An email came in this week with the latest releases from the UK company Pure Pleasure Records. I know ctproduced.com has some readers in the UK, though not nearly as many as in the USA. I don’t have any of the Pure Pleasure Records pressings, and since President Trump imposed tariffs on a wide range of goods from various countries, and they keep changing, I’ve just stopped buying overseas.
I’ve read inconsistent feedback on their quality, and my next post will have some ideas on how to identify and pick quality recordings in general. These do look interesting, though, and I’d love to hear back from anyone who has or buys any of these pressings. Longtime reader and All Points Radio DJ, John Kiefer – he of Sound Unbound [1]https://www.mixcloud.com/kiefferjohn/ left a comment to say that in his experience, the pressings have been positive; that’s good enough for me. John’s original comment can be seen below.
They have a number of releases and two new pressings. Both pressings are likely from the stereo mix-down master tapes originally sent to the UK for the original release.
God Bless The Child
Writing in UK magazine Hi-Fi+ in August 2015, Dennis Davis says of the Kenny Burrell “God Bless The Child” release, “As ever, Pure Pleasure has done an excellent job of the mastering and pressing of this album, one that does full justice to Rudy van Gelder’s original recording as well as the artistry of the musicians at work.” – which makes PPAN CTI6011 a repress [2]https://www.purepleasurerecords.com/pure_pleasure_store.html#!/Kenny-Burrell-God-Bless-The-Child/p/48469084.
All Blues
Ron Carter’s All Blues release is described as “Re-mastering by: Ray Staff at Air Mastering, Lyndhurst Hall, London,” and it includes a review by a friend of this website, Doug Payne. At least from this distance, PPAN CTI6037 – All Blues is a remaster [3]https://www.purepleasurerecords.com/new_releases.html#!/Ron-Carter-All-Blues/p/58171677.
You can see other CTI releases from Pure Pleasure Records, including Jobim’s “Stone Flower”, Art Farmer and Jim Hall’s “Big Blues”, and a couple of Freddie Hubbard’s here [4]https://www.purepleasurerecords.com/new_releases.html#!/~/search/keyword=CTI.
References
UPDATES: June 4th, 2026 Added John Keifer review.
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HI – I have the Pure Pleasure All Blues and also Freddie Hubbard’s Straight Life. Both of them sound very good – particularly the Ron Carter that seems to have a bigger soundstage than my early US pressing. My OG copy of Straight Life is too distressed to do a meaningful comparison. I’m definitely going to pick up the Burrell this time round. I only have that one on CD
Thansk for the feedback John, it’s great to hear. So few of the CTI albums are getting repressed that it is always good to see when they are. I’ll update the post to include your comments.
I’ve got a bunch of Pure Pleasure LPs: Hubbard/Turrentine In Concert, First Light, Straight Life, Sunflower, Sugar, & Concierto. They all sound (and look) excellent. Have the Ron Carter on pre-order, should arrive soon.
Also, I’m in the US and haven’t found the shipping costs particularly egregious.
Thanks David – that’s great news. If you feel up to writing a brief review of the Carter album when it arrives, please feel free and I’ll add it as it’s own post. A mention of the postage, tax etc. would be great as it would encourage others to buy from Pure Pleasure.