[GentleBender]

Last nights spinning class...
Street Sweeper Social Club (2009)

[jimdgoulding]

Sibelius Sym #1 in E minor Op 39 + Finlandia Op 26:7 (BIS);
Havergal Brian Sym #6 "Sinfonia Tragica" (hnh records).

Dumbfoundedly beautiful.

[neobop]

1965 Blue Note

Dexter Gordon - tenor saxophone
Freddie Hubbard - trumpet
Barry Harris - piano
Bob Cranshaw, Ben Tucker - bass
Billy Higgins - drums

This album wasn't released until '79 - one of those white covers with a rainbow in the corner.  Seems like another regular session until Dexter and Freddy start playing.  They were so good it's unreal.

This one was released in '64:



Dexter Gordon - tenor saxophone
Donald Byrd - trumpet
Kenny Drew - piano
Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen - bass
Art Taylor - drums

This is an album that lays in the groove, Dexter's silky sound tickles and entices and Byrd soars lyrical.   With a rhythm section that's stupendous, don't miss out.  This is one of the most beautiful ever.
neo

[Sonny]

[jimdgoulding]

1965 Blue Note

Dexter Gordon - tenor saxophone
Freddie Hubbard - trumpet
Barry Harris - piano
Bob Cranshaw, Ben Tucker - bass
Billy Higgins - drums

This album wasn't released until '79 - one of those white covers with a rainbow in the corner.  Seems like another regular session until Dexter and Freddy start playing.  They were so good it's unreal.

This one was released in '64:



Dexter Gordon - tenor saxophone
Donald Byrd - trumpet
Kenny Drew - piano
Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen - bass
Art Taylor - drums

This is an album that lays in the groove, Dexter's silky sound tickles and entices and Byrd soars lyrical.   With a rhythm section that's stupendous, don't miss out.  This is one of the most beautiful ever.
neo

Neo, my how lyrically we are waxing these days.  Keep it up for ole Jim, thanks.

[mresseguie]

My first post in this thread (just bought a 2nd hand (3rd?) Sony PS-LX350H TT). It's been 30 years since my last TT.

I'm listening to Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush "Tales of the Unexpected".

I once owned this LP - it was a special pressing. Memories.....

I now own a whopping 16 LPs that I bought from an AC member recently.

[PierreB]

[neobop]

Neo, my how lyrically we are waxing these days.  Keep it up for ole Jim, thanks.

Hi Jim,
Long tall Dex made a lot of great records, but One Flight Up is an A number 1 work of unparalleled groove.  Donald Byrd sounds wonderful here.  It really is the perfect combination of Dex's sax appeal tone and Byrd's soaring flight control.  Rhythm sections don't get any better than this. 

Speaking of Donald Byrd, this is another must have:



neo
 

[neobop]

1974 Japanese pressing - DG recording

Carlos Kleiber was the greatest conductor of the 20th century, and probably for all time.  This rendition of the 5th is thrilling. 

neo

[S Clark]

Carlos Kleiber was the greatest conductor of the 20th century, and probably for all time.  This rendition of the 5th is thrilling. 

neo

Now that's a bold statement!!

[neobop]

Now that's a bold statement!!

By all means don't take my word for it, I'm no authority on classical music.  Please check it out for yourself.  When I listen to Kleiber's reading of familiar symphonies, it all seems to come together and make sense.  No pregnant pauses changing drama into melodrama or awkward phrases that don't flow one after the other, your not distracted.  It's as if your hearing the work as it was meant to be played.  Here's a brief biography:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Kleiber

BBC Music Magazine, one of the more popular of such journals, announced on 17 March 2011 that Kleiber had been selected as "the greatest conductor of all time." Some 100 current conductors, including Sir Colin Davis, Gustavo Dudamel, Valery Gergiev and Mariss Jansons, participated in the BBC poll. Kleiber, who conducted just 96 concerts and around 400 operatic performances in his 74 years, was voted ahead of Leonard Bernstein and Claudio Abbado, who took second and third places respectively.

Susanna Mälkki, Music director, Ensemble Intercontemporain, and one of the conductors polled, commented: "Carlos Kleiber brought an incredible energy to music… Yes, he did have about five times as much time to rehearse than conductors do today, but he deserved it because his vision was remarkable, he knew what he wanted, and his attention to detail was truly inspiring."

Jeremy Pound, Deputy Editor of BBC Music Magazine, added: "Asking 100 of today's conducting greats to name their idols and inspirations was a fascinating experience. Not least when so many named Carlos Kleiber, who in the course of his whole lifetime conducted fewer concerts than most of them direct in just a couple of years. Kleiber's incredible attention to detail, sheer enthusiasm for music, and astonishingly accomplished level of performance could never be doubted – perhaps 'less is more' is the real path to true greatness?"

neo

[S Clark]

Thanks for the info, Neo.  Posts like this are the reason I hang around these circles.  I'll start looking today.

[etcarroll]

Been looking for a clean copy of One Flight Up for awhile, guess I'll have to add Clubhouse to the list. I have just about all the rest of Dex' discography I want, love his playing.

I have a few of D Byrd's works, like them but don't love them, I wonder if In Flight would change my mind?

Hi Jim,
Long tall Dex made a lot of great records, but One Flight Up is an A number 1 work of unparalleled groove.  Donald Byrd sounds wonderful here.  It really is the perfect combination of Dex's sax appeal tone and Byrd's soaring flight control.  Rhythm sections don't get any better than this. 


neo

[etcarroll]

These lists of who is the best are meant to 'stir the pot' as much as anything. However, I now will have to go through my collection and look to see if I have any works with him conducting.

And does it seem so many German conductors' last name begins with 'k', Klemperer, Karajan, Kleiber?

Gene

By all means don't take my word for it, I'm no authority on classical music.  Please check it out for yourself.  When I listen to Kleiber's reading of familiar symphonies, it all seems to come together and make sense.  No pregnant pauses changing drama into melodrama or awkward phrases that don't flow one after the other, your not distracted.  It's as if your hearing the work as it was meant to be played.  Here's a brief biography:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Kleiber

BBC Music Magazine, one of the more popular of such journals, announced on 17 March 2011 that Kleiber had been selected as "the greatest conductor of all time." Some 100 current conductors, including Sir Colin Davis, Gustavo Dudamel, Valery Gergiev and Mariss Jansons, participated in the BBC poll. Kleiber, who conducted just 96 concerts and around 400 operatic performances in his 74 years, was voted ahead of Leonard Bernstein and Claudio Abbado, who took second and third places respectively.
neo

[neobop]

Been looking for a clean copy of One Flight Up for awhile, guess I'll have to add Clubhouse to the list. I have just about all the rest of Dex' discography I want, love his playing.

I have a few of D Byrd's works, like them but don't love them, I wonder if In Flight would change my mind?

Hi Gene,
Clubhouse has been reissued on vinyl with the cover pictured above.  It's one of the popularly priced ones, said to be pressed by Scorpio.  There are no obvious defects. SQ is listenable, but isn't the greatest.  Sounds like the tape is a generation or two from the original.  While it's a good session, One Flight Up is my favorite Dexter album.  I guess the rhythm section has something to do with that.  Without looking at the back cover, I think it was recorded in Paris and one flight up refers to an apartment of a female admirer, where they used to hang out.  The guys were stars in Europe and back home they could barely make a living. 

Donald Byrd records are a mixed bag IMO.  Later in his career he did the Blackbirds thing and I don't relate.  Byrd in Flight was recorded in '60.  Although I'm not familiar with all of his recordings, this is his best that I know of.   I have some others.  When I get a chance I'll go through them and post results.
In my mind I'm always taking a chance when Jackie McLean is on an album.  Sometimes he played great and other times he was so out of tune I can't listen.  He sounds good on this one.
neo



 

[neobop]

1959 Blue Note

Donald Byrd - trumpet
Charlie Rouse - tenor sax
Pepper Adams - baritone sax
Walter Davis, Jr. - piano
Sam Jones - bass
Art Taylor - drums

If you're unfamiliar with a particular record and want to guess if it might be to your liking,  first look at the personnel.   That, and maybe some back cover description will tell you more than anything else, about the contents.  You really can't go by the tune selection.  Ever hear Trane play Chim Chim Chree?

This is a good straight up session.  The tunes are written or arranged to compliment the horns and Pepper Adams on baritone growls appropriately.  His voice is featured in both solos and the ensemble.   Charlie Rouse sounds much like he did with Monk, no complaints there.

Byrd was an excellent trumpet player.  Technically proficient, he had good tone and technique with a polished style.  Sometimes the beginning of the first phrase is explosive.  This can be a bit of a shock, but Byrd comes out singing (with his horn).  Sam Jones is great, as always, and Art Taylor as well.  Walter Davis Jr. plays straight accompaniment with  decent solos.  This was Byrd's second Blue Note album - a good album and they get even better.
neo

[neobop]

1961 Blue Note

Pepper Adams - baritone sax
Herbie Hancock - piano
Butch Warren - bass
Billy Higgins - drums

I was going to save this for later, but I played it last night along with Byrd in Hand and now I don't see much point in saving it.  Most people consider this to be Byrd's best Blue Note.  It would be hard to argue with that.  This one is more complex and grooves at the same time.  Herbie wrote one of the tunes here on his first Blue Note appearance, a good taste of things to come.  Butch Warren and Billy Higgins team up for solid support and appear on a million or two Blue Notes. 

That complexity includes playing two different scales at the same time in a kind of ultra linear modal.  It's not like it's atonal or out.  This isn't long after Miles came out with Kind of Blue.  Modal was hip and everybody here can play.   I like Byrd in Flight for the sheer beauty.  Royal Flush has the groove in an intellectual sort of way.  The question is, does it swing?  You bet.
neo

[GentleBender]

Above

Mad Season
Barrett Martin - Drums
Mike McCready - Lead Guitar
John Baker Saunders - Bass
Layne Staley - vocals, rhythm guitar

This album just sounds so good from start to finish.

[ArthurDent]

Donald Byrd records are a mixed bag IMO.  Later in his career he did the Blackbirds thing and I don't relate.  Byrd in Flight was recorded in '60.  Although I'm not familiar with all of his recordings, this is his best that I know of.   I have some others.  When I get a chance I'll go through them and post results.
In my mind I'm always taking a chance when Jackie McLean is on an album.  Sometimes he played great and other times he was so out of tune I can't listen.  He sounds good on this one.
neo

Hey neo, Thanks for the thoughts on DB. Agreed on the mixed bag aspect. My intro to him was in the early '70s, Electric Byrd, which I can recommend, though it is what would be considered a fusion album. It's pretty much a stand-a-lone style-wise. Check it out, would be interested in your take. 

JD

[jimdgoulding]

Are we a dying breed?  Analog lovers I mean.  Many members of my hi-fi club have become computer experts for playback.  The irony is that they are, or rather were, analog lovers.  I am popular amongst them cause of my record collection.  I have lots of rare and esoteric recordings in addition to more popular ones.  One fellow has a noise reduction component that really works w/o any penalty that I can detect.  That's a bonus.  For prosperity I suppose this is a good thing.  Any of you lads and lasses into this?  Any penalty you can detect? 

One fellow makes me copies on CD.  The neat thing about this is that I can compare his analog front end with my own tho my CD player isn't SOTA.  He uses a LYRA Titan MC phono cart in a radial tracking arm on a SOTA TT while I use a Koetsu Black MC in a Jelco 750 10" arm on a Micro Seiki BL91 TT.  My CD playback of the discs he burns for me is thru a rather old Denon DCD 1800R which he gave to me.  He has no use for it.  The thing weighs about 40lbs and is more lively that what it replaced.  So, I am able to compare his analog front end with my own, sorta.  His recordings don't have that Koetsu love but do have that LYRA transparency and finesse and no noise.

Anyway, for prosperity if nothing else this seems like a good idea.  What do you think?