MOV pressings are usually pretty decent ime (Record Industry I believe) sometimes sources can be questionable but they’ve done some very good releases that I’ve bought.
The Toots albums are all v good, SQ and pressing, sourced from HiRes digital but I dont have a problem with that.
Tone Poets theoretically aren’t limited releases but the more in demand titles can go out of stock quickly, I think they do get re pressed though.
The very first titles the last time I looked are still available (Chick Corea & Sam Rivers) if that’s any indication.
If you really only want to pick one, then I would agree with your choice of My Point Of View, imo the music is a bit more varied than Takin Off. The Tone Poet RTI pressing and package - quality gatefold Tip On sleeves with session photos make them easily worth the extra. When you’ve got a Tone Poet in hand the effort and quality that’s gone into producing them is palpably obvious.
Enjoy
Btw, if I may momentarily drift off Topic, if your interested MOV have/are releasing some great classic Reggae albums, not heard any other than the Toots as I have original vinyl, however based on my listening to those I’m going to further explore them in due course.
Kerchinggg!
What an unbelievable record. From the wild cover to the iconic breakbeats, Roots from Ian Carr’s Nucleus is one of the dopest albums we know. This is seriously thick, funky-prog jazz-rock heaven
Under bandleader Carr, Nucleus existed as a fluid line-up of inventive, skilled musicians. This constant evolution and revolution was all part of the continuous musical exploration and discovery that took jazz to new levels.
Originally released on Vertigo in 1973, other than a couple of versions at the time, Roots was never re-pressed since so it’s gone on to become another one of those impossible to find records.
Maybe it was a little too out there for the time, but it’s aged very, very well indeed and this Be With re-issue, remastered from the original analogue tapes, shows off just why this deserves to be back in press.
This Be With edition of Roots has been re-mastered from the original Vertigo master tapes, Simon Francis’ mastering working together with Pete Norman’s cut to weave their usual magic with these wonderful recordings. The crazy cover has been restored at Be With HQ as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue.
That’s quite a good Nucleus album - in an era when the band had a number of Aussies/Kiwis. If I remember rightly saxophonist Brian Smith contributes an NZ themed suite. Very enjoyable - and also in the Vertigo CD box set.
Kamasi Washington ‘Heaven and Earth’. This is a very strong album, although a bit over-produced I think and with those Star Trecky voices, which take a bit of getting used to. Some great solo work.
I dont get the fuss over Kamasi Washington, vastly over rated and over hyped in my opinion.
Foolishly I bought The Epic based on the hype and just didnt get it, the horridly compressed mastered for I tunes SQ doesn’t help either
I have a Vertigo of it - acquired before the 2nd hand prices took off. Fine album but I always get the feeling that Holdsworth gets let off the leash only on the last track (‘Hector’s House’, I think - great title from back in the day).
Yes, I was sceptical. Haven’t got ‘The Epic’ and it is true, compression isn’t the greatest. Having said that, ‘Heaven and Earth’ is a good album. Bebop it ain’t though.
People have mentioned influences from Pharoah Sanders, Alice Coltrane and the Jazz Crusaders (as well as hip hop of course) but to my mind there is a strong influence from 70s Julian Priester on ECM and perhaps ‘Mwandishi’ era Hancock.