Charles McPherson Quartet - But Beautiful / 2LP Venus Records

An amazing album by an amazing artist: American jazz musician Charles McPherson grew up in Detroit and first started playing the flugelhorn at school. At the age of 13, he switched to the alto saxophone and shortly afterwards

began taking lessons from Barry Harris, in whose band he also played. After studying at the Larry Teal School of Music, McPherson moved to New York City in 1959, where he reunited with Harris and trumpeter Lonnie Hillyer.

Together with Hillyer, he joined Charles Mingus in 1960. With a few interruptions, he played in Mingus' band until 1972 and toured Europe with him. He also performed with Harris, played for Art Farmer, Bobby Jones and Lionel Hampton,

and recorded his first album in 1964. In 1967, McPherson won the Down Beat poll for saxophonists. In the following years, he performed with Dexter Gordon and Howard McGhee, as well as Nat Adderley, Charlie Shoemake and Toshiko

Akiyoshi. In Clint Eastwood's feature film “Bird,” he played the ensemble and solo parts of Charlie Parker for which original recordings of Parker could not be used. On “But Beautiful,” recorded at Avatar Studio in New York on July 24 and 25, 2003,

McPherson is accompanied by first-class pianist Steve Kuhn, David Williams on bass and Leroy Williams on drums. McPherson impresses with his unmistakable tone and his radiant, emotional playing, which is deeply rooted in bebop. Ken Dryden

of AllMusic aptly describes: “The alto saxophonist's tone has a slightly bluesy feel throughout the sessions, as if he were reminiscing about a past love... The relaxed mood makes this album perfect for late-night listening.”

Venus Records was founded in Japan in 1992 by Tetsuo Hara, who previously worked as a producer for RCA Victor. The prestigious label uses a special mastering process called “Hyper Magnum Sound” for the strictly limited double LP of “But Beautiful”.

The records are cut at 33 RPM and pressed on 180-gram vinyl, which produces a powerful, present sound and is highly appreciated by audiophiles worldwide. A quick note: Venus LPs are only pressed once! Once the edition is sold out, the title is removed

from the catalog and will not be reissued. Collectors should therefore not wait too long to place their orders: all releases of the “Venus Masterpiece Collection” are extremely popular!

Venus LPs are pressed only once. After the first edition is sold out, the titles are removed from the catalog. Collectors should therefore consider a purchase in time.

We recommend the use of "L'Art du Son" LP cleaner to wet wash your vinyl. Even new records of high quality production will benefit from this.

Title

LP 1

Side A

1. Be My Love
2. But Beautiful

Side B

1. I Should Care
2. My Ideal

LP 2

Side C

1. I'll Never Stop Loving You
2. Gone With The Wind
3. Love Letters

Side D

4. We'll Be Together Again
5. I Didn't Know What Time It Was