Ike Quebec – Blue & Sentimental

I´m happy with this release. I was surprised reading the ambivalent reviews on the 75th anniversary series. Good sounding record but poor pressing QC, clics here and there after cleaning. It would be nice a KG treatment on this and optimal pressing.

Music is sonically very good, but I can't get rid of the intermittent crisps and pops. The record looked dirty as hell brand new.

I can't lie, I am so curious as to the mindset of the person that sleeves the discs and is essentially the final QC check -like, are they under too much pressure to even look, chastised for pulling dirty discs from assembly, don't give a shit, or oblivious to the quality?

I’ve got to say this one actually plays and sounds surprisingly good despite the record looking like it was attacked by a hedge trimmer. The record surface and edges look terrible with scuffs and marks but despite this, it plays quite nicely indeed.
I recently picked up a 1984 French pressing which sounds very good and this much maligned 75th anniversary record came pretty close to matching it. Not quite, but closer than I would have thought. The French pressing sounded a touch warmer and fuller but my 75th anniversary copy wasn’t all that far behind.

My pressing is really bad. Side A is completely scratched although the LP was bought new and was shrink-wrapped. Bought in a record store in (Berlin). I gave it back and I was very angry.

I decided to spend some more time trying to reduce the pressing noise so did another 5 rounds of scrubbing in surfactant followed by 3 min spins in the Kirmuss RCM. That finally removed 95% of the pressing grunge.

I agree the transfer on this one is pretty good. However mine still suffers from intermittent pressing noise even after cleaning with an ultrasonic cleaner.

Some of these BN reissues aren't the best--thin vinyl, slight crackle, average remastering--but this one sizzles. Ike Quebec--what a sensational player, really underrated. And Grant Green's guitar work is excellent. I'll listen to this one a thousand times.

Beautiful music. Perfect Green´s blues for Charlie Christian and warm tone of Quebec tenor in all balads. He also played piano parts on some others. There is also Sonny Clark on the piano on Count Every Star. Sound is transparent and airy with very good instruments location. Quebec on left side (front), Chambers in the middle ( more to the right and back ), Jones on the right ( back ), Green right (in front). Only in last track they changed. No indication of digital or analog mastering. Vinyl was cut by Ian Sefchick at Capitol. I was lucky to get good one pressing from URP. Bit noisy, but fortunately no "digital silence". I am very satisfied.

Excellent album with four excellent musics: Maybe Philly Joe Jones and Paul Chambers plays in the background more that I would like but the Ike quebec saxophone sound and the Grant Green guitar balanced all the songs of this record. Beautiful!