Andrew Hill – Point Of Departure

I just picked this up through BN's spring sale direct from the label. I just spun it twice straight out of the shrink. Lays flat, plays perfectly, sounds great. Maybe these pressings are dicey, I don't know, but I had zero issues. Also this music is unreal. Dolphy & Henderson! Wow!

Significant warpage on side B. Please do better, folks. Don’t make me regret vinyl.

I usualy buy everything by Eric Dolphy, but here we have Kenny Dorham, Joe Henderson, Richard Davis and Anthony Williams too. This is a great jazz record. Rudy Van Gelder, Kevin Gray,...and of course Andrew Hill on piano.

Just bough this from January sales for 10€.
After the first listen I was disappointed. All the B-side with distortion and I was going to leave a bad review like some others have done here for the same reasons, and ask for a product return...
But before that, I wanted to do a serious cleaning, without hoping too much, to be certain that it was a defective pressing. I always use a vinyl gel cleaner which is unrivaled for optimal cleaning.
I was amazed at how effective it was!
Not only have the unbearable distortions disappeared, but the entire disc has found all its dynamism and revealed all its clarity!
This pressing is wonderfully well balanced, the soundstage is detailed with Dolphy and Dorham on the left, Hendersen and Williams on the right and Hill and Davis on the center.
The drums are very readable and ultra detailed with the cymbals, very clear and never tiring, a little further to the right and the bass drums slightly more central. The bass is vibrant.
Kevin Gray has, once again, done a sumptuous job. This man is a genius.
This Classic series version doesn't benefit from the superb presentation of the Tone Poet series but, for the price, it's fantastic.
Thanks to the quality of this pressing I loved this album which, at first listen, was not the easiest to access. Now, it's probably one of my favorite Hill's album.
I highly recommend this pressing... provided it undergoes a serious and deep cleaning.

Marantz PM8005
Rega P3
Ortofon 2M Bronze
Dali Ikon MKII

Completely amazing in all aspects. Bizarre music. Top recording. Thank you!

Solid record. Great pressing. No issues on either side. When I first heard this record years ago I couldn’t get into it. Now I can’t get enough.

man I've gotten two in a row that have warps.. phenomenal record but want a flat copy of this..

A vast majority of the jazz in my collection would probably be classified as 'soul jazz' (McDuff, McGriff, Holmes, all the Smiths), but POINT OF DEPARTURE has enough post-bop at its roots to make it approachable, and what an incredible group of musicians. This is a fantastic pressing, extremely quiet, with crystal clear percussion and bass, and nice stereo separation, resulting in a wide, spacious soundstage. My copy has zero issues in regards to non-fill, stitching, etc. Flawless.

I bought Evolution by Grachan Moncur III and Anthony Williams' Spring from this Blue Note series and they were perfect. Followed through with this Andrew Hill record and unfortunately this one has so much distortion, they sound like digital glitches, that it just unlistenable. I guess it is hit and miss with the Classic (classick?) Vinyl Series. What is up with Optimal (? ... what's in a name) Media, where is quality control and pride in pressing records? Approach with caution!

Picked up a flawless copy today. DEAD quiet. Sounds as good as any expensive audiophile pressings in my collection. Most important: great music. A joy to listen to.