Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

While this album is one of the greatest jazz guitar albums of all time, extremely poor mastering significantly detracts from the enjoyment it can bring the listener. Except for the two Monk titles, the RVG Edition is a seriously flawed series, especially the first batch that was released in '99, and Midnight Blue was among those. Excessive noise reduction has erased virtually all clues of air and ambiance, and they possess a hard glare. The glare is generally absent in releases after '99, but the other issues persist. Another flaw in this series is that many of the titles are in mono when excellent stereo masters exist. Rudy Van Gelder recorded exclusively in mono prior to March '57, and stereo exclusively after October 30 1958. He only recorded in both formats during the time spanning those two dates. While some will rightfully argue that the mono master sounds best in some instances, the RVG series has many titles in it that were recorded after Oct. 30 1958 that are mono. No mono masters exist for these sessions, so these CD's are simply the stereo master folded down into one channel. What's the purpose of that? Relief is Available: Most of the RVG Edition titles are available in an earlier US version and as a Japanese import here on Amazon. These sound dramatically better and actually give you a sense of stage depth and air around the instruments. They are also stereo when possible, and appropriate, and they lack the glare of the RVG Edition. So far, everything I've purchased that was released before 1999 in the US has been good, and all of the Japanese versions have been good. The imports are very pricey so you might want to get the older US versions through the Amazon Marketplace. I've purchased many of these for under $10 in "Like New" condition. To avoid problems, I recommend only dealing with sellers who have a positive rating of 98% or better. They don't generally misrepresent the condition, and they'll usually get it to you within 4 business days.