The reissue lps I got this year , 2021 reissues, sound all good, apart one: Andrew Hill, Passing ships. I am surprised because, for a 1969 recording, it’s very average. The saxophone is well on the front, but the bass, drums, …and other instruments are not very clearly revealed, a bit lost in the background. It’s a tone poet reissue, flat and quiet.
I paid maybe 80 euros for it, so I am really disappointed.
I watched some reviews on it on YouTube, and I don’t share the very favourable critics for it.
Oh, I love Passing Ships. I think that’s a great album, but perhaps Andrew Hill can be a bit of an acquired taste for some. Rudy Van Gelder often favored the front line (reeds/brass) and the rhythm section can seem a bit subdued at times. That’s his style.
My favorite Andrew Hill is Point of Departure, with Eric Dolphy. I have both the 33 and 45 RPM versions reissued by Music Matters Jazz and consider them a top five of that series. It’s one of the best Blue Note albums of the 60s, IMHO.
1 Like
I mostly listen to 70’s jazz and nowadays too.
But I have some lps from the 60’s and most sound much better than that one.
For instance George Benson / Shape of things to come / 1968 / Rudy Van Gelder. It sounds wonderful.
Received another Tone Poets , Horace Silver/ Further explorations/ 1958 / Rudy Van Gelder : very nice sounding. Even if a bit 2 dimensional. But much clearer vs the Andrew Hill one.
Maybe it’s a system reason, different phono, cart…
Hi FR, as @JosquinDesPrez suggests RVG had his way of doing things.
This is an interesting article that explains his recording techniques
2 Likes
Thanks Dread. I will have a look. But as I said above, I have some RVG albums, maybe 20 or 30, and this one from Andrew Hill is the worst sounding.
I checked in Discogs and can read that for that album, Passing ships:
“Recorded on November 7 (A2, B1, B2) and 14 (A1, A3, C2), 1969. Produced for release from multitracks, no analogue master existed. Original vinyl reissue project by Frank Parry, with Malcolm Addey creating new analogue remix from 1” 8-tracks.”
Maybe it’s the reason.
Being a pensioner I remember seeing the Rolling Stones quite a bit at Eel pie island in very early 60’s they were a great live band. I always thought of them as a singles band, their albums never floated the boat for me. Not that I was a Beatles fan but they could do both with aplomb.
This is only my opinion of course.
Regards,
Martin
4 Likes
This topic was automatically closed 60 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.