Stereo Bud Powell LP’s are fairly rare. Stereo Bud Powell LP’s that contain music that is representative of Bud’s unique gifts are as rare as hens teeth. Finding clean, mint copies of these records is both frustrating and expensive. But damn, when you do find one, the results are most definitely worth the effort. I used to own the plain jane Columbia release of this album, “Portrait Of Thelonious.” But one day I stumbled across this Columbia Special Collectors Series copy of this LP. And lo and behold it was truly mint (the vinyl that is, the cover is a strong VG+). I’ve heard new audiophile pressings that aren’t this clean and quiet. Here, with this LP, I get Bud dancing over his keyboard in the left/center channel and Kenny Clarke and Pierre Michelot coming from the right/center. No, in not mono, it’s most definitely stereo. There’s a sense of space and soundstage that mono can’t offer. Together they present a unique look at the music of Powell’s dear friend and mentor Thelonious Monk (together with a few other cuts that stimulated Powell on this day. Powell takes the same care with Monk’s tunes that Monk himself always showed to the music of other composers he chose to interpret. Yet, the playing is pure Powell. Clarke (on drums) and Michelot (on bass) combine with Powell to be the perfect vehicle with which to allow Powell to find his footing and preform at his peak (a rare feat this late in his career as his illnesses usually got the better of him and his recording output at this time was spotty at best.) It saddens me that in this day and age of high quality reissues of great jazz recordings, Bud Powell is woefully underrepresented. This album would be one to get one of the better reissue companies to license and remaster, it’s that good. Until then, I at least, can enjoy this wonderful music in almost digital cleanliness. Most highly recommended if you can find a copy worthy of this great man and his music. #LP #record #recordcollection #jazz #music #BudPowel #stereo #vinyl #vinylcollection #vinyllover #vinylrecords #audio #highend #audiophile #audiophilerecording #audiophilepressing