Good MONO recordings

I have a Stanley Getz CD that is an outstanding mono recording. One of my favorites to kick back to: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000046ZJ/qid=1134573485/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_3/104-6139871-4541512?v=glance&s=music

One of my absolute favorites is Toscaninni doing Respighi's the Pines of Rome. His opening movement has done more to make it lifelike and jump out of the speakers than anyone else's. There have been better recording, more audiophile but for sheer music and dynamics his opening cannot be beat IMHO.

I listen to a great range of music and would hesitate to categorize it in a nice neat package like "jazz" or "rock" or whatever that said, most any recording on vinyl that was originally produced and mastered exclusively in mono and later offered in stereo is better in mono. To my ear, even with the caveat of the use of a stereo cartridge, I'll take the mono recording. Have you ever noticed that the mono recordings may lose some of the width in sound stage over stereo but gain back in spades the dynamics and depth of sound stage? Classic records Blue Note (jazz) mono recordings are an excellent example, very nice. Early rock albums such as the Stones, Buffalo Springfield, the Animals, Beatles, or the Kinks IMHO are at there best on mono recordings. Stereo is a great thing if it is produced for properly in the first place. One of my favorite examples is the Ellington –Jazz Party album on Columbia 360 Sound, if you listen to the stereo version by Classic records you will believe it couldn’t get any better but, go out and find (if you can) a mono version of this fine performance and it will smoke the stereo version, hands down! I don’t think Classic records is to blame on this one, it’s just the difference between the stereo and mono versions, as I stated, the stereo version is a real nice copy. Happy Listening!