What are you listening to right now?

[tmazz]

Savoy, huh? Bird recorded his very best tunes for them 70 years ago! I wonder if it is related at all.

Looks that way. Their web site is:
http://www.savoyjazz.com/

A look at the catalog shows a lot of '50s era jazz artists, so I think the company can trace it's roots back to the Savoy of the 50s (although no doubt through a whole series of corporate takeovers since then.  )

This series looks like ity is noty longer in their current release listings, hey, there's always Amazon  (and the Crack House  )

One piece of good news I tripped over when looking at their web site is that on Sept 27th,  Bill Frisell is releasing a CD of his inturpurtation of 16 John Lennon tunes. I will definitely be on tghe lookout for that one. 

[richidoo]

I know Chad has a new plant coming on line, but Analogue Prods has been around a while so this is not from the new plant. There are a lot of audiophile type record labels made in that Chinese plant. Wouldn't it be funny if they both came off the same stampers with different labels?

[jsaliga]

That would be funny, but very unlikely.  Most Analogue Productions 180g vinyl reissues are pressed at RTI, and I am fairly certain that is where the record that Tom has was pressed.  Some of the more recent Analogue Productions releases, such as the Impulse 45RPM series and the Bill Evans 45RPM Riverside boxed set, are pressed at Pallas Records in Germany.

--Jerome

[tmazz]

That would be funny, but very unlikely.  Most Analogue Productions 180g vinyl reissues are pressed at RTI, and I am fairly certain that is where the record that Tom has was pressed.  Some of the more recent Analogue Productions releases, such as the Impulse 45RPM series and the Bill Evans 45RPM Riverside boxed set, are pressed at Pallas Records in Germany.

--Jerome

Jerome is correct, the AP version clearly states on the cover that it was pressed by RTI and mastered on all tube equipment.The Acoustic Sounds web site further states that it was sourced from the original two track master tape.

My concern with the Wax Time pressing was not so muchh that it was manufactured in China, but rather that I could not determine anything about the source for the mastering.

[eleazar]

For all you bargain hunters at Best Buy
A CD & DVD of Chickenfoot for $0.99

I don't know what Best Buy you go to, but mine charged me $2.99.  

Still a bargin.  

When I checked my receipt I was charged $2.99 also. I had go back and speak to a manager and get a refund for the diff. as they were marked $0.99........Bill

[richidoo]

My concern with the Wax Time pressing was not so muchh that it was manufactured in China, but rather that I could not determine anything about the source for the mastering.

Same thing - important to know the source for purposes of  quality as well as licensing.

[etcarroll]

Quintessence
Bill Evans | Format: vinyl


Damn, there's a Bill Evans 45RPM Riverside boxed set?

I'd like to hear that.

[allenzachary]

   




Tal Farlow - Cookin' On All Burners LP

Another pickup from the WUSC record show, my annual version of the Crack House.  LP is in remarkably good condition considering it is a radio station record.  Then again, the student-run station plays college/alternative rock.  This record probably never got a second look from any of its potential players.  

Review and info:

On the fifth of six Concord albums (a surprising amount of activity considering that he only played locally in the New England area during most of 1957-1975), the brilliant bop-based guitarist Tal Farlow performs concise renditions (none over six and a half minutes in length) of nine standards with pianist James Williams, bassist Gary Mazzaroppi, and drummer Vinnie Johnson. Highlights of the excellent straight-ahead date include "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To," "I've Got the World on a String," "Love Letters," and "Just Friends." ~ Scott Yanow



Recorded at Soundmixers, New York, New York in August 1982. Includes liner notes by Gordon Raddue.

Tal Farlow Quartet: Tal Farlow (guitar); James Williams (piano); Gary Mazzaroppi (bass); Vinnie Johnson (drums).

Personnel: Tal Farlow (guitar); James Williams (piano); Vinnie Johnson (drums).

[jsaliga]

Damn, there's a Bill Evans 45RPM Riverside boxed set?

Yes there is.

http://store.acousticsounds.com/d/66242/Bill_Evans-Riverside_Recordings-Vinyl_Box_Sets

At $599 it ain't exactly what I would call affordable, but the price is reasonable given the content.  You get 11 albums on 22 180g LP records cut at 45RPM, pressed at Pallas Records in Germany.  The quality of the vinyl pressings is way better than anything you will find on RTI pressed vinyl.

--Jerome

[jsaliga]

Better than the Chinese LP you got last week?

You mean the Chinese LP that was remastered from the original CD?  

Sorry, but I just couldn't help myself.  There are several places in the world that are notorious for not respecting copyrights.  When I worked in Saudi Arabia for two years as a consultant the shelves of music stores were lined with cassettes that were copies.  CDs were legit, however.  That was a long time ago so things might have changed.

--Jerome

[richidoo]

That's what I already said.

[tmazz]

Stan Getz & Arthur Fiedler at Tanglewood; recorded "Live"

RCA Living Stereo LP

When I saw this album I thought the concept behind was very interesting and had good potential. But I was quickly disappointed by the SQ of the recording. It sounds as if they tried to mix and match recording techniques and it just didn't work. The Pops itself sounds good with the usual smoothness and soundstaging that RCA achieved with overhead microphones. However Getz and his band sound as if their individual instruments are close miked and while they don't sound bad per se, they sound very different from the rest of the orchestra. The sonic images from the two different techniques just don't blend together well.  For example on the opening track (The Girl from Ipanema) the image of Getz's sax is just huge in size compared the the sounds of the rest of the orchestra. Likewise the close miking of the drum set has mics set to full left and full right, giving the sonic impression that thedrums are as far apart as the area taken up by the entire orchestra. While this type of sonic imaging might work for a small jazz combo (where in reality the physical sized of a drum kit might very well be similar to the distance between a pair of stereo speakers in the average home, it just does not blend realistically with the overhead mic's presentation of the entire orchestra between the speakers. The two images are simply not compatible with one another All in all, not one of RCA's better efforts.

[tmazz]

Roy Orbison's Greatest Hits

Monument LP

Nice sounding LP that unfortunately had a big warp along the outside edge that leaves the first two tracks on each side unusable. I am going to experiment with trying to flatten this record in the oven, but if that doesn't work  I will have to start searching for another copy.

[tmazz]

Rimsky-Korsakov Symphony No. 2 "Antar"; Miaskovsky Sym. No. 21 Gould/Chicago Symphony Orchestra

RCA Living Stereo LP

I was never really a big fan of the Morton Gould LSC recordings (I have often wondered if this was in part because Gould always seemed to get the "B-Team" when it came to recording staff), but this one is actually pretty well done on both a musical and a sonic basis (in spite of being a 1970s or 80s Red Seal pressing.)

[tmazz]

Bobby McFerrin: Spontaneous Inventions

Blue Note LP

Musically this album cantains much more of a Pop influence that did the Blue Note recordings of the 50s and early 60s,Not that this is in itself bad, just different. But it still demonstrates the usual Blue Note commitment to SQ.