I've always enjoyed Joe Henderson's music, but his albums can be a little hard to find, so I was particularly pleased to find out that Analogue Productions has released Page One as part of their 45 RPM Blue Note Reissues series.

My copy of Page One just came in the mail last night and I haven't even listened to the whole thing yet, but I can tell you it's a winner all the way around.

Those of you who haven't compared a high-quality 45 RPM version of a record to its 33 RPM version are in for a treat. The 45 RPM versions are significantly better sonically and musically, and I must confess that I've become addicted to them lately.

These 45 RPM records go through a side in about 10 minutes, which is an advantage to us audio types, forcing us to get a little extra exercise by getting up off our fannies and flipping over records a little more often. Hey, I'm looking out for your health! But seriously, 45 RPM records give you a much better listening experience, and here's why (from the Analogue Productions insert):

"There's no debate: 45 RPM on a 12-inch record sounds WAY better that 33 1/3 ... The reason for the sonic superiority is a 35 percent reduction in groove curvature on a 45 RPM record as compared to a 33 1/3. Consider that at 33 1/3 RPM, a record takes 1.8 seconds to complete a revolution. Your cartridge is covers a lot more territory in that 1.8 seconds at the outer edge of your record than it is as it nears the center. Therefor, we say that the relative speed slows as the groove moves towards the center. As the relative speed slows, the grove curvature increases. The result is that your cartridge is as easily able to track the inner grooves of a record. We hear the difference as increased distortion and a considerable decrease in high frequencies. But when a record is cut at 45 RPM, it is spinning 35 percent faster than at 33 1/3, which means that the groove curvature is reduced by 35 percent. That's a major sonic advantage! It means that while you can't fit as much music onto a 45, the undulations of the groove that your cartridge has to track are stretched over a longer distance. Your cartridge comes that much closer to being a perfect tracker."

Regardless of the technical reasons, it's immediately obvious that something special is going on with the musicality and sonics of these 45 RPM records, not to mention the tender loving care that Analogue Productions applies during the reissuing process.

Since my VPI Classic turntable arrived I haven't listened to digital for a total of 5 minutes. Not that my digital front end isn't wonderful - it is. But after a little listening to vinyl, particularly vinyl as good as these 45 RPM Blue Note Reissues from Analogue Productions, it quickly dispels any ideas that good digital can compete head to head with good analog.

If you haven't had a chance to try any of the 45 RPM versions of the albums you love, time is a wasting, and you'll want to get copies before they become hard to get and the price goes through the roof. Oh yeah, Page One is highly recommended, it's a great album!