[jsaliga]

Jacintha - Here's to Ben: A Vocal Tribute to Ben Webster




It's been a while since I posted to this thread, and I've had a truckload of new audiophile vinyl arrive in the last few days.  I'm cross posting this from Head-Fi since they have a thread going in the music forum on best in-production vinyl, and it seemed only appropriate to bring this particular title up here in this thread.

Before last week I have never heard of Jacintha. I stumbled upon her while browsing the Acoustic Sounds website shopping for vinyl. This recording is presented on two 180 gram 45 rpm LPs, and as one might expect the sound quality is simply astounding. The production values on this set are extremely high. While most of the time I am somewhat jaded about the tendency to over-produce contemporary jazz recordings, the high gloss really serves the music well in this instance.

As far as Jacintha's singing and instrumental accompaniment...it is very accessible straight ahead vocal interpretations of 10 songs that Ben Webster performed at some point in his career. But that is really where the association ends as Jacintha's voice is polished, smooth, and in no way resembles Webster's throaty, breathy tenor sax playing. That is not to say this isn't good music. I found the entire affair to be a very enjoyable and pleasant listen that is exceptionally well recorded and mixed. All said and done it would qualify as a reference recording and will make for mind-numbing demo material if you really want to impress a guest with how truely amazing vinyl can sound. It will probably be enough to get them to run for the CD exit sign. And at $34.99 for a pair of 45 rpm long players, what's not to like?

This offering is from Groove Note records, which means these are pressed by RTI. While the pair of LPs that I have played just fine, both had slight discoloration that plagues a lot of RTI pressed vinyl.

--Jerome

[carusoracer]

OK Jerome, your thread is killing me
This is what it is all about as Louis said awhile back. Great music!
I'm stuck with several new discs that I need to buy after looking at this list and it's all your fault

I do not have a TT in my set anymore nor do I have the Omega Speakers, must hear on my list, so I can not comment on the sound. I applaud your efforts of perusing the record bins after great finds.

I too suffer over great music that I know I have heard on Vinyl years ago yet struggle with CD quality. The re issues of or remasters of CD's that are too hot or just plain bland, over compressed, and lifeless.
I can also agree on the issues of word of mouth on great recordings and the ones to stay away from.
I'm not that big of a fan of SACD's from Verve as I find them hot, and sibilant over emphasizing the main instrument and not balancing the rest of the originally recorded music. Blue Note made some great recordings straight off with out the need for SACD or Re Issues.

I can recommend one hear but can not post the Album work: Curtis Counce
You Get more Bounce with Curtis Counce http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=1035801&cart=809593081

Keep up the great thread

BTW, if your near OH come by and we will listen to music until the cows come home

[jsaliga]

What can I say?  It's a dirty job but someone has to do it.

--Jerome

[jsaliga]

The Empire Strikes Back (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) - John Williams/London Symphony Orchestra



I'm not making this recommendation because I'm a Star Wars fanboy and think that George Lucas can do no wrong.  No sir.  Sure, I like Star Wars as much as the next guy I suppose...well, the first two films anyway.  But I strongly encourage you to decouple the soundtrack from the movie and listen to it critically and intently as a musical composition and performance.  If you can do that then it will be much easier for you to see and appreciate the sheer genius of John Williams in this work.  I see a lot of influences here, and the two that stand out the most to me are Richard Wagner and Dimitry Shostakovich.  The Imperial March still sounds as fresh and exciting as it did 28 years ago.  The Sony Collector's Edition CD sounds superb and is very much recommended.  However, if you own a turntable then by all means try to find yourself an original RSO double-LP vinyl release from 1980.  You owe it to yourself to give this a fresh look if you haven't already done so.

--Jerome

[rajacat]

 

Crescent is one of my favorite John Coltrane albums. This is the lyrical 'Trane, in the same vein as Ballads.I really like McCoy Tyner's piano work, Jimmy Garrison plays a very nice bass solo , in fact the whole group is a very well balanced blend of talent.  Coltrane readily shares the stage with all of the players. Considering that this is a CD the sound quality is superb....almost live. aa

--Roy

[rajacat]

Great sound quality. Unique creative modern style.

[laserboi]

Andrew Bird's latest album Noble Beast is a mix of his usual calm, melodic and upbeat musings as well as a few songs that remind me of some of Radiohead's finest. 

The album sounds amazing on the three systems I've listened to it on.  I definately recommend everyone give this album a try and if you find that you like it try the rest of his discography as it all holds great value.

Thanks for taking the time to listen and keep recommending great music!

-Pete

[jsaliga]

Drew Gress - 7 Black Butterflies



While I feel that the hills of bop and hard bop have been thoroughly mined in the 1950s and 1960s, one area of jazz that is still fertile and continues to develop is the avant garde.  Sure, there are still good artists out there recording very capable and listenable hard bop, but they aren't really covering any new ground.  Freer improvisation in jazz creates near-limitless possibilities.  The New York jazz scene has been the standard-bearer of the avant garde for the past couple of decades, and it shows no sign of letting up anytime soon.  This entry by bassist Drew Gress is a masterpiece.  There are moments of traditional structure that dissolve into freer improvisation.  The music does not go out of its way to be melodic, but it does not go atonal.  This makes the album more accessible to people who might otherwise be put off by the harsh saxaphone squonks of an Albert Ayler or Ornette Coleman.  Still, this music is probably not for everyone.  However, for those with an open mind and who are interested in broadening their musical horizons I cannot think of a better entry point into avant garde jazz.  This album richly rewards repeated listening and is highly recommended for those jazz fans with a sense of adventure.

With that said, this will probably be my last post here for quite some time.  If anyone needs to reach me just send me a PM.  I will receive an email and get back to you.  Take care.

--Jerome

[jsaliga]

The Beatles Remasters

At the risk of stating the obvious, if you are a rock fan then you owe it to yourself to look into the new Beatles remasters.   This is, in my opinion, the most important music release of 2009.  Several of these albums are making their debut in mono on the CD format, and for many audiophiles this is a watershed event.  I pre-ordered both the mono and stero boxed sets from Amazon.com on July 11th and received them on Wednesday, September 9th.

Here is the mono set:



and here is the stereo set:



I have not had time to go through all of this music, but I have heard enough of it to recommend both.  The Steve Hoffman forum is buzzing with a lot of talk about these sets and the consensus is very positive.  I have listened to the following: Revolver in both stereo and mono, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in both stereo and mono (and also compared it to my original 1967 UK mono vinyl pressing), and Magical Mystery Tour in both stereo and mono.  As someone who grew up in the 1960s and 1970s, I remember listening to this music in mono.  I did not hear stereo mixes until the 1980s.

Without going into too much detail I will say that I found the mono CDs to be very authentic.  The mono Sgt. Pepper on CD was very, very close to the 1967 vinyl.  I wish I had an original 1966 UK mono pressing of Revolver to compare, but nevertheless I am very pleased with the mono CDs.  On a lot of songs the mono mix is better resolving and you can hear more than on the stereo mixes.  But there is a lot to recommend the stereo mixes as well.  If you never thought much of Ringo as a drummer or Paul McCartney as a bass player then these remasters will provide you with some new perspective.

I know that $400+ is a lot of scratch to throw down for both sets.  Only you can judge for yourself if there is enough value here.  The stereo CDs are available individually so if there were a few titles of interest you could snag those without breaking the bank.  The mono albums are not available seperately and according to EMI they are a limited edition...though how many sets they will ultimately produce seems to be up in the air.

This is most certainly something you should check out.

--Jerome

[MaxCast]

I offered my cleaning services.  Please take further feuds off the circles.

[jsaliga]

Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in D Major - Walter Goehr/Tossy Spivakovsky/London Symphony Orchestra



In the late 1950s and early 1960s both Mercury and Everest recorded a number of select classical music performances on 35mm magnetic film.  Classic records has obtained a license to reissue the Everest recordings and Speakers Corner has a license to reissue the Mercury recordings.  A few weeks ago I received a couple of orders from Acoustic Sounds.  One contained several Everest 35mm recordings on 200g vinyl, and another had several recordings on DVD-A.  Classic Records has done a very nice job with its DVD-A releases.  This recording comes with a standard red book CD in 16bit/44.1KHz and also includes a double sided DVD.  On one side is a 24bit/96KHz stereo recording of the content that will play on any DVD-A or DVD Video player.  On the other side is a 24bit/192KHz stereo recording that will only play on DVD-A players.

This particular performance of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in D Major, featuring violinist Tossy Spivakovsky as the soloist, was recorded in 1960.  The sound quality of the 24bit/192KHz DVD-A program material is, in a word, glorious.  The highly detailed sound, wide dynamic range, and stunning clarity of this recording would suggest that 35mm magnetic film as a recording medium could certainly live up to the high expectations.  These are some of the finest analog sourced recordings I have ever heard.  I certainly have a few RCA Living Stereo and Mercury Living Presence recordings that can probably match its fidelity, but none that exceed it.  Even the 16bit/44.1 Red Book CD is a sonic marvel.  If someone buying a new pair of Omega speakers were to ask me to suggest a high quality recording to try with their speakers...this one would be at or near the top of my list.

--Jerome

[jsaliga]

Buena Vista Social Club - Live at Carnegie Hall



I usually don't recommend live recordings to audiophiles who are picky and want nothing but the best possible sound quality.  But in the case of BVSC Live at Carnegie Hall I will make an exception.  If Ry Cooder did absolutely nothing else in his career of note, he would still be deserving of countless accolades for bringing these aging musicians from Cuba to perform on one of music's greatest stages, at Carnegie Hall in New York.  People have accused Cooder of exploiting these musicians, and that may be so.  But one thing is for certain, without Cooder no one outside of Cuba would ever have had a chance to hear these tremendously talented musicians perform this rich and expressive music, and that would have been a shame.  The music is presented on two CDs and the sound quality is quite remarkable for a live recording.  You can certainly hear some of Carnegie Hall's natural reverb in the mix, but the sound is full, lush, and rich.  Bass is surprisingly firm and textured as it propels this joyous music along.  The recording engineers got it right with microphone placement and at the mixing board.  I don't have an expansive library of world musics, but after hearing this set I just couldn't imagine not having it around.  The infectious vibes that these performances give off are highly recommended.

--Jerome

[gotspeakers]

Let there be peace among all Omega Speaker people.

[jsaliga]

The Dave Pike Quartet - Pike's Peak



While Dave Pike is not a household name in the jazz world, he was nonetheless a superb vibraphonist during the hard bop era in the 1960s.  He never had a steady working band, as the title of this album suggests.  But he did do a number of dates as leader in the 1960s.  The notable thing about these 1961 sessions for Epic is the presence of Bill Evans on piano as a sideman.  This appearance came just months after the tragic death of Bill Evans Trio bassist Scott LaFaro.  This recording is also, to the best of my knowledge, the only recorded session where Bill Evans appears with a vibraphonist as a featured soloist (though I could be wrong on that point).  The music on this album features some lightly swinging hard bop and modal jazz numbers, with some great interplay between Evans and Pike.  Sadly, this music has not been issued on CD in the US, though I believe it is available as an import on Epic Japan.  The good news for vinylphiles is that it can be purchased as a reissue from Soundstage Direct and is easily worth the $16 price.  If you like jazz or are a Bill Evans fan with a turntable I recommend you snag a copy before the last of these vinyl reissues disappear.

--Jerome

[jsaliga]

Benny Goodman - The Benny Goodman Story



I really dig big band swing.  It's easy for me to see how jazz from about 1930 to the mid 1940s was "America's popular music."  The driving shuffle beat and alluring melodies made it very dancable.  After a minute or two my right foot starts a tappin', as an autonomic response to the tunes.  Benny Goodman was among my favorite big band leaders.  He was a fabulous clarinetist, only rivaled by Woody Herman and Artie Shaw.  But Bennie's band had Gene Krupa and Peggy Lee.  I have most of Goodman's 1930s and 1940s recordings.  Of course, this was before the advent of magnetic tape so the sound quality only goes so far.  Don't get me wrong, historicially this music is extremely important and, at the end of the day, it's the music itself that is most important.  Still, wouldn't be great if we could have all of these classic Goodman tunes, only recorded in hi-fi audiophile quality sound?  Wait a minute.  That was, in fact, already done.  In 1955, Goodman went into the recording studio with the same arrangements they used in the '30s and '40s, and to top it all off, with most of the same musicians.  Harry James and Lionel Hampton are here, as are many others.  Unfortunately, Gene Krupa and Peggy Lee were not present for these recordings, but their absence doesn't take much of the shine off of the performances.  The recording is in mono and the sound quality is simply stunning.  For someone who loves classic tunes like Sing Sing Sing it really is great to hear them in audiophile sound.  Even though these songs were re-recorded over a decade after the big band swing era had ended, Goodman sounds as sharp as ever.

--Jerome

[rajacat]

Jerome,

Thanks for these highly informative reviews. I'm definitely a Bill Evans fan and always keeping my eyes open for quality recordings.

Benny Goodman is another story. Maybe it's because of the generally inferior sound quality of most Big Band recordings which inhibits my appreciation to the point where I avoid buying Big Band music altogether.

I have some good news to report. Our local small town independent record store has acquired an extensive vinyl collection (50,000+ records) so I'll have a handy source to peruse for years to come all within easy walking distance. Who knows what lost gems are contained within a collection that large? aa

-Roy

[jsaliga]

Benny Goodman is another story. Maybe it's because of the generally inferior sound quality of most Big Band recordings which inhibits my appreciation to the point where I avoid buying Big Band music altogether.

There is a lot of big band music from the 1950s onward that is exceptionally well recorded.  Duke Ellington, Woody Herman, Count Basie, and Buddy Rich led big bands into the 1970s and beyond.  Oliver Nelson led a big band in the 1960s.  Both he and Ellington recorded their own compositions.  All that said, a number of jazz fans are put off by big band music because of its close ties with swing and the idea that the music is too commercial.  But Ellington and Nelson have shown that big band music need not necessarily be commercial.  Ellington had particular disdain for the idea of composing and performing popular music as a commercial enterprise.

I'll be recommending more big band music going forward.

I have some good news to report. Our local small town independent record store has acquired an extensive vinyl collection (50,000+ records) so I'll have a handy source to peruse for years to come all within easy walking distance. Who knows what lost gems are contained within a collection that large?

Holy smokes Roy!    That's a lot of vinyl to sift through.  I'm glad that didn't happen at a store in my neck of the woods.  My wife already thinks I have too much vinyl and she's probably right.  I have stopped my bulk lot purchasing because I have all the classical music on vinyl that I will ever be able to listen to.  The vinyl I buy these days is limited to the occasional audiophile pressing, such as the 45RPM Blue Note reissues from Analogue Productions and Music Matters.

--Jerome

[gotspeakers]

I see you are a Miles nut (I won't make fun of that).  I have a great recording of one of the last shows he played.  5-1-1990 from the Starry Night Theater in Portland.  It is amazing!!!!!  2 hours of brain spinning music.

I recently gave a copy to a good friend of mine who played with Miles for the later part of his career.  He remembered the show right off the bat, and after listening to it......gushed about the night, and performance.

Worth havin'

[jsaliga]

Explosions in the Sky - The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place



My experience with post rock is rather limited compared to the people who live for this music.  Sure, I have and really enjoy some Mogwai, Labradford, Tristeza, and Gastr Del Sol, among others.  But after a while there is a sameness to the sound, and after a time it tends sound like little more than a collection of droning guitars (which I can also find enjoyable up to a point).  What makes this album a standout for me is the layered guitars and how they are arranged into a composition that speaks to me on both a musical and emotional level, whereas most post rock strikes me as an excerise in tone control.  The Earth is Not A Cold Dead Place can be melancholy and spirtually uplifting at the same time.  I have it on CD and vinyl, and either is recommended since the sound quality on both is superb.

--Jerome

[jsaliga]

Greg Koch - The Grip!



If you have never heard of Greg Koch you should get to know a little something about him.  Aside from his time working as a clinician for Fender Guitar he has also recorded an album here and there and worked as a session musican.  He's a terrific guitarist with an oddball sense of humor.  If you check out some of the videos of him on Youtube you'll know exactly what I mean.  The Grip! is a collection of tunes that lets Greg Koch stretch out and strut his guitar chops, and in a way it is him still putting on a guitar clinic but at a different venue than what he was used to with Fender.  Koch's skewed sense of humor shines through in the naming of some of the songs on the album.  For example, how can you not like an album with songs such as Zioks, Spank It, Defensestrator, Tonus Diabolicus, Dylan the Villian, and Blind Lemon Pledge?  That's not to say that Koch or the album is silly.  On the contrary, there's a great deal of firey guitar work on display that is likely to please any fan of the instrument.  Musicially there is an ecclectic mix of tunes ranging from country to blues to hard rock and heavy metal...plus a nice cover of the classic Hendrix tune Spanish Castle Magic.

--Jerome