Duke Pearson – Wahoo

Ive been playing this press for probably 20 years and it sounds great , spacious and clear always a fun listen and a great date!

A really special album. There’s a lack of hurry in the group’s playing, and everyone is leaving plenty of space for some dazzling surprises to happen. Unmistakably Pearson, but flirts ever so slightly with the avant-garde. Spaulding and Henderson are both pushing their instruments in challenging yet heartfelt ways. It’s too bad the tapes show their age in some places, but we’re fortunate to be able to hear this very special session on this excellent remaster. Don Was taking over Blue Note was one of the best things to ever happen for jazz fans. Keep the fantastic reissues coming!

I've owned this album in both inferior DMM versions, released in and US. I've sold off both because of the nonexistence of low frequencies on both cuts. Mr. Gray gets the most out of the original tape, and all players, except Cranshaw, appear clear and beautiful. However, the bass appears only subdued in this telling, when engaging a subwoofer.

Rega RP6, 2M BLK LVB 250, etc.

Been wanting this album for a while. Didn’t expect to find an affordable original and the Music Matters is out of my price range.

The title cut was my gage on how well Kevin Gray cut it. Sadly my copy has a slight edge warp and out of the sleeve the album was noisy. I used a velvet and a anti-static brush before I dropped the needle. Maybe it’s non-fill or just dirt from the pressing plant. I’ll return my copy for a better one and give it a proper VPI cleaning.

Duke Pearson is one of my favourite lesser knowns on the BN roster. Profile is one album i would BEG BN to reissue in this - or better still - the Tone Poet series.

Wahoo is a fine set in my opinion. In my case, this pressing has been done to perfection by Optimal. The sound is fresh even if some minor anomolies inherent in the tape remains. They are not bothersome at least.

Recommended on all fronts!

The pressing is excellent given the limitations of the master tape that has a tiny bit of dropout and a slightly audible edit on the first track. I have 3 versions of this album and all feature these artifacts. However this is an excellent reissue and sonically the best since the Music Matters reissue. Side one does feature RVG hard panning in favour of the right channel. However all the tracks on side two are well balanced in the mix. Been waiting a long time for this album to be reissued and remastered by Kevin Grey in this series, and was not disappointed. The music is fantastic. Duke Pearson's best album in my opinion. Buy it without reservation.

This record is an interesting gem. Interesting rhythmically with some slow as molasses grooves, odd time signatures and bluesy influence. It's different somehow that I can't quite put my finger on, the rhythms create almost a drag behind the beat feel on some tunes, my opinion. Joe Henderson shines on his solos. I was intending to only listen to a few tracks when I got it home from the record store but ended up listening to the whole thing making me late for an appointment, Ha! Intriguing music that deserves multiple listening.

I've got this pressing, but it's unclear to me why it's so scarce...

In my opinion this the best sounding blue note classic I have and sounds better than most of the tone poets in my collection too. Highly recommended very clear and precise and the instruments are well separated, much better than the dmm French pressing I have.

My copy is flat very quiet and plays well without any issues. It sounds VVG BUT it is not a WOW like some other BN Classic or Tone Poet pressings