Something I have discovered about United Artists-era Blue Note reissues of the 70's is that when they are not labeled specifically as "VAN GELDER", "RVG", etc... then they have been remastered by in house UA engineers. My case in point was when I ordered a copy of Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers - The Freedom Rider a few days ago. It was under
this listing which specified having a VAN GELDER stamp. Everything about this pressing was correct when I received it, except for the all-important presence of VAN GELDER. This specific pressing was remastered by Ralph Eck and bears the "ℰcK" etching to denote this. I have listened to this, a Music Matters pressing of The Big Beat, and an OG RVG stereo copy of Moanin' to compare the mastering and, while this is not
terrible, it is definitely not as good as either of the others. Eck's mastering seems to be compressed and does not offer as big a sound. Things are slightly muffled compared to the others.
The moral of the story? Always ask a discogs seller to verify the details of a record before purchasing! I've already contacted the seller to return this record AND managed to find a much earlier, Division of Liberty pressing of this which claims to be NM!