I've got another one for you: Chris McGregor Brotherhood Of Breath "Country Cooking" - 1988 on Venture/Virgin Records (LP 1-90998). The late Chris McGregor was a white South Africian jazz pianist, who left South Africa for England in the mid-1960's with the rest of his mixed race group, The Blue Notes whose other members included the late alto saxophonist Dudu Pukwana, the late trumpeter Mongezi Feza, the late bassist Johnny Dyani and still living drummer Louis Moholo. Throughout the 1970's and 1980's he led a wonderful big band in England called Brotherhood of Breath and this long out of print LP is just killer. Super arrangements, comopsitions, playing and first rate recording. If you look hard enough you could probably find it for a couple of bucks. Well worth hunting down. Also check out anything you can find with Johnny Dyani - who is one of jazz's great unsung bass players.
Hidden Audiophile Classics
Just about every audiophile has a few "hidden" classics - you know those great sounding recordings that never seem to appear on any super disc or recommended recordings list published in the high end audio press. Well there's no need for them to remain a secret - so how about sharing some of them with your fellow 'philes out here. My first contribution to the this thread is Lyle Lovett's "Step Inside This House" a great sounding 2 CD set from back in 1998 which while well reviewed, never recieved any praises for it's truly excellent sound. A studio recording of Lovett and his "small" band covering other songwriters tunes, the recording sounds like it was done "live" in the studio. The playing is tight and the personel remains fairly constant throughout - which is always a good sign. What are some of your "hidden" gems??