vinyl & shellac audio
Back To Music remastering has no digital processing or any additional file rewrites. The sound you hear is as close as possible to the analog original with all its pros and cons.
Continue reading “Sinatra – songs for swinging lovers, 1956 mono LP”
Lo-Fi, audiophile recording. Reissue of 1951, 10 ‘ English Brunswick LP from 78 rpm Decca originals of 1940s. A surprisingly pleasant record in the atmosphere, Hampton is not a virtuoso, but a vibraphone poet, what a touching version of “Time on my hands”he has! The sextet is excellent, no one interferes with the soloist, as is often the case in democratic jazz.
Strange trio without double bass: vibraphone (Hampton), grand piano (Art Tatum) and minimalist drums (Buddy Rich). Support from the bottom is clearly lacking, the two pronounced leaders Hampton and Tatum do not quite match each other in style, but the honey sound of Clef is quite delivering.
It turned out to be the only decent track from entire record. Vibraphone is perfectly played and recorded , which compensates for the mediocre sound of the other instruments. In general, the LP is quite strange, it sounds as if from the early 1950s. Sonny Rollins, a great saxophonist, improvised on this disc with such a mess, as if he was not allowed to sleep through after a good booze and tied one hand behind his back. Something had obviously gone wrong in the Atlantic. But the Medley still succeeded.
Continue reading “Modern Jazz Quartet – At Music Inn, 1958 LP”
An interesting LP. Forum is a budget label for sale in regular stores, recorded almost from a household reel-to-reel tape recorder — Little Pony even has an area with crumpled tape but they did not care. The record is from 1960, and it sounds like it’s from the first half of the 1950s, that is, it’s fuller and musically more honest than its coevals. Similarly, in the USSR, the flexible monophonic records of the magazine Krugozor were distinguished.
Oscar Peterson was a virtuoso, but he was not distinguished by the subtlety of his improvisations. He was far from the exquisite style of Wilson and Gardner, but he was not discouraged and was popular, like none of his competitors. His speed cliches are predictable and boring, but where Peterson doesn’t try to play fast and for some reason holds back his temper, he’s not bad at it. Peterson’s piano sounds full-fledged and sometime you can get purely audiophile pleasure from it, while omitting the jazz aesthetic.
The orchestra recorded poorly, but the piano is of audiophile and musical value, and the percussion is perfectly recorded in the Cubana Chant with a separate microphone.
The original Riverside record, it is a bit harsh, but “Ruby, my dear”, where Coleman Hawkings soulfully improvises, was a great success.
Monk is an extremely unusual type, worthy of the closest attention. His style I would call not Bebop, as it is customary, but Punk-Jazz. Once a beautiful Columbia studio, it is difficult to recognize it here: hard, aggressive notes have appeared in the sound, the fullness of the 1940s has sunk into oblivion. But Monk doesn’t care about anything, good guy.
German 10 ‘ LP Brunswick. In the 1950s, the original 78 rpms were remastered on LP by Decca, then Brunswick copied them from the Decca. The record is in decent condition, the orchestra sounds harsh, which is usually associated with re-recording 78x originals on an LP. Basie is fine, playing to his heart’s content and enjoying life.