Best sounding live albums

PA · « **Reply #40 on:** 19 Jul 2015, 10:57 pm »

Quote from: K.F. on 23 Jan 2015, 07:04 pm

Best live albums, and to get off the beaten path of albums we all know only too well, I put this album from the small but highly acclaimed Sound Liaison label on top, but also because I really do think the download is superior in sound quality, even when compared to ECM's Keith Jarrett.
Bobby Timmons ''in Person'' is an old favorite with a prominent Ron Carter right in the middle of the sound stage, and no I don't think that my LP's sounds better than these hi-res downloads. I wish they did but ....that is life. On the plus side I would probably not have discovered these wonderful ''young'' musicians if I had been stuck with only listening to my vast collection of L.P's.
(This was an answer to another thread but I thought it might be a nice topic.)

1. Batik; the old Man and the Sea. http://www.soundliaison.com/

2. Keith Jarrett; Somewhere http://www.hdtracks.com/somewhere-live-in-lucerne-2009

3. Bobby Timmons Trio ( LP)

nice session video of Batik;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJVtFRjqSnE

PA · « **Reply #41 on:** 24 Aug 2015, 04:12 pm »

''Keith Jarrett at the Deerhead inn'' is good;

walkern · « **Reply #42 on:** 24 Aug 2015, 04:25 pm »

I'd like to toss in a vote for Eva Cassidy 'Live at Blues Alley'.

Phil_S · « **Reply #43 on:** 24 Aug 2015, 04:25 pm »

Clear, Dynamic, analog!

decal · « **Reply #44 on:** 24 Aug 2015, 05:46 pm »

Jumpin · « **Reply #45 on:** 24 Aug 2015, 07:43 pm »

Garcia / Grisman The Pizza Tapes. May not be the best technically, but such an intimate & you are there feel.

jimdgoulding · « **Reply #46 on:** 1 Oct 2015, 04:43 pm »

Canadian Russell Dawkins, a former Audio Circle contributor, recorded this and its a SOTA recording of a live concert of four international guitarists: Clive Carroll, Miguel de la Bastide, Brian Gore, and a self taught fellow from Madagascar, D'Gary. It was the latter that perked my interest as I had recently heard him on the radio: International Guitar Night II (www.internationalguitarnight.com). This is in the vanguard of "best sounding live albums", trust me, and the playing is out of this world. Enjoy or miss out on a treasure. Cheers.

GentleBender · « **Reply #47 on:** 1 Oct 2015, 07:10 pm »

Quote from: jimdgoulding on 1 Oct 2015, 04:43 pm

Canadian Russell Dawkins, a former Audio Circle contributor, recorded this and its a SOTA recording of a live concert of four international guitarists: Clive Carroll, Miguel de la Bastide, Brian Gore, and a self taught fellow from Madagascar, D'Gary. It was the latter that perked my interest as I had recently heard him on the radio: International Guitar Night II (www.internationalguitarnight.com). This is in the vanguard of "best sounding live albums", trust me, and the playing is out of this world. Enjoy or miss out on a treasure. Cheers.

You guys are killing me.

After listening to just two small clips I had to buy tickets to see them February 5th! Is any of this available on vinyl???

jonbee · « **Reply #48 on:** 1 Oct 2015, 07:18 pm »

Neil Young at Massey Hall is surprisingly good, as well as Leonard Cohen in Paris. As mentioned before, Little Feat Waiting for Columbus and Patricia Barber Companion are well worth owning.
That said, Lee Ritenour "Overtime" on Blu-ray is the best audio and video quality I've encountered, recorded live in a largish studio in front of a small audience. Truly spectacular sound and picture, lite jazz mostly, but it has some very good players and good moments.

roymail · « **Reply #49 on:** 1 Oct 2015, 08:22 pm »

Diana Krall - Live in Paris (well recorded)

jimdgoulding · « **Reply #50 on:** 1 Oct 2015, 10:11 pm »

Quote from: PA on 18 Apr 2015, 04:59 pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BRVDuuFVqI

So, I'm sitting in The Jazz Workshop in San Francisco and Cannonball Adderly and his quintet have just finished a set when I hear a voice right behind me . . "Yes, Cannon". I recognized that voice immediately to be Carmen McRae. She was on break from her gig across the street at Sugar Hill. Makes me wonder if she wasn't recording this album at that time.

Her album "Lover Man and other Billie Holiday Classics" (Columbia) is to die for.

paul79 · « **Reply #51 on:** 1 Oct 2015, 11:26 pm »

The Mighty Sam Mclain, 17th Annual Blues Festival. Also Hugh Masekela "Hope". Both available at Acoustic Sounds, and both sound GLORIOUS!

jonoaustin · « **Reply #52 on:** 9 Oct 2015, 05:42 pm »

I've become quite familiar with the Umphrey's McGee live stuff, as I've been lathe-cutting a batch of them for the band. They record pretty much EVERYTHING they perform from what I can tell. Every year they release of Hall of Fame, which are the best live recordings from that particular year. Very well recorded, and the performances are stunning.

charmerci · « **Reply #53 on:** 9 Oct 2015, 10:26 pm »

I wonder if Van Morrison's - Astral Weeks Live at the Hollywood Bowl - counts.

It sounds great but it sounds like you are at the concert listening to the PA speakers.

Russell Dawkins · « **Reply #54 on:** 9 Oct 2015, 10:48 pm »

Quote from: jimdgoulding on 1 Oct 2015, 04:43 pm

Canadian Russell Dawkins, a former Audio Circle contributor, recorded this and its a SOTA recording of a live concert of four international guitarists: Clive Carroll, Miguel de la Bastide, Brian Gore, and a self taught fellow from Madagascar, D'Gary. It was the latter that perked my interest as I had recently heard him on the radio: International Guitar Night II (www.internationalguitarnight.com). This is in the vanguard of "best sounding live albums", trust me, and the playing is out of this world. Enjoy or miss out on a treasure. Cheers.

Thanks for the mention Jim! I still have the masters and may one day play around with a re-mix of at least one of the tracks - Clive Caroll's tribute to Michael Hedges - 'Aerial Discoveries'. I would like to include the introduction and reduce the compression. It is pretty spectacular with less compression and I'm afraid I bowed a bit to what I perceived the client would want/expect even though I would have chosen a quieter average level (and more dynamic sound) if I were mixing for myself.

Russell

FullRangeMan · « **Reply #55 on:** 10 Oct 2015, 11:26 am »

I unknow Russel is a rec man congrats.
No compression is the way to go for sound quality.
As demoed many times in rock music musicians like compression.
The morons think a louder sound is better sound quality.
They dont have interest in a better sound CD for the fans.
They want a louder CD to listen in the car, Unfortunately.

Russell Dawkins · « **Reply #56 on:** 10 Oct 2015, 04:34 pm »

Quote from: FullRangeMan on 10 Oct 2015, 11:26 am

I unknow Russel is a rec man congrats.
No compression is the way to go for sound quality.
As demoed many times in rock music musicians like compression.
The morons think a louder sound is better sound quality.
They dont have interest in a better sound CD for the fans.
They want a louder CD to listen in the car, Unfortunately.

It's not as simple as that.
No compression is not the way to go for 99.9% of listening situations. The trick is to do it properly.
When we listen to the real thing, our hearing mechanism does an awful lot of compression without our realizing it.
To duplicate the live experience, in my view, compression is necessary. It took me 15 years to come to grips with this after thinking it through over and over.

By the way, there is an equivalent challenge with photography. Due to our way of seeing, which involves dynamic compression, digital photos, raw, can look too contrasty.
The shadows have to be lightened and the highlights darkened to better simulate what we experience with our eyes. The film process does this as a by-product
of the process in a way similar to what analog tape does–both reduce dynamic range in a pleasant way. I believe this to be at the heart of the preference for sound recorded on tape,
or even passing through a tape stage when having been digitally recorded.

Finally it is unfair to categorize rock musicians as morons because they like compression.
I see too many instances of un-informed audiophiles glibly bashing the recording engineers and musicians in such a way.
Generally everyone involved is passionately striving for the absolute best sound they can come up with to express themselves and please you, the consumer.
I used to think that way before I became involved in the process and found out the recordings I was hoping to emulate or improve upon were in fact damn good and almost impossible to equal,
let alone improve upon.
30 years later I still feel the same.

FullRangeMan · « **Reply #57 on:** 10 Oct 2015, 08:44 pm »

Thanks Russell for you reply.
I have no experience in mastering so I will believe you.
I have know how no compression sound only afew years
ago when listening IsoMike CDs.
Ray said he dont use compression the sound was stellar.

Russell Dawkins · « **Reply #58 on:** 10 Oct 2015, 09:06 pm »

Back in 2005 I sent a completely un-compressed orchestral recording out to a number of Audiocircle members. Some found that their systems
did not have enough gain with their volume controls at max to make the quiet section sufficiently audible, then, when the peaks came around,
they did not have enough system headroom for their systems not to distort. This was a recording of a 95 piece orchestra playing Prokofiev's
Romeo an Juliet Suite. There are a couple of fortissimo chords near the start of the piece, each followed by the violins playing extremely quietly.
I believe it is written ffff and pppp, in opposition to music notation convention of the time, which would have been fff and ppp, only.
The dynamic swing is around 60dB which would never conventionally allowed. The conductor, with true audiophile sentiment, did not want it compressed
and I went along with that, being similarly crazy in 1994.
Trouble is, it's near-unplayable. Tsk!
I've since re-mastered it to have the same dynamic swing reduced to 45dB or so. It's still exciting.

FullRangeMan · « **Reply #59 on:** 10 Oct 2015, 09:41 pm »

I sorry to hear it, I unknow the situation was so dramatic.
Do you believe IsoMile SACDs are uncompressed?