Sonny Rollins Four, Saxophone Colossus, UK ESQUIRE JAZZ

£ 57

$ 75

£ 57 Sold For

Apr 11, 2010 Sold Date

Apr 4, 2010 Start Date

£ 20 Start price

5 Number Of Bids

Great Britain Country Of Seller

eBay Auctioned at

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Description

Sonny Rollins Four, Saxophone Colossus, UK ESQUIRE JAZZ

Sonny Rollins, Saxophone Colossus.

Mid 1950's UK pressed Esquire Records mono LP, 32-145. Earliest distinctive creamy pink labels with red and blue print.

Vinyl in acceptably clean condition. No excessive wear at centre spindle areas, and labels are clean and unmarked both sides. Visually surfaces have a fair number of light hairline marks, some more immediately visible. There are no deep scratches or gouges however.

Given the appearance of the surfaces, playback is surprisingly rich and clean. Slightly crackly at the opening of side one, but this very soon levels out and then playback is clean. Side two again opens with some light crackle, but this is even more short-lived and very soon fades out. Approx. halfway through track one on side two, a couple of very soft and low level consecutive ticks are heard, followed after a short gap by approx. four very soft and low level consecutive ticks. There is some slight crackle to the beginning of the final track, but this is soon dispensed with.

Aside from the instances described above, this is a very clean playing LP which has full blooded sound and does not suffer from underlying background noise. Instances of the odd isolated soft tick and crackle otherwise are negligible, and I couldn't detect underlying noise in the silent bands between tracks. Listening enjoyment is never marred by background noise.

Sleeve is intact and has a broadly clean appearance. Small darkening patch to bottom of front. Rear has a diagonal darkening strip to centre and another few minor instances of stains/darkening. Small pen mark to top left corner of rear. Left and right hand sides have been reinforced with sellotape, which is rather age yellowed, but spine appears intact beneath and not frayed or worn.

The inner sleeve has been reinforced in a similar way to all edges, although the inner sleeve is generic white die-cut.

In summary, not a mint issue, but still a very acceptable one. Playback has been tested in entirety, and the LP still provides an extremely enjoyable listening experience. The sound quality on this one is really superb, and although without the kudos of the original USA Prestige issue, this one is actually probably rarer.

A Note On Grading:

Note that audio grading is subjective and based on sensitivity of equipment used for playback. In this instance playback has been tested on a vintage Technics Quartz Direct Drive SL1700 MKII turntable with Shure cartridge, Technics SU-C 03 amp and Technics SB-F2 Linear Phase speakers.

Also note that I generally do not clean vinyl unless so noted. Most vinyl will show improved playback quality with your preferred cleaning method, but I leave this to the prospective buyer, as controversy still surrounds the ideal method of cleaning vinyl. Instances of crackle near the beginning of sides can often be improved with cleaning, as these areas of the vinyl surfaces are the most prone to debris from handling.

Recorded:

22nd June, 1956

Personnel:

Sonny Rollins (tenor sax); Tommy Flanagan (piano); Doug Watkins (bass); Max Roach (drums)

Tracks:

St. Thomas

You Don't Know What Love Is

Strode Rode

Moritat

Blue Seven

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