Higher resolution Jazz

Here's something that was an absolute truth for me. Older Jazz records (early '60's and before) suffered from a lack of bass content. To my ears, most acoustic Jazz recordings (virtually all of them) seemed to have had this muddy bass 'presence' but lacked in definition, melody, and impact. It truly wasn't until I got into better gear (namely, turntables) that I realized the bass was there all along!!

"Jazz at the Pawn Shop" syndrome.
The music was well recorded, and so the album is used endlessly to demo equipment. Pity the performance is crap.
Jazz IS all about the performance, and the performers interacting. And not much about 'sonic candy'.
A huge amount of really great jazz was recorded on 78
s, and basically all you can do to hear those is to listen to a transcription from someone's old 78 to CD, or to LP reissues still from 78 sources.
Then the late 40's and all of the 50's is still mono.
To ignore that music? wow.

Elizabeth returns with a bang. Well said. I also love Jazzcourier's comment about ECM's sound being a "sonic iceberg". Many good suggestions so far.

As always, Elizabeth tells it like it is !
I like to listen to Jazz because it is fascinating to listen to 5 different guys playing 5 different instruments
play the same 8 bars is such creative ways not only in their solos, but in how they back up other players in idiosyncratic ways through different modes and changes.

And how such great masters like Horace Silver,Jackie McLean, Sonny Clark et al can say SO much in so few notes!
Similar ,to my ears anyway, to how the greatest classical pianists often say the most between notes.

Elizabeth,

Sorry -- but "all of the 50s" was not mono. There was a lot of stereo in the 50s.