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Tag Archives: Audiophile Music

World News

The Story Of Herbie Hancock, Vinyl Me Please Boxed Set, Part 1: The Blue Notes

Posted on by Mark Smotroff

Before I get into the reviews of this fine eight-album (11 discs!) super deluxe boxed set from the good folks at Vinyl Me, Please (VMP) — The Story Of Herbie Hancock, curated by the artist himself! — I thought it might be wise to address some concerns that quite a number of vinyl fans have directed towards me when I’ve previously discussed these fancy collections. Notably, there seems to be a perception that VMP sets are very expensive. On the surface, I might have agreed, but I decided to do a little informal research on the Interwebs, searching for comparable “near mint,” new or sealed original editions where possible to see how the numbers added up.  

And you know what? The Story Of Herbie Hancock set came out about the same and depending on which editions you bought, probably cheaper — remember that some of the albums in the set (The Piano, Live Under The Sky) were only released in Japan at the time so you’d need to add in the costs of shipping from overseas in those instances. 

Speaking of Live Under The Sky, the version in this set is an exclusive:  featuring Herbie’s supergroup V.S.O.P. (Ron Carter, Wayne Shorter, Freddie Hubbard and Tony Williams), the album has been resequenced with a new song added to it at Herbie’s request.  Also, if I’m not mistaken as I have not found listings on Discogs or other popular record collectors websites, this may mark the first time the collaboration with Wayne Shorter, called 1+1, has been issued on vinyl! 

Without a doubt, the packaging on these VMP editions are far superior to the originals, printed on thick cardboard stock and laminated (similar to the Blue Note Tone Poets and Verve Acoustic Sounds editions). Headhunters looks especially beautiful in that way — the cover art pops!  Additionally, you get a lovely LP sized booklet with detailed information on each of the albums.  

All eight albums in The Story Of Herbie Hancock feature lacquers cut by the legendary Bernie Grundman at Bernie Grundman Mastering in Hollywood, CA. Takin’ Off, Maiden Voyage, Head Hunters, The Piano and Future Shock were cut AAA from analog tapes. 1+1, and River: The Joni Letters, which were recorded digitally, and Live Under the Sky — again, resequenced at Herbie’s request — come from master digital audio. The albums were plated at RTI, and pressed at GZ on black 180g vinyl.

Adding to the value for the price of admission you also get access to five exclusive podcasts including talks with Herbie himself as well as Wayne Shorter and others. You also get access to AMA (Ask Me Anything) video sessions which may include special guests.  

For these reviews, I will start with the beginning of my personal Herbie Hancock journey, his landmark mid-60s release Maiden Voyage.

While I love this album, my travelogue with Maiden Voyage hasn’t exactly been stellar from an audiophile perspective. One of my brothers had an early 70s pressing on the blue-colored Blue Note label, so that is where I first came on board the Herbie Hancock mothership.  I had a later reissue at one point that was ok but then I found a somewhat better late ‘60s pressing (Liberty Records-era but with the classic blue-and-white Blue Note label, for those of you who follow this sort of detail) which sounded pretty good. Except, it had one side that was just off-center enough to be problematic (so I always planned to upgrade again at some point). 

That said, this new edition easily surpasses my original RVG pressing. It is dead quiet and perfectly centered. The mastering is a bit quieter than my old copy so I had to turn up the amp a little bit when I switched discs, but this revealed more air and dynamics without sounding awkward. In fact, Maiden Voyage here sounds exactly how it should sound: gorgeous. Freddie Hubbard’s trumpet is fat and round. Tony Williams’ drums are crisp yet they never step on the other instruments — the cymbals decay naturally and you can almost feel the tang of the brass. Herbie’s piano sounds rich and woody (and thankfully not boxy as some RVG recordings can be). 

This version of Maiden Voyage is golden as far as I can tell. In fact, I don’t think I need to keep my original anymore, this is so much of an improvement for me. The laminated cover is also far superior to the original. A winner.  

While we’re in the land of Blue Notes, I thought it made sense to explore Mr. Hancock’s debut solo album, Takin’ Off. For this, I invested a little extra time and money as (believe it or not, I really never owned this album on vinyl – gasp, I know) and didn’t have an equal point of reference handy. So while I didn’t have $500 handy to invest in original 1962 edition (click here for that), I went out and purchased one of the new Blue Note reissues (for about $27). Ideally, these records should sound the same, but actually, the didn’t. In record-collector’s rule-of-thumb theorizing, the non-VMP edition should sound better as it was pressed in Germany. It didn’t. And the VMP packaging is markedly better (laminated, thick brown cardboard stock) than the standard edition (thin white oaktag, non-laminated). 

What gives?  

Well, first off there is Bernie Grundman’s mastering which delivers a warmer more analog feeling vibe that rings true to the aesthetic of Rudy Van Gelder’s original recordings. From the opening notes of “Watermelon Man,” the the whole vibe feels rich. The horns sound rounder, the cymbals shimmer without being harsh and the piano feels appropriately woody.  On the German pressing, everything feels awash in a bit of brightness. Don’t get me wrong, it sounds good. But this VMP edition sounds great and feels more true, like the sound I would expect from a great Blue Note release. And, again, the cover art just looks and feels like a higher quality production. 

In the next edition of my exploration The Story Of Herbie Hancock I’ll explore Headhunters and River : The Joni Letters and more… stay tuned… 

World News

Why Did I Almost Not Review A New Guided By Voices Album?

Posted on by Mark Smotroff

Guided By Voices (GVB) have a new album out called Earth Man Blues…

And I almost didn’t review it.

Why?

Well, generally I only review recordings I genuinely like and unless there is a problem with the recording I fell compelled to alert you — Dear Readers — about. I won’t waste time and space with a negative review. 

By the time I got my hands on a copy of Earth Man Blues, I’d seen a number of fan comments about the brilliance of the album so my expectations were perhaps elevated. But when I put it on I wasn’t immediately knocked out. That isn’t a bad thing, mind you. I know that a number of GBV’s albums have been “growers” as they say — recordings which grow on you with repeated listens.

My music buddy Frank didn’t dig what he’d heard sampling the album. And then GBV announced that it was putting out a whole album under its alias “Cub Scout Bowling Pins” (whose six-song EP I reviewed and loved, click here to get to that review). So I thought I’d probably wait to review that and wrap Earth Man Blues into that.

But then… me being me… I decided to give Earth Man Blues a fourth spin and — lo and behold!  — I am liking it… finally! 

So what was my problem getting this one?  Well, aside from my lingering love for last year’s Mirrored Aztec, this one appears to be something of a rock opera or at least a concept album… so there are many mood shifts and quick change-ups along the way. It even comes with a libretto (for gawd sakes!) so you can try to follow the narrative (which I’m still working on, admittedly).

This album is less about immediate hooks and more about the feel as a whole.  Perhaps what is missing is an overture like The Who’s Tommy had to bring you into the experience as a listener. Perhaps not…  

In a way, it reminds me a bit of The Kinks’ Preservation Act II, a sprawling double LP set that put aside the strong immediacy and concise structure of the wonderful single disc precursor — Preservation Act I — for the sake of telling the story. It is good, but you the listener have to work at and with it.

That said, there are some cool songs here which have been growing on me with each spin, such as “Lights Out In Memphis (Egypt)” and “Free Agents”  — the latter could be a single, for sure. 

There are a lot of groovy new sounds popping up on this GBV album…. big rolling thunder tom toms, synthesizers and such… 

And while its mostly high quality studio recording on Earth Man Blues there are moments of LoFi sounds intercutting such as the fab psychedelic rock band tidbit sandwiching the poppy “Sunshine Girl Hello.”  

In general Earth Man Blues is a good sounding rock album. The vinyl pressing is crisp and clean, and it is well centered, so all those good things we record collectors appreciate are in check. Travis Harrison’s production is excellent, navigating the many twists and turns of this complex song cycle and making it all jump out of the speakers. 

So do I recommend you check out Earth Man Blues?  Why sure! Just don’t go into this expecting instant satisfaction. GBV makes you work a bit more on this one but the riches are no doubt there… It is worth the journey, getting to the payout of a beautiful haunting hook like “How Can A Plum Be Perfected?”  The time investment is worth every minute you’ll spend in becoming a fan of the album. 

I can’t wait to hear “Child’s Play” live with its kick**s guitar solos. That’s  gonna be epic! 

“Trust Them Now,” indeed. In GBV we trust!

World News

Can You Establish A Career-Long Musical Reputation With One Cup Of Black Coffee?

Posted on by Mark Smotroff

It’s taken me all these years to finally find “the” record that made me appreciate Peggy Lee as an artist. Perhaps I was traumatized as a young kid seeing her attempt to cover The Beatles’ “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” on The Ed Sullivan Show. Or perhaps it was just that I heard a number of lackluster late period albums and performances on the easy listening pop stations my parents sometimes played. It didn’t quite feel like my cuppa tea.

I recently heard some recordings of hers from the 1940s that were good, all compiled on a handy two CD compilation of radio transcription performances put out by Omnivore Recordings. As good as Something Wonderful was, it wasn’t quite enough for me to make the big leap of “genuine interest” to a point where I might want to add Ms. Lee’s music into to my collection. 

More recently still, I came across one of her albums from 1957 called Dream Street which I had heard from some fans was a great listen.  A thrift shop find and in very nice condition for its age, I took a risk on the two dollar price tag and was very surprised — it was great! 

This was a whole other side of Peggy Lee I was hearing — there was nothing painfully saccharine or bland here. On Dream Street she found the fine balance between the mainstream pop voicing and a more swinging, soulful and (frankly, at times) Billie Holiday-inspired delivery and that sort of blue feeling Sinatra was able to pull off on some of his Capitol albums. She even sounds more akin to Sarah Vaughan at times. It helps that the orchestra/band swings madly at times (Lou Levy on Piano). Clearly she found her zone on this album.  

Now, many months ago, the good folks at Universal  Music had announced a reissue of another Peggy Lee album which was originally on Decca Records: Black Coffee. Depending on what you read it was either her first album for the label or her first concept album.  Originally released as a 10-inch, eight-song LP in 1954, it was expanded a couple of years later with additional songs recorded in a different studio and with different musicians to take advantage of the then-still-new longer playing 12-inch vinyl format. 

Whatever it was, it was the pre-cursor to Dream Streets and fans on line have told me that it was in the same league. Joni Mitchell has called Black Coffee one of her favorites (she recorded a song from it on her 2000 album Both Sides Now). 

They were right:  it is a fine album!  This reissue of Black Coffee certainly sounds better than most mid-50s Decca Records pressings would. Given that most of Decca’s records from that period were not vinyl at all, but styrene, a hard and inflexible plastic that was not only prone to easy wear but also tended to sound a bit harder-edged. 

Of course at the end of the day what really matters here is the music and on Black Coffee Peggy Lee delivers a cool calm collected vibe in the vein of June Christy, Chris Connors and other respected pop-crossover jazz singers of the period. For me, while not quite as intimate sounding (production wise, at least) as Christy’s contemporary collection Something Cool — also issued in 1954 as a 10-inch and then expanded in 1955 — this one still has many great performances including a great take on Gershwin’s “It Ain’t Necessarily So” and “You’re My Thrill” (the song that Joni recorded, by the way). Of course, the title track is a classic. 

Black Coffee is another fine reissue from the Acoustic Sounds team at Universal Music, delivering high quality reissues that look and sound better than the originals with high quality mastering off original tapes, deluxe expanded gatefold design and restored high quality cover artwork. What more can you ask for? Grab a copy while you can!

World News

Peyton, Patton, The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame & A Vinyl Continuum

Posted on by Mark Smotroff

I love when things come together like this…

Some of you know I’ve been digging down into the catalog of 21st Century bluesman Reverend Peyton and His Big Damn Band. I’ve reviewed several of his albums including his latest at the beginning of April, Dance Songs For Hard Times (click the title to get to the review). He’s been doing some very cool things along the way which audiophiles should be interested in, such as recording his band in a beautiful old church that had been converted into a recording studio (click here for that review).

When I found out recently that he made an acoustic album recorded with one microphone — in Mono — which included a 78 RPM disc of a couple of the songs on that record, I had to track down a copy.  It took a while as the used copy I found on Discogs got stuck in postal service limbo for a month or more. It finally arrived but oddly enough it is probably a good thing it was delayed. 

Why?

Well, in the interim the Rock ’n Roll Hall of Fame inducted blues legend Charley Patton. 

Why does that matter?

Well, the album Reverend Peyton issued in 2011 — about 10 years ago this month, in fact — is called Peyton On Patton, a tribute to Charley Patton, recorded in a manner akin to how the original blues artists recorded: with one microphone strategically placed in a room or studio, playing guitar and singing their souls out.

For those not familiar with Mr. Patton’s music, perhaps a few lines from the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame website will help understand why he’s known to some as the “Father of The Delta Blues” :

“Charley Patton picked up his first guitar at age 7, shortly after moving to Dockery Plantation in Mississippi. As an elder statesman of the blues, he mentored a who’s who of Delta musicians including Son House, Robert Johnson, and Howlin’ Wolf. Patton recorded his first session for Paramount Records in 1929, cutting seminal songs like “Pony Blues,” which the Library of Congress later canonized in the National Recording Registry.”

Indeed, in the liner notes to the album, Peyton writes: “When I first heard Charley Patton, my life was changed forever. I was hooked. He made it sound like two guitars. I have spent a lifetime admiring and studying his music… Only now do I feel confident enough to pay tribute to my Patron Saint Charley Patton.”

Across these two sides of a lovely standard weight vinyl album, Peyton delivers impassioned performances of many of his favorite Patton songs. There are three versions of “Some Of These Days I’ll Be Gone,” including Banjo and Slide Guitar versions. 

While Peyton On Patton was recorded in the spirit of Charley Patton’s originals – all done in basically one four hour session — the fidelity benefits from modern recording technology. So don’t expect to hear scratches and blurry vocals in this recording — it is very clear and rich sounding, especially when you turn up the volume on your amp a bit.  

There is a nice sense of the room they were recording in and the resonance of the guitars used (apparently Peyton spent hours choosing the actual guitar strings used so they would be closer to what Patton used back in the day!).  This is the real deal folks. Not surprisingly, the wiki tells me that upon its release in 2011 it reached #7 on the Billboard Blues Album charts! 

Here’s the really cool thing: if you can play 78s, it sounds fantastic! It is a modern microgroove recording pressed on vinyl so no need to use a 78 RPM monaural cartridge (and you certainly don’t want to play it on a Victrola which would shred the vinyl!!).  But it does make me wonder about modern audiophile 45 RPM releases put out by labels like Mobile Fidelity: might a 78 RPM edition of favorite albums be even better sounding than 45 RPM edition?

One side has a version of “Jesus Is A Dying Bed Maker” which was recorded in the Cotton Gin at Dockery Farms — the so called “birthplace of the blues” and the plantation where Charley Patton had once been employed (check out this article and this one too for more information about the place and its importance and relevance).

Frank Zappa might call this “conceptual continuity.” I think it is simply a brilliant pilgrimage and musical journey. 

You can stream Peyton On Patton via Reverend Peyton’s Bandcamp page (click here) but you should try to get the album if you can. This is a mighty fine tribute.

World News

Do You Need Paul McCartney’s New Half-Speed Mastered Vinyl Version Of RAM?

Posted on by Mark Smotroff

About 50 years ago my father drove me down to E.J. Korvettes, a discount department store on Rt. 22 in New Jersey. It seemed like we drove for an hour or more to get there but it was the only place we could find that had copies of Paul McCartney’s RAM album in stock. It had just been released and was selling out everywhere we called. Me being the major Beatle fanatic kid, Dad wanted to support my interest in music and made the extra effort to get this album for me. 

Thanks again, Dad!

So here I am on the flip-side, older than my Dad was in 1971 writing this review about RAM, which has gone on to establish its place in my heart as not only my favorite Paul McCartney album but also one of my favorites of all the individual Beatle solo albums.

I’ve long worn out my original copy and gone through a number of replacement pressings over the years. The one I have kept around is an original German edition which has some remarkable clarity at points (so much so I felt I didn’t need the generally mediocre original U.S. edition). I still have hope for getting a U.K. pressing one of these days. 

But in a way, it is oddly fortuitous that I have the German pressing since the new half speed mastered version of RAM was pressed in Germany! And unlike the recent colored vinyl edition of the album, it is on an Apple Records label. So, in a curious way I have the opportunity to compare… Apples to Apples… if you’ll pardon the inherent bad pun. 

Revisiting my original German pressing of RAM with fresh ears — as it has been a while since I listened to it closely — I was taken with some of the levels of crisp detailing going on. Compared to the etched-in-my-brain memories of the U.S. pressing, certain tracks felt so fresh, as if they might be alternate mixes, particularly “Three Legs.”  

Diving into the new half-speed mastered issue of RAM, there is a brightness to the new edition which is compelling, especially in comparison to the 1971 edition I have. On one hand I like this remaster but I have to admit it has taken me some time to get used to it because of the additional shimmer. Is it perhaps too bright? I haven’t really decided. There are parts of this I like very much. 

Macca’s extra fuzz bass on “Smile Away” is particularly clear on this new half speed master. 

I love how “Heart of the Country” sounds on this new remaster with a very nice feel to the acoustic guitar parts to a point where you can feel the resonance of the instrument and the woody air around it. The bluesy jazz electric guitar in the other channel is likewise rich and warm.  Lots of great detailing evident on “Monkberry Moon Delight,” particularly these little guitar and vocal texture overdubs which are usually buried in the mix but are now quite apparent…

The pressing itself is generally excellent, thick, dark 180-gram and generally dead quiet vinyl as it should be.  

I put the word “generally” in italics twice however because there is an anomaly after the first or second verse on “Too Many People” on my copy. It lasts maybe a second and sounds like a “srrrucnnnch” crackly type sound (as opposed the shsshing of a typical non-ill issue — I didn’t see any of the tell tale dotted-line “pearl necklace” type marks in the grooves so it may be some sort of pressing anomaly that may work itself out. I may try to wash the album soon.

The question remains: do you need to own this half-speed mastered edition of RAM?  That, Dear Readers, depends on your needs. If you love RAM and don’t own an original European pressing, you’ll probably like this. If you were disappointed with the yellow vinyl special edition from several years back (as I was) you’ll probably like this. If you’ve only had a U.S. pressing you’ll probably want this too. I never got around to buying the 2012 “archive series” version on vinyl and didn’t want to compare this to the CD or downloads in that boxed set (which I did get!). I also didn’t compare it to the Hi Res and MQA streams on Qobuz and Tidal, respectively.

But, now you are probably still wondering: did I really like this edition?  Once I got used to the brighter sound, I can generally say: yes, but with caveats. 

This version of RAM is probably a bit less compressed than the original pressing, so the recording is a bit quieter in the grooves and thus I had to turn up my amp a bit. There is a distinct brighter sensibility about the recording here but with that it also delivers increased details, such as the jaunty acoustic guitar finger picking parts on the verses to “Long Haired Lady” which sound… well… jauntier than ever! If I have any complaint it is that the bass is a little lighter than my original pressing. It is clear and distinct, but not quite as resonant. There are tradeoffs. 

Ultimately, I don’t feel this version of RAM is definitive. I think I prefer my original German pressing overall. And I still plan to keep looking for a decent quality original UK edition. 

Maybe someday we’ll get a 5.1 remix of RAM. It is always good to have things to look forward to in music and in the world of The Beatles, there are literal lifetimes of music to explore there. Keep ‘em coming, Sir Paul. We’re all ears! 

World News

Are New Trends Replacing Sonics With Convenience?

Posted on by Paul Wilson

Audiophiles. Gotta love ‘em, right? We commonly agree to disagree on any number of subjects, theories, sources, sonic presentations, you name it. Why we do so is plainly obvious – ours is an individual pastime. We all enjoy doing things our own way, forging our own path and to a certain extent, at least from our own perspective and viewpoints, differences from our own are simply wrong. Well, for the most part. 

While many of us prefer digital, there are also that dedicated enclave who prefer vinyl. Some feel tubes sound more magical than solid state while others still feel quite the opposite. We all like what we like, be it equipment, musical genres, shoot, even how and where a system is housed. 

While these are debates with a lot of mileage, there is one with a newer focus. One perhaps best termed a new arrival. One, who not surprisingly, has roots in the longstanding analog / digital fuss. The question being, is audiophilia replacing sonics with convenience?

Ask me which I prefer, vinyl or digital and my answer is simple, I like them both and from a sonic standpoint, equally. Both have their own merit. I have scores of spectacular sounding LPs. I’ve bought several Mobile Fidelity UltraDisc One Step LPs which sound much better than any other LP in my library.

Conversely, I have an original 1974 release of Rick Wakeman’s Journey To The Center of the Earth, an album for whatever reason I’ve always enjoyed. I played it recently, after a year or more absence, and was shocked at how utterly remarkable it sounded. Unbelievable soundstage. I also have the CD copied to my server and when the inclination struck to hear Rick and his keyboard pageantry, I typically went digital. As such, I have not heard the LP in a while. Playing that 47-year-old record left me in wide-eyed disbelief at what I have been missing by disregarding vinyl.

I see the salient question being why I have consistently chosen the digital version of this artist’s work, or any music where I have both digital and vinyl, as opposed to an analog version? The answer is not really all that surprising – convenience. 

For me to play an LP, and agree or not this is my process, I first clean the LP in an ultra-sonic record cleaner. That takes a total of five minutes, clean and dry. Then I place the LP on the platter and install the record clamp and outer periphery ring. I then use an AudioQuest Super Conductive Anti-Static Brush, then clean the stylus. Only then do I lower the tonearm. Frustratingly enough, I am only comfortably seated in the listening chair for about 20 minutes before getting up to change sides. Or a different LP, which means going through this whole process again. 

To be honest, when I really look forward to playing an LP, none of this matters all that much. Of course, my listening sessions are typically shorter for vinyl than digital. And what of digital? How does it compare? Well, selections take only a few short seconds – pick up iPad, open Roon, choose music, press play. Short of having to get up for some personal reason, I can, if I so choose, easily remain comfortably seated in the listening chair all day – just as happy as a clam. 

Think I’m the only one who feels similarly? Not by a long shot. Manufacturers recognize the ease and convenience of digital and are going to almost epic lengths to raise the bar for digital convenience. My question is, are we, as audiophiles, ceding way to convenience for convenience’s sake and moving towards foregoing our sonic principals, or are we remaining dedicated to sonics?  

Looking at the totality of high performance audio it becomes clear a huge emphasis is being placed on more budget friendly systems with purported better sonics. Call it the all things to all audiophiles principal. Half million-dollar systems are not necessarily required because this $5K system sounds good enough. Some may buy into that position; others will think it absurd. For those who do not question such a notion, how do you roll? Are you giving way to convenience and foregoing sonics? It depends on your level of acceptance of good enough. 

Another important question would be is this really a condition at all? Are manufacturers placing sonics in second place behind feature laden components which also champion affordability? Does this condition even exist, to any extent? 

I have always been humorously curious why, or so it sometimes seems to me, as the price of components goes up, features go down. How many audiophiles have looked at $30K, $50K or more preamps whose features extend little beyond changing sources and volume? At the same time, a $2K preamp does almost everything except wash the dinner dishes. 

Here’s another question – which one would you think has the more likely chance of producing better sonics? If your answer is “well, the $2K preamp is good enough”— are you then part of some presumed wave of those placing sonics behind pretty much everything else? 

Is it also possible the more expensive preamp is designed for those who can afford and demand sonic superiority above all else and the lesser expensive option not? Are the lower cost version’s attributes principally designed for something other than sonics – like maybe convenience? 

In the real world, hyper expensive equipment is not going away. Probably ever. Likewise, manufacturers are not anytime soon going to stop searching for better features combined with lower cost. I have always pretty much figured that sales of budget equipment helped fund research and development of high-rise priced luxury equipment. One is an expedient means to the other. 

My question is this – in the future, if you want superior sonics, will you be forced to open wide the checkbook? If you instead want numerous features and low cost, and are not especially concerned about how magnificent something sounds, will foregoing sonics in favor of abundant options be an acceptable fallback position? In short, are we replacing sonics with convenience? 

I view the answer as one simple thing – sonic acceptance. 

World News

Why Would You Want Brian Eno’s Music For Installations On Vinyl or CD vs. Tidal and Qobuz Streams?

Posted on by Mark Smotroff

“If you think of music as a moving changing form and painting as a still form what I’m trying to do is make very still music and paintings that move. I’m trying to find in both of those forms the space in between the traditional concept of music and the traditional concept of painting.” — Brian Eno

The prospect of exploring a nine LP set of beautiful ambient works by music legend Brian Eno is a daunting task, but a challenge I’m up to. I finally got my hands on a copy of Eno’s Music For Installations, an appropriately beautiful, museum-quality, first-time vinyl collection (issued in 2018) which not only does justice to the sounds within but brings into historical and contextual perspective Mr. Eno’s ambient installation works which many of us have not known much about. Half of this music has never been released and half of it has only had very limited direct-to-consumer releases on CD. 

This multi-disc 12-inch by 12-inch super deluxe boxed set is something you might want to consider getting if you are a fan of the man’s music. Spread across nine vinyl LPs — or six CDs or 5 1/2 hours of Internet streaming — the album presents a fascinating insight into musics which — arguably — most of us have never heard by the composer, music which was designed for the visual spaces he was presenting in, whether it was a round antiquated train turn-about “round house” building or a meditative space where old men fly kites high in the sky or even the famous Sydney Opera House.

Almost all of this music on Music For Installations comes from physical installation events Eno has created around the world.  Some of it is music for installations that are yet to exist, so the collection is in that sense both backward and forward looking. 

Included with the vinyl box there is a wonderful full color, glossy, LP-sized, soft-bound book which gives you incredible photographs of Eno’s installations with insightful details into what they were about. This is important information to give you a better understanding of how this music was crafted and its underlying intent. 

I am not going to be a spoiler / revealer of all those secrets in this review — you, Dear Readers, need to get the boxed set to fully appreciate this, folks.  

But I will give you some hints…

For example, in the book Eno discusses his early process and desire to create “generative music” that would not repeat itself, essentially. Initially using a series of auto-reverse cassette players — he includes photos of the boom boxes in the installations — and presented in three dimensional spaces in a room, he was able to deliver ever changing surround sound experiences (essentially) which would complement the visuals of the particular moment. The music would never really sound the same at any given point in time and would vary dependent upon where you might physically be in the installation space at a given point in time.

Eno was doing this years before, for example, The Flaming Lips’ famous parking lot experiments in the 1990s, where fans and their car stereos as well as boom boxes created a group surround sound experience.  This tied in ultimately to their multi-disc D.I.Y. surround sound album, Zaireeka. (Side Note: come to think of it, why hasn’t Eno worked with The Flaming Lips? That might be amazing… but I digress…)

Of course one of the beautiful things about Brian Eno’s music is that it stands on its own as well as in these installations, and thus we can listen to this box set in many different ways.  One thing I like about the physical boxed set versions of Music For Installations is that each program retains its own individual identity. Even when flipping an album side, you get enough immersion into the individual work to explore the nuance of each. More on that concept in a bit…

I have been listening to the nine-disc vinyl LP version of  Music For Installations which has been a wonderful experience. All of the album pressings are excellent, pressed on thick, dark and quiet, well-centered 180-gram vinyl

The “quiet” point I make here is especially important for this music since any sonic anomalies might disrupt the aural environment that Mr. Eno has sculpted here. Concurrently, the“well-centered” factor on these pressings is also important as any serious off-center disc could make long extended notes waver. And of course, surface noise could interfere with the mood set by the music. So all those considerations are especially significant with this sort of release, even more than say a much louder modern pop or rock release which might mask certain anomalies within the discs.  This is more like a classical release in that sense…

The albums in Music For Installations sound remarkably rich and resonant on vinyl, without the sort of hollow feeling that can emerge in the 16-bit realm of the compact disc. The fidelity is generally excellent, with no real sense of harsh digital edges apparent in my initial listens, though I suspect some of these recordings were made in the digital realm.  

The music sounds warm, inviting and at times enveloping — I do wish there was an actual surround sound complement to this set, especially since so much of it was created with three dimensional space in mind.  Maybe someday Mr. Eno will issue this whole set on a Blu-ray Disc with the visuals in 5.1 surround and Dolby Atmos. 

While I didn’t have access to the CD version of Music For Installations, I imagine that the experience is similar although the fidelity will be a bit different, likely a little more compressed sounding all things considered. Of course, if you play this over a boombox or computer speakers it won’t matter really so your choice depends on what sort of listening experience you wish to have, ultimately.

I did listen to the streams of Music For Installations on TIDAL and Qobuz it sounded quite good at CD-quality as well (if you have subscriptions you can click on the service names here and it will take you to the appropriate streams). 

The difference in the listening experience — physical media vs. streaming — however was kind of night and day for me because the album on the latter is effectively presented as one long playlist. And while you can go in and specify individual tracks you want to play, there is inevitably the opportunity to forget about what you were listening to. The music can just plays on and on and on for five hours and then some.

And there-in lies both the benefit and the rub of that version of the album. If you just want to hear Music For Installations as an extended long batch of ambient musics you can do that and the pieces start to kind of blend together. I suspect that in some ways, Brian Eno might actually like this notion.  

But,  if you want to have an individualized experience, you’ll have to pay closer to attention to what you’re actually playing and how long it’s going to last before another installation music series kicks in.

Which is my preferred version version? 

At the end of the day I do like the LP version best because of the warmer sound and the fact that it forces you to focus on the individual recording at hand. I’m sure there will be times when I just want to put on the streaming version, to let it play in the background. That is fine. 

But for those times when I want to have my brain focused on what Brian Eno was doing — which is most of the time — I think that the LP or the CD set is probably a better medium. 

The artist also is likely to make more on it financially. Plus, you’ll also get access to the wonderful 64-page book which has all those photos and information about the installations — I can’t stress enough how essential this is for better appreciating this music.  

Music For Installations is widely available so you should be able to find it at your favorite music store or online (click on the title anywhere in this review to jump to Amazon).  This is a great collection for the Eno completist and fans of ambient music in general.  I hope someday I’ll get a chance to experience one of Eno’s installations in person. That would bring my enjoyment of this set full circle for me. 

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George Russell’s New York, Acoustic Sounds’ Decca Records Vinyl Restoration

Posted on by Mark Smotroff

Before I can tell you about how nice this 1959 reissue sounds, its probably important to answer a question some of you probably have: who is George Russell?

It is a good question. He was on the 1950’s jazz scene in New York, part of a group of innovators who aligned themselves with Gil Evans (whose album I reviewed just yesterday, click here, not entirely coincidentally) including Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Gerry Mulligan, and John Lewis.

Russell was especially noted for his theoretical work, particularly his influential Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization (according to the Wiki, the first edition of his book was published in 1953, while he worked as a salesclerk at Macy’s). His ideas were stepping stones toward landmark modal music albums such as Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue. Russell soon became a composer writing for the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Buddy DeFranco and others, also issuing albums as a leader under the Jazz Workshop umbrella.

So that is the quick back story on Mr. Russell…

This helps to explain how a relatively unknown name to the public might get to issue an album on a major label like Decca Records. His New York is a musical portrait of The Big Apple featuring a A-list cast which includes John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Max Roach, Jon Hendricks, Charlie Persiop, Milt Hinton, Al Cohn, Barry Galbraith, Art Farmer, Benny Golson, Phil Woods and many others…

Musicians liked Mr. Russell, clearly. 

As to what might have inspired his making a musical tribute to Manhattan with hep jazz, almost kitschy dialogue before each section of the suite, I can only guess. But I’ll take an educated leap that it might have been inspired by an earlier and very popular Decca Records release from 1946 created by Gordon Jenkins called Manhattan Tower.

Incredibly dated now to the point where it is almost humorous to listen to, that release traces the arrival of a young man into the hustle and bustle of New York City, the glory of his first apartment and the joys and challenges of living there. Replete with celestial choirs and over the top orchestral arrangements and over-earnest dialogue, that album was clearly very popular as it made the transition from 78 RPM to 33 1/3 and even was expanded over the years and fully re-recorded in high fidelity in 1956. It stayed in print into the 1970s!.  

George Russell’s New York is a much hepper, cooler place to live in than Gordon Jenkins’ cliche’d golly-gee-whiz vision of 1940s city life and I suspect that is in part why it is getting the reissue treatment these days. It is a good recording! Jon Hendricks’ dialogue and beat-rapping is limited so this is mostly a musical travelogue but the journey is quite lovely and at times even wondrous.  

Most importantly, New York sounds terrific. And even though I don’t have an original pressing I suspect this edition sounds better than even a mint copy from back in the day — Decca Records in the 1950s was known for pressing its records on styrene plastic, not vinyl, which didn’t wear well (especially on the heavier tonearms of the 1950’s) and often lent a harsh tone to the music.  

I’ve never seen a copy out in the wilds of collecting and in line with that reality, at the time of this writing there was only one  “near mint” copy listed on Discogs (the record collecting website). This new Acoustic Sounds reissue is top drawer, pressed on thick dark, quiet and well centered black vinyl, presented in a high quality glossy gatefold sleeve. They even seem to have gotten the period labels recreated accurately. 

So, do you need to get George Russell’s New York?  I would think so just because it is an interesting concept piece and it is great to hear all of these players in a larger group setting than they would become known for in later years, especially Coltrane and Evans.  

Below is a little taste from it which encapsulates the chill vibe of Manhattan’s upper East Side very well (I lived there for a bit in the 80s, so this resonates with me) including Vernon Duke’s “Autumn In New York.”

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Exploring Gil Evans’ Out Of The Cool, New Impulse Records Acoustic Sounds 60th Anniversary Reissue

Posted on by Mark Smotroff

For those not in the know, it might be useful to consider some of the background on this release by Gil Evans called Out Of The Cool.  First off, no, that is not a typo — Gil is different than Bill Evans who many of you probably have heard of by now. Gil was the acclaimed arranger who helped Miles Davis secure his foothold on mainstream popular music history with the creation of the landmark albums Miles Ahead, Porgy & Bess and Sketches of Spain. Evans’ work with Davis resonates here. 

Evans was an influential talent at the time, so it is not surprising that his album Out Of The Cool would be in the initial run of albums issued by the fledgling Impulse Records label. He delivers the goods in the form of a tour de force large group jazz experience, with an edge that keeps it sounding fresh 60 years on. It probably didn’t hurt that Evans chose some tremendous players for this band including a killer rhythm section of Elvin Jones and Charlie Persip on drums and Ron Carter on bass.

Out Of The Cool is a bit of an audiophile dream, produced by legend-in-the-making Creed Taylor and recorded at Rudy Van Gelder’s legendary studio.  Inside the record we get a map showcasing the layout of the instruments, the players and even the microphones used! There are many Telefunkens, Altec, Byers  and even an ElectroVoice for those of you — like me, who geek out on this sort of detail — to dream about… 

Indeed when I first revisited Out Of The Cool for a refresher listen one of the first things we noticed was this incredible sense of soundstage and separation. I say we because — and special thanks go out to him — Ben of Tunnel Records in San Franciso played me the pristine original copy he has in the store. And it sounds huge! 

On the reissue, that spectacular perspective is preserved, from the opening shakers and beautiful cymbal hits of “La Nevada.” Ron Carter’s bass is very much dead center in front of you. The horns are mostly on one side and woodwinds and guitars on the other. It is a wide, near-cinemascopic Stereo mix in that sense, for sure (and much more apparent on vinyl than my 2007 CD reissue, btw)!

Overall, the audio quality is crisp and bright but with a natural richness in the mid ranges and lows. Be sure to listen for those (what I think are) super realistic sounding triangle hits at the end of Side One. I love the tone on Ray Crawford’s electric guitar on some of the tracks.

This fine new edition Out Of The Cool is being released later this month in the first wave of 60th Anniversary reissues from Universal Music’s Impulse Records imprint, crafted under the guidance of the Acoustic Sounds team.  And in keeping with past releases from these folks — and the Blue Note Tone Poet releases for that matter — the results are exemplary.  

The pressing quality is excellent, delivering pretty much everything you could want and expect from a reissue like this: 180-gram, dark black, dead quiet and perfectly centered vinyl. Kudos again to Quality Record Pressing (QRP) for that attention to important details.  

The cover for Out Of The Cool seems virtually identical to the original too, crafted at the Stoughton Printing Company with a nice laminated design. As with the recent reissue of Ray Charles’ Genius + Soul = Jazz  crisp clear artwork makes me think they made this from original production elements. The only real give away that this is a reissue is on the back cover where there is an inevitable and necessary UPC inventorying code. 

Out Of The Cool is another “no brainer” to pick up if you are a fan of Gil Evans, Miles Davis or simply great sounding, modern-leaning orchestral jazz with a strong sense of melody and dynamics.  This one might even be a good demo disc for some of you out there in audiophile land! 

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Ray Charles’ Genius + Soul = Jazz, Impulse Records Acoustic Sounds Vinyl Reissue

Posted on by Mark Smotroff

I have heard and seen Impulse Records referred to as “the house that ‘Trane built” and in fact there is even a book with that title (click here). However, that concept may be a bit misleading in some ways. The second album issued by Impulse Records in 1961 when it was formed was by none other than the great Ray Charles.  It was their first big hit.

The album is called Genius + Soul = Jazz and it was an interesting release for Impulse Records to issue early in its run — note the original serial number is A-2. It was a smart move by producer and label head Creed Taylor as “One Mint Julep” from the album hit No. 1 on the R&B charts and No. 8 on the pop charts!  

So it is not quite a surprise that this is one of the first albums out the door on Universal Music’s Acoustic Sounds Impulse Records reissue series; it is part of their celebration of the label’s 60th Anniversary this year. 

Genius + Soul = Jazz was Ray Charles’s only release for Impulse Records but his subsequent releases for parent company ABC Paramount — including the groundbreaking (and massively successful) Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music — underscore the brilliance in launching the label around a hot Rhythm & Blues star with likely crossover appeal. 

Genius + Soul = Jazz planted a flag in the surface of popular music for Impulse and set the stage for a barrage of now classic releases including Oliver Nelson’s The Blues and the Abstract Truth, Gil Evans’ Out Of The Cool and of course a slew of John Coltrane gems such as Africa/Brass, Live! At The Village Vanguard and Coltrane on through to the sea-changing masterpiece, A Love Supreme.

This is a great album which takes Charles’ signature soul sound and amplifies it many notches, backed by a killer big band (Count Basie’s, with arrangements by the legendary Quincy Jones & Ralph Burns). Placing him behind a smokin’ Hammond B3 organ delivers a bigger sound than his regular organ or even piano. 

The band sounds amazing on this album. Produced by Creed Taylor, this isn’t your great grandparent’s Big Band album, kids. 

I compared the new Impulse Records Acoustic Sounds 60th Anniversary reissue to my original orange label pressing and I’m quite pleased. As with others in this series (and the Tone Poets for that matter) from Universal Music, the album is mastered a bit more quietly so I had to turn up my amp accordingly. The brighter and more open high end is particularly noticeable on the drums and percussion. Listen for the decay on the cymbals and the snap of the drum sticks on the snare at times and you’ll hear plenty of that classic Van Gelder studio vibe for sure. The mid ranges are richer as well. 

The Stereo separation on this album is excellent with plenty of detailing of individual instruments and specific sections of the orchestra. The thick, 180-gram black vinyl is dark, perfectly quiet and well centered, so kudos to Quality Record Pressings (QRP) for that good work.  

The cover is almost identical to my original too, crafted at the Stoughton Printing Company with a nice laminated design. The crisp, clear artwork makes me think they made this from original production elements. The only minor differences are that the type face on the spine is not the same as the original — neither is the serial number — and on the back cover there is the inevitable and necessary UPC code for modern inventory purposes. 

Genius + Soul = Jazz is a winner, now sounding better than ever. I like this reissue so much I’ll probably not play my original again since it isn’t in quite as nice condition. In fact, I’m not sure if I really need to even keep my original in the collection at this point given the quality of this reissue. And that is probably the best complement I can offer.

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