Venus

[Victor Christensen]

I would say that Venus (Japan) makes the best CD's as far as audio is concerned, it's so clear and balanced, almost like you are in the room with perfect acoustic.

Vic

[JohnS]

I'm not familiar with many Venus recordings but I've always found that Jim Anderson gets a great piano sound at Avatar.

[Son-of-a-Weizen]

Vic, I too am a big fan of the Venus recordings and have been steadily acquiring them over the years. For sure, some of the audiophiles over at the Hoffman site will not approve of that Venus 'loudness' (...me, I prefer to call it lush sound)

A few personal favorites:

[Ron S]

Rolf, how do you keep the Obi's on the outside without them always falling off? I just flatten 'em out and keep 'em inside with the booklet.

[Son-of-a-Weizen]

They're inside those resealable mini-lp plastic sleeves w/flap. When I pluck a cd off the shelf to spin I just lay the OBI to the side. Not the most fine tuned system, I know. -_-

Edited March 15, 2010 by Son-of-a-Weizen

[Ron S]

Obi-Wan KeWeizen.

[porcy62]

Cd?

[DrJ]

I have a great sounding Bill Charlap trio CD on Venus, "S'Wonderful" - yes, it is.

One quibble with their sound - I do think there is some digital compression added in mastering, at least on this particular recording.

On the plus side that really brings details forward and makes things "pop" - you can even here Charlap's legs moving around and his foot in the pedals at the start of the first track.

On the down side, some of the dynamics are squashed, which can be a bit wearying on extended listening.

Again though, overall I think their CDs are very nice indeed.

Edited March 16, 2010 by DrJ

[John Tapscott]

I just got a new Venus CD by the Phil Woods Quintet - Ballads and Blues. rec. 2008. It's my first ever Venus recording.

Honestly, I've never heard Phil's alto recorded with as much warmth, resonance, and presence. It was quite a shock when I first heard it.

The recording quality overall is excellent.

[brownie]

My only complaint with Venus Records is that there are pretty expensive to purchase.

Those I have acquired are honey to my ears! And the covers are honey to my eyes!

Most of them at least!

The Venus website!

[Dave James]

Those I have acquired are honey to my ears! And the covers are honey to my eyes!

Yes and double yes

Edited March 17, 2010 by Dave James

[kh1958]

I've made this recommendation before, but the two Venus Moffett Family Jazz Band recordings are dynamite (especially The Magic of Love). Led by Charles Moffett, with his four sons on bass (Charnett), second drums (Cody), trumpet (Mondre) and tenor (Charles Jr.), and an honorary Moffett on piano, they were a very tight and electric group that I was lucky enough to see several times at the Caravan of Dreams in the late 1980s. It's a shame that the two horn playing sons don't seem to have pursued a career in music, as they both had distinctive and compelling styles.

[Tom in RI]

I see Amazon sells cdr copies of many Venus titles (for 13.99). Does anyone know if you get a cover with those?

[Dan Gould]

I can't vouch for it from personal experience, but I am quite sure that you do.

I just wish that they were offering the Phil Woods referenced above at that price, instead of it listing for over $60.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

I can't vouch for it from personal experience, but I am quite sure that you do.

I just wish that they were offering the Phil Woods referenced above at that price, instead of it listing for over $60.

http://www.jazzloft.com/p-50169-ballads-blues.aspx

[thelbc]

DrJ and Dmitry posting....long time, no see.

Victor,

Venus is good, but what are you comparing them to? Pretty strong statement.

I buy their vinyl only...super product! Thick cardboard, great cover photos, dead quiet vinyl.

Engaging sound, but the sound is far from in the studio....enjoy just the same.

[Stonewall15]

I recently purchased the "This Is Pat Moran" CD on eBay. I luckily received the Japanese Venus Records version and am I impressed! The sound is bright, clear and each instrument really stands out. The re-mastering job was excellent. I was not aware about the Venus quality until reading this thread and I now realize I inadvertently got a superior CD.

The primary reason for obtaining this CD was to get another performance by bassist Scott LaFaro. His work here is outatanding. Most of the pieces are upbeat and you get to hear Scott extensively in solo work as well as accompanying the piano of Pat Moran.

[Victor Christensen]

About Venus prices, Jazz Messengers in Barcelona have quite a few of them, actually a lot, prices ranging from 12.95 Euro to 18.95 Euro, they have some on offer right now. I might buy some Barney Wilen, even if I have some CD-R's of them.

Vic

[Kevin Bresnahan]

Eh, Venus Records only puts out hard bop albums with guys like that boring Eric Alexander. They're not worth the money. If they were any good, I'd buy a few. As it is, I bet I only have 50 or so.

[Claude]

I have a couple of Venus SACDs and CDs, but I don't think their sound is exceptional. Many of them are too loud (compressed) and therefore lack subtlety. This is most noticeable in the bass which sounds slightly boomy and blurred. It's as if the engineers wanted to imitate Rudy Van Gelder's "fat" Blue Note sound.

I think there are other jazz labels who don't have the audiophile reputation of Venus but make better recordings.

Edited March 19, 2010 by Claude

[Daniel A]

As far as Venus CD:s are concerned (I don't have an SACD player), I totally agree with Claude. If you're a fan of the featured artists the music is mostly fine, however.

[J.A.W.]

I also agree with Claude's assessment.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

I do agree that they make loud CDs. At the wine store where I work on Saturdays, I created an mp3 playlist of all ballads. Whenever the tracks from Eric Alexander's "Gentle Ballads" come on, they are noticeably louder. It's to the point where I am probably going to remove them from the playlist. It's annoying when some nice bluesey ballad ends and then when the next one starts, it's blaring away like you cranked up the volume.

The strangest thing about it is that the playlist has tracks from many labels and many artists. These Venus tracks are the only ones that get too loud.

Kevin

[AllenLowe]

years ago I did some sound work for Venus on some reissues - a very slick pianist named Smith (can't remember the first name, was not Gene) and I think a Joe Albany, and a Walter Bishop. The original sources they usually gave me, as I recall, were pretty terrible (sounded like needle drops on Lps in very bad shape). I don't know if the stuff was ever issued.

[michel devos]

Eh, Venus Records only puts out hard bop albums with guys like that boring Eric Alexander. They're not worth the money. If they were any good, I'd buy a few. As it is, I bet I only have 50 or so.

Disappointed to read the word "boring" next to Eric Alexander's....i'm trying to save some money to buy the Venus Ballads albums : is there anyone else who would have an opinion about them?

Thanks