Yusef Lateef – The Three Faces of Yusef Lateef

This is an amazing pressing. Great clarity, no noise, dynamic, and also a tremendous album I would have never heard if it weren’t for VMP. I do recommend!

Sometimes I let VMP curate my collection, and TBH I never heard this record before I got it from VMP. I was surprised to find that it is a fairly traditional jazz record, nothing particularly daring or avant garde. I love the variety of instrumentation on the record (flute, oboe, sax). The oboe playing is very robust, but also monochromatic. The flute and sax playing are on a much higher level. The bass playing is S-tier. The record sounds good but (subjectively speaking) I also think the sound picture is a little flat. It's hard to place the musicians on the soundstage at times. So it's good but not great. I am glad to have encountered this artist and this record.

I want to add a brief comment in praise of the way VMP packages its releases. I love the extras like the booklet here or the little art prints that are sometimes included with their releases. The record is as beautiful to look at as it is to hear. The production values for the artwork, the sleeves, etc. are top-notch. I agree with the criticism that the obi obscures the artwork, but I like that VMP does things in a unique and immediately identifiable way, so I put up with the obis. VMP certainly put together a gorgeous product here. I have a small collection, but many of my favorite records are VMP records. This will probably not be one of those, but it is a record I will enjoy for the rest of my life.

Highly recommended, but you simply must hear their Ornette Coleman record!

It’s a great record and the pressing is top. Shame that prices at vmp have crept up yet again as not sure I can keep this up as an international subscriber.

This is such a wonderful jazz record. Totally unique. Sound is pretty damn great.

My copy is excellent across the board. The pressing itself is well done with zero surface noise and the mastering is top notch. Highly recommended.

Wow. I’d never heard this album before so, I wasn’t sure what to expect. The music is amazing, right in my wheelhouse. The Pressing Sounds awesome. Flat. Wonderful jacket. Only complaint. The archival inner sleeve was jammed in the jacket (upside down too), so it’s pretty wrinkled. Overall I’m stoked to add this one to the collection.

Fantastic pressing! PESSIMISTIC RANT WARNING - I still can’t get over the unnecessary crap VMP adds to these. The obi is just a black strip that covers the artwork and the little booklet would be better off an LP-sized insert. The thin plastic sleeve split open when I went to slide the record out. The jacket is very nice however and the pressing is phenomenal.

This pressing is excellent - no surface noise to speak of at all. The music bursts from the record. Each of the instruments is very clear and easy to hear.

The bass plucks are well-defined. Flute, sax both sound sharp as ever. Even the piano sounds more vivid than your typical Rudy van Gelder recording.

Yusef usually plays the middle, and it's like he's right in front of you. The musicians seem like they are lined up from left to right, stretching from speaker to speaker, and there doesn't appear to be much depth because, well, they are all so close up sounding.

This is as good as any Tone Poet issue, Overall, this is a phenomenal record.

Cartridge: AT150Sa