Alright, I now have received my additional turntable with a stereo cartridge to complement my other mono setup. It’s a beautiful vintage Thorens TD-125 LB which is very rare and sought after. It performs beautifully. It has an 12 inch tonearm which is a SME 3012 Series II, and the cartridge is a Audio Technica AT-30HE Moving Coil. Feels great to now have two turntables and to be able to enjoy both the mono and stereo experience. There is so much great stuff from the late 60’s, 70’s and 80’s that was only released in stereo, that I now can enjoy.
This lovely, newly acquired Woody Shaw title on Enja was the first one on the platter to test out the new equipment, and it sounded fantastic. What a great album this is. Recorded in 1982 with a line-up consisting of Shaw on trumpet, Steve Turre on trombone, Mulgrew Miller on piano, Stafford James on bass and Tony Reedus on drums. Outstanding group.
The music is post bop with some lenghty and highly engaging tunes. Shaw was one of the greatest trumpeters in jazz and it’s criminal that I haven’t dived deeper into his catalogue until now. Have much to look forward to. Now that I can listen to stereo records I have the ability to acquire plenty of his stuff. This album is a great start for sure.
Two favorite tunes on this album are the Shaw originals ”Rahsaan’s Run”, which is a real cooker, and the swaying ”Song of Songs”.
Highly recommended.