Horace Parlan – Up & Down

I’d never heard this record before, but I’m really glad I picked it up. If you dig soulful, swinging, bluesy jazz, you’ll love this. Beautifully recorded and remastered - it sounds like you’re in the studio with these guys. Another Tone Poet winner.

Terrific in all respects. Tone Poet at its best. Not to miss.

Excellent sounding pressing, except... there is a 'scratching' sound on the left channel, where Grant is. Is this a tape artifact or is this a defect in my copy ?

Phenomenal sound, one of the best tone poets yet, I wasn’t overly familiar with this LP. But that’s one of the things I love about the Tone Poet series, great records, very high quality sound - and affordable.

Terrific album and terrific pressing! I love the work that Ervin put into this recording...and the chemistry here is great. I'm not the biggest fan of Grant Green's repetitive riffs, but that's a personal taste thing (I love his playing overall, of course). Great release.

This is one groovy record 👌 sounds awesome! Bluenote needs to release more Horace parlan albums !

Up & Down Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine (AllMusic) 4 1/2 *****

By adding guitarist Grant Green and tenor saxophonist Booker Ervin to his standard rhythm section of bassist George Tucker and drummer Al Harewood, pianist Horace Parlan opens up his sound and brings it closer to soul-jazz on Up and Down. Green's clean, graceful style meshes well with Parlan's relaxed technique, while Ervin's robust tone and virile attack provides a good contrast to the laid-back groove the rhythm section lays down. Stylistically, the music is balanced between hard bop and soul-jazz, which are tied together by the bluesy tint in the three soloists' playing. All of the six original compositions give the band room to stretch out and to not only show off their chops, but move the music somewhat away from generic conventions and find new territory. In other words, it finds Parlan at a peak, and in many ways, coming into his own as a pianist and a leader.

This pressing is excellent in of sound quality. Recommended !

I took a bit of a gamble on this release, not knowing about the quality of vinyl releases from Elemental. Overall, I'm pretty pleased. The vinyl weighed in at a whopping 206 grams, is quiet, and of very high quality. The presentation is pleasant and I have no complaints. It has a nice warm midrange but is not the last word in low end, nor does it have any sort of sparkle on the high end. I don't have an early or original pressing to compare to, so take that criticism with a grain of salt as I can't say whether what I am hearing is simply "how it sounds" or not. I do, however, have a strong suspicion that it's from a digital source.

If you were concerned about spending your cash on this, don't be. I'm happy with it and think you would be, too, just don't overpay for it.

If/when I acquire other pressings, I will update this review with comparisons.

Does this come with a laminated cover in any pressing? There are Stereo NY USA presses with and without the plasylite ear. Would be helpful to differentiate them on here.