Have you had a chance to listen to any of these yet? I’m tempted by this set, but “newly restored and remastered” makes me hesitate and, other than the late Art Dudley, reviews are thin on the ground.
Yes, it seems like such a natural tune for Bill Evans. However the tune is not shown on the Bill Evans discography at https://www.jazzdisco.org/bill-evans/discography/
Yes, I was talking about Jarrett when I mentioned his wretched squeaking; I was replying to @Narcom’s post of the Deer Head Inn set. I’m sure Jarrett wouldn’t squeak in any of his classical recordings, although I’ve never purchased any just in case!
BTW you really must check out Bill Evans’s version of Danny Boy on Time Remembered - 10 minutes of sheer bliss. The album was recorded during the same sessions which resulted in the Shelley’s Manne Hole album, which @Dreadatthecontrols mentioned, above.
Hi Corry
I haven’t played them yet, hopefully today.
The individual sleeves are nice replicas on thick card, they have even left original typos unchecked for authenticity.
They have plain paper inners but fit tightly in the sleeves so apart from one I haven’t taken any more out of their sleeves until I have some 10" polys to put them in. I’m expecting them to arrive today as soon as which I will start listening, I’m itching!
Perhaps a bit pricey around £55 and this music can be obtained cheaply on a multitude of CD"s, Streaming etc but I think it is a very nice package, and worth the price of admission if like me you prefer to have your music presented in this kind of format.
I will let you have my initial thoughts on SQ soon
Cheers
@Clive
Thanks for that Clive. Your right I must have been having a senior moment! Not sure why I thought they were the only Live recordings especially when this was glaring out the rack at me!
Also, if memory serves me right, didnt the Resonence Label release an RSD Bill Evan’s live session?
Other than the titles I already mentioned I also have these
Thanks for highlighting the book, I will check that out, I love Bill Evan’s especially The Riverside recordings but I obviously could do with some homework!
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I bought this 75th Anniverary copy a while back but have only just managed to listen to it and really enjoyed. I have heard of Horace of course but not really listened to a whole record of his until now any reccomendations?
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Hi @Corry,
So my sleeves arrived late in the day so some quick first impressions.
I have only played Vol 1 so far.
I am probably not best placed to review this set on a comparitive basis as I am no expert on these recordings and have no benchmark as to how they originally sounded. So my judgement is really down to how it sounded to me on it’s own merit.
Firstly the vinyl is nicely pressed and plays quietly.
As will be expected it does sound “digital” but not in a nasty way. I was immediately struck by the fresh and open transparent sound. There is air and space around the instruments which makes it easy to follow the individual players and plenty of nuanced detail. Mono of course and vintage recording but the sound spread out in front of me and I was soon forgetting any thoughts of the digital nature of the mastering (I imagined that it perhaps lacked a bit of warmth as it probably would have sounded on equipment of the era) and found myself subconsciously grooving along to the music.
I have an Essential Charlie Parker CD on Union Square Music 2004 which claims to have state of the art transfers from the original Savoy masters. So I played Nows The Time and compared it to this vinyl.
The CD sounded good but nowhere near as detailed as the vinyl. The CD was a bit fuller and forward sounding but compressed and a bit in your face. A touch of the loudness wars maybe. Charlie Parker sounded upfront but all the other players seemed lost in the mud when he was playing.
By comparison, the vinyl is far better to my ears and feet, I think the mastering sounds much more balanced, relaxed, musical and involving. The engineer to my ears seems to have exercised respectful restraint and concentrated on bringing out as much musical information from the source, I’m assuming the Savoy masters but it doesnt say other than Restoration and Mastering Paul Blackmore at CMG Mastering which means nothing to me.
After playing Nows The Time on the vinyl I was humming the tune in my head but the CD just left me feeling a bit meh.
However I am comparing with my LP12 which is quite high up the upgrade chain to a CD3.5/Flatcap.
I can best conclude from this brief first impression, is it sounded fine to me and I didnt hear anything nasty just the music. So nothing that would lead me to warn against buying this.
As I listen further through the set if anything needs more comment I will report back.
Hope this helps
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Did you happen to think Steely Dan when you played it? I suspect a bit of plagiarism.
Blowin’ the Blues Away is rather good from 1959, five years before Songs for my Father.
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Thanks for the reccomendation Clive. I’ve not really heard much Steely Dan so can’t comment but I hear so much jazz influence in later music now that I listen to it a lot I read a Mark Hollis interview just after he died and he said that Talk Talk where influenced by Miles Davis and now when I listen to Colour of Spring it really comes through.
Also now when I listen to Dark Side of the Moon I can hear a lot of Miles in there and not just the obvious like In a Silent Way but in the atmoshere of the music and the space around the notes.
Haha, I don‘t get Coltrane either,if Coltrane then Alice ;-)))
The '70s orange CBS is remarkably good!
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Everything I love about Jazz started with this record many years ago,it‘s still my all time fav. recording and imho his best recording.
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Glad you like it!
Wonderful album.
Also:
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Hi, @Dreadatthecontrols, and thanks for taking the time to respond. Your review is in line with Art Dudley’s, which is to say, short of pristine originals, this set is probably the best sounding issue of this music currently you’re likely to find. Good enough for me! And thanks also for the tip re the sleeves – much appreciated.
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I like The Tokyo Blues.
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@Bobthebuilder
Horace Silver you might like:
Horace Silver and The Jazz Messengers 1956
Finger Poppin’ 1959
Horace-Scope 1960
Doin’ the Thing (at The Village Gate) 1961
The Tokyo Blues 1962
Charlie Parker -The Complete Studio Recordings on Savoy (CD1 of the Japan Columbia 4CD set from 2002)
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