nimbus-west-records

Nimbus only ever appeared on the record sleeves as far as I can tell, yet frequently referred to Nimbus West as a label. Hard to believe there were so many regional artist owned labels from this period in the US. NMDS (New Music Distribution Service) apparently had about 500 artist owned labels on their books at their peak (mid 70s).

You may also be interested in this recent update from the Nimbus West website. MP3 no less:

https://www.nimbuswestrecords.com/
 
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