Art Pepper – Art Pepper Meets The Rhythm Section

Amazing sound quality and pressing.
However, horrible mixing choices. Insanely hard panning.

Left channel :
98% sax
5% bass piano
10% drums
Right channel:
2% sax
95% bass piano
90% drums

Sounds like everyone playing in the same space in the right channel aside from the drums reaching a foot or two towards center.
Takes away from the experience just my opinion

The quality of the cover scan is a joke. I saw counterfeits that look sharper and better than that. Very disappointig I must say.

I know there's a point of contention for Art being hard panned to the left but really, this press sounds fantastic and I actually enjoy the hard panning. Feels as if the band is playing in front of me in their respective positions. Lovely sounding record and one of Pepper's best pieces of work.

Cover is scanned at low quality and low resolution. If you have it, look how sharp the bottom row (which they added) in opposite of the original top row. Photo is smeared low res too. Someone was LAZY.
You can do better Craft. Sorry.

Now, about the SOUND:
I see people here complaining about hard panning and stuff. I initially thought this has really, really great sound. Then, I verified using headphones and the panning is not hard.

Right side:
Saxophone - full volume
Drums / Bass / Piano - ~30%-40% volume

Left side:
Drums / Bass / Piano - full volume
Saxophone - ~30%-40% volume

It sounds very good and clear. I love that stereo image its totally what I would expect and the focus is totally on Pepper.

Regarding the last review, is important to mention that 1) the cover image could be a scan of the original (I'm not sure, I haven't seen an original), 2) the title of the album is this stereo release is in lower resolution than the RSD mono, and 3) The image (Art's photo) IS NOT in lower resolution than the RSD mono, it's just a different tint.

Now, I had the chance to compare both this stereo and the RSD mono focusing on Tin Tin Deo, my favorite song in this album, and I think these two releases have completely different sound signatures. The mono is warmer and punchier while the stereo is brighter and clearer. In the mono the bass is gorgeous and more impactful than the stereo, but the cymbals in the stereo really shine while in the mono the cymbals are a bit recessed. Of course, there are other differences that apply to almost all cases of mono vs stereo such as the mono being more cohesive and the stereo having better imaging and soundstage. But, the difference in sound signature in these two releases is way more pronounced than for instance between the mono and stereo of blue train (tone poet) or my favorite things (rhino).

I think both the mono RSD and this stereo version of Art Pepper Meets The Rhythm Section sound beautiful, and although I slightly prefer the stereo, you can't go wrong with any of them. Since they are so different, I'm just very happy for having them both in my collection. Thank you craft and acoustic sounds for bringing this classic album in such amazing quality.

After seeing the very poor cover art on the new Craft stereo reissue, I decided to go for this vintage pressing, and I'm glad I did. The cover photo is much better, and It's got a nice tip-on sleeve with the green text at the top reverse. Mine came with a poly inner sleeve copyright 1986 Fantasy Records.

More importantly, the record sounds excellent. Good pressing, awesome mastering. This is a great recording. Fairly soon I should be able to compare the new Craft, but I'm happy with this one.

A fantastic release! Everything is flawless. The cover picture here is the same resolution as in the RSD mono edition. People that claim otherwise might be confused by the tint difference, which is consistent with the two original releases. The only thing that seems to have a bit lower resolution in comparison with the mono release is the typography, but it doesn't look bad. Although I haven't done a back-to-back sound comparison between both releases, I recall that both of them left me a great impression. I might do a direct comparison later and update this comment/review. Finally, it seems very curious to me that although this is one of the most popular albums in the history of jazz (in its stereo version), some people are waiting to buy this release to complain about the initial mastering decisions (e.g., the hard panning?). For me, it sounds awesome and I totally recommend it.

Heavely dish warped copy, I waited until today to open it though I had purchased it during the RSD last year. Was waiting for a good occasion to listen to it as the reviews were good! Big let down from QRP again, by now they should have changed their bloody name (Chad is such a good marketer but they're not on par with RTI and never will be)

No one else is bothered by the tape issues it seems.

Agree with all praising. Even exceeds my highest expectations. Goes immediately on my „desert Jazz island“ list. Yes, it is a larger island:-) Wishing RSD to refrain from those many useless releases and offer more of these substantial and well made ones.