Description
Offered for sale is a scarce Mobile Fidelity half speed mastered pressing of the 1958 LP Basie Plays Hefti by Count Basie and his orchestra.
Basie Plays Hefti has long been one of our favorite Mobile Fidelity LPs, as it has a big, fat soundstage. It’s a terrific recording, and the material, all written by Neil Hefti, is first-rate, as well.
Tracks are:
“Has Anyone Here Seen Basie” – 2:42
“Cute” – 3:10
“Pensive Miss” – 3:48
“Sloo Foot” – 3:08
“It’s Awf’ly Nice to Be With You” – 3:31
“Scoot” – 2:28
“A Little Tempo, Please” – 2:36
“Late Date” – 3:17
“Count Down” – 2:45
“Bag’a Bones” – 2:42
“Pony Tail” – 3:59
You can listen to the first track, “Has Anyone Here Seen Basie?” here:
Every title ever issued by Mobile Fidelity is collectible in its own right; their pressings from 1978 through 1989 were pressed in Japan by JVC on their proprietary Super Vinyl, an exceptionally resilient, dead-quiet vinyl compound, with later issues pressed in the U.S. by RTI on 200 gram vinyl.
These records were mastered at half speed; both the tape and the cutting lathe were run at half the normal speed, allowing the cutting head to cut a more accurate groove in the acetate. The finished product featured dead-quiet vinyl, with improved dynamics, better imaging, and tighter bass. By their very nature, all of Mobile Fidelity’s titles were limited-edition pressings, and Basie Plays Hefti was limited to an unknown number of copies.
About this copy: This copy of Basie Plays Hefti is a half speed mastered audiophile pressing, issued by Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs in the early 1980s.
The cover is VG++, with traces of wear at the edges and corners. There’s a discolored area on the front cover where a price sticker was removed. No posterboard stiffener.
The record is M- and aside from a spindle mark or two on the label, looks unplayed.
A nice copy of a terrific record.
