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A couple of comments.

1. Just like any other product, there are super expensive special editions that cater to the buyers who have the resources to purchase. Much like the art world, people like saying I have number 75 of a 100 special run Ansel Adams print (or whoever). This version, along with many first pressings, etc, are purchased from people all over the world. A local store, last month, had a decent copy of a first edition Saxaphone Colossus which sold for $2000 to somebody in South Korea. So why not manufacture NEW products geared toward this part of the buying community?

2. You do not need a kick starter for such. You already have it. Mofi, AP, MMJ, Speakers Corner, ORG, Superior Vioduct, Tone Poets, etc. Plus, pretty much everything is available, now, in 24/96 and higher. Many releases may not be available in the audiophile format due to record labels not allowing the tapes/files be released outside of their own label.

I would love to have this ERC $300 version, however, I'm perfectly fine with the audiophiile releases that are much lower in price. One other thing, One may actually be better of in investing in something like this vs placing $300 in a zero interest paying savings/CD account. Just store in a safe place.

You know, some of us love jazz. Dismissing the work of musicians like John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Dexter Gordon, etc as "70-yr old jazz from smoke-exhaling guys 99.9% of people have never heard of (much less listen to)" is harsh, to put it mildly. Some people love jazz, love vinyl and want that music to sound as good as possible. As much as I'd like to purchase this Monk release I can't do it right now. But I'm still glad this music is available. And why is it necessary to mention ethnicity? What does that have to do with it?

...to your comment if you hadn't thrown "black" in there.
Why would you care what color the dead sax players are?

BTW, Debbie Harry laughed in my face when I complimented her about the excellence of "Parallel Lines". That was right before she said "I've got my Fresca, let's get the fuck out of here".

I slept on your comment to reflect. I found it neither racist nor sexist... just amusingly provocative factual generalisations (and I love generalisations). As a lover of all things from Slayer to Sonny, Burzum to Blakey, Miley to Miles... I take your point. I have a lot of Audiophile LPs (including one ERC jazz release): double 45s, monos (played with a mono cart), lots of jazz, SAM records, Beach Boys, Joplin, both Elvises, Neil, Jimi, Cars, whatever... you get the idea. I find the Audiophile format plays out at its best with jazz. I think there's an airiness... room to breathe between the instruments that tends to really shine on these LPs. The others are all fantastic, but jazz really seems to shine. And maybe there's simply more money to be made from jazz collectors. I can understand that. Having said that, imagine ERC releasing the cis white Never Mind the Bollocks. I'd drop £300 in a mutha f'ing instant.

Several points to consider:

1) They are far superior to any previous edition. I have 2 and both are noticeably better than several other previous editions, both modern and vintage.

2) They cost a lot less than vintage out-of-print of same which likely are in bad shape.

3) Are all sold out after a few weeks, so clearly there's a market for them and, by definition, at least 300 people in the world who disagree with you.

4) Clearly they are not something most can swing monthly, but as a once-in-a-lifetime splurge, they beat a bottle of vintage Bordeaux or a fancy restaurant dinner because you can continue listening to them for decades.

5) Are 100% optional. You don't have to buy them, you don't need to be irked by them.

6) Being super limited editions, they are likely to appreciate in value over time. In fact, they do.

Your passion for vinyl is laudable - and your concerns for sometimes-bogus "audiophile" releases is well-founded. That said, you're dead wrong -- 1. Sonny Rollins - not dead 2. If you think that you cold hang with playing on Brilliant Corners, please post your performance. 70 years or yesterday -- doesn't matter - this is music that is inventive, vital, and alive -- and I'd put it up against nearly any jazz release of the past 70 years. Your propensity towards hyperbole is not conducive to strengthening your argument. The race angle...disturbing at the least.

Including Charles Lloyd, an African-American, among the list of "white men," is a clever way of showing that race, etc. really doesn't matter when it comes to the music.

Speakers Corner generally uses the original tape "copies" that were originally sent to Europe for their releases from the US. Maybe these tapes are the same thing. Then again, valuable, one of a kind items are shipped around the world everyday.

Per ERC, they fly to LA/California to get the tapes and personally fly them to the UK.

Works exclusively form the original tapes: "Monks masterpiece is re born in True Mono from the original analogue tapes some 64 years since the original release."

https://theelectricrecordingco.com/shop/brilliant-corners