Here's to Great Recordings

This article was originally published in 1999.

Man, got a lot of good ones to talk about this month, so instead of leading off with the semi-customary introductory blather, how about just getting right into the music, always a good thing....

Jacintha: Here's to Ben-A Vocal Tribute to Ben Webster
Groove Note GRV1001-1 (LP), GRV2001-2 (CD)

An audiophile classic is born.

This fabulous-sounding recording is the initial release from Ying Tan's Groove Note label, and obviously Tan, formerly of Classic Records and an audiophile veteran from way back, intends to go all-out with his new label's releases. As in: sumptuous packaging, weighty 180-gram vinyl LP enclosed, top-class artist and musicians including Teddy Edwards on tenor and Kei Akagi on piano, production by Joe Harley and Tan, recorded all-analog live to 2-track with top-class equipment, mastered by Bernie Grundman direct from the original analog masters using a modified Scully lathe...whew. No effort was spared to make this recording a sonic spectacular.

They succeeded.

I, and probably you, had never heard of Jacintha before this release—according to the liner notes, she's a popular actress and recording artist in her homeland of Singapore. She has a beautifully pure, sweet voice with an alluring vibrato, and the sensitivity and depth of expression needed to do justice to this album of classics associated with legendary saxophonist Ben Webster (hence the title). Although she might not be on the same exalted level as Billie Holiday or Ella Fitzgerald—how many women are these days—she's talented and gifted. Gifted enough to stretch out on a song and take her time navigating its musical and emotional waterways and make it work—when she drops the pitch of her voice when the chord changes shift downward during the verse of "Tenderly," it is a thrilling musical moment. And how many singers could perform a seven-minute-plus version of "Danny Boy"—unaccompanied for the first few minutes—and not only pull it off, but make it captivating?

The recording provides the ideal showcase for Jacintha's vocals, which are lusciously recorded (using a Neumann M-49 microphone) with just a hint of room ambience. The musicians play with understated elegance—pianist Akagi is a superb accompanist and soloist, and tenor man Edwards more than lives up to the challenge of playing on an album dedicated to the memory of one of the greatest saxophonists that ever lived. The sound of the LP is supremely natural, open, warm and inviting, with the presence, fine musical detail (just listen to the brushes on snare in "Georgia On My Mind," the air-through-horn quality of Edwards' sax or the harmonic richness and transient "pluck" of the acoustic bass) and depth that tell you you're listening to an exceptional recording. Four stars plus. The CD loses some of the exquisitely fine detail of the LP especially in the upper midrange and highs, for a more closed-in, less transparent and, well, magical sound.

And there's a twist—the LP includes a bonus 45 disc with "Danny Boy" on Side Two and...and...and..."The Look of Love" on Side Two! Coincidence...or Ying Tan throwing down the gauntlet and challenging the supremacy of Dusty Springfield's audiophile-legendary version from the Casino Royale (Colgems COSO-5005) soundtrack, and the Classic Records recent 45-RPM reissue? Well, I won't spoil the fun except to say that it is a contest—the recording quality of this 12-inch 45 is stunning. I have no doubt that over the next few months, there will be many late-night audiophile listening sessions endlessly debating the relative merits of the two versions. Okay, a little fuel on the fire to get things started—the Jacintha version is recorded from a much more natural perspective than the Springfield/Casino Royale version, and in that respect, sounds much more "real." On second thought, this couldn't be a coincidence—Ying, you just had to throw a fly in the ointment of us audiophiles' otherwise placid, sedate, stress-free lives...?

Seriously, if you want to hear just how good analogue recording circa 1998 gets, you owe it to yourself to hear this.

Tom Freund: North American Long Weekend
Red Ant 329 111 008-2 ADV (CD)

Man, my CD player has been full of pleasant—and unforeseen—surprises this month. I'd never heard of Tom Freund until now, but fell in love with this disc immediately. (In a flash of synchronicity, a few days after I first heard this disc, I saw Freund was playing a club in New York City—on a day I couldn't make it, of course). Freund is a young (at least if his song, "27," is autobiographically correct) singer-songwriter-musician whose songs encompass an unusually diverse range, from the wry lead-off track, "Digs" ("Now I ain't gonna look for another place/To lay down my tired head/But I ain't gonna sleep in my own fold-out couch/While you're lying there in my bed") to the resignation of knowing you'll never know What It's All About expressed in "Business of Knowing" (I just love this track). Freund's voice has a penetrating rasp that reminds me of Dylan, Tom Petty and Roger McGuinn, and, like the aforementioned artists, his voice rivets you into the heart of his material (forgive the mixed metaphor, but that's how it feels).

And the sound is excellent, with a clean, open, expansive mix and superb arrangements. Freund's voice is recorded straight-up, with virtually no processing or added reverb. The instrumental sounds are exceptionally realistic, from the body and harmonic "snap" of the acoustic guitars to the lush pedal steel guitars and the swirly richness and weight of the Hammond organ with Leslie tone cabinet. (Has to be a real Hammond—can't fake that sound, one of the coolest in electric instrumentdom.) Many songs feature gorgeous string accompaniment. There's a little track-to-track variation, and don't be thrown off by the boomy bass of the title track—it's an anomaly, as the heavenly mix of the second track and others quickly prove. And you gotta love the sound of the needle dropping on and off the "record" at the beginning and end of the disc.

Tom Freund is an exceptional talent, and if there's any justice in the world, this recording will be the springboard to a deserved career as a major artist. A real find.

Dick Hyman In Recital
Reference Recordings RR-84 (CD)

Man, who would've ever thought, back in the bleak early days of cold, sterile, harsh, metallic, soulless early digital sound that we'd ever be enjoying discs that sound as warm and wonderful as this superlative new disc of solo piano music from veteran composer/conductor/arranger/performer Dick Hyman, one of jazz and pop music's most accomplished musicians. Truth is, the excellent state of digital sound today is due in no small part to the efforts of "Professor" Keith O. Johnson, Tam Henderson and the folks at Reference Recordings, a company that has, from the beginning, endeavored to push the state of the recording art beyond whatever was thought to be the limits of the technology of the time. This CD is proof—I am flabbergasted at just how good it sounds.

The musicianship is dazzling. Recorded at a recital at the Maestro Foundation in Santa Monica, California in late 1997, Hyman rips and roars through a selection of standards in an energetic style, with deep roots in stride piano—his left hand/right hand counterpoint is jaw-dropping at times. At times, I just shook my head and laughed out loud at his level of virtuosity and musical invention. All in the service of the song—how many musicians can take a weary old chestnut like "Tea for Two" and transform it into a 10 minute flight of improvisational brilliance?

And the sound. Oh man, the sound. Hyman was recorded on a Bosendorfer reproducing piano, one of 33 in the world equipped with an ultra-sensitive recording/playback mechanism developed by Wayne Stahnke, which uses sensors to analyze the movements of each key, as well as the pedals. In this manner, the performer's nuances are captured with extreme accuracy and subtlety, and can be played back at any time—and the artist doesn't have to endure the stress of balancing, sound checks and the like at the time of the recording. The instrument itself is, in Hyman's opinion, one of the finest he's ever played.

The liner notes don't go into the particulars of the recording—microphones, tape decks, mike placement...don't care. This is magical, miraculous. The piano is recorded with extraordinary fidelity, from its remarkably solid and weighty low end through its clear, luscious midrange and gorgeous highs. Talk about preservation of harmonic structure! Image placement, soundstage, presence, dynamic shadings, the tactile "bounce" and feel of a man's fingers striking keys, the sense of recorded realism? Check. You're there—or should I say, the piano is here, in my listening room, up front, with a perfect combination of direct and ambient/room sound. Distortion? There ain't none—the sound is swooningly beautiful.

The kicker? I'm not even listening to this CD to its full potential. This is an HDCD-encoded disc recorded using 24-bit technology, and I'm listening to it on a conventional 16-bit, non HDCD machine. True, the HDCD process yields benefits even on a conventional CD player, still, my mind boggles at what this disc must really sound like. Well, it was just too good not to review until I can get my hands on an HDCD rig. No matter what kind of deck you own, you ain't gonna believe this. At least four and three-quarter stars, maybe five (I'll have to get an HDCD machine and get back to you....)

Tears for Fears: Songs From the Big Chair
Mobile Fidelity UDCD 730

Jeff Beck: Blow by Blow
Mobile Fidelity UDCD 727

In previous issues, I've praised Mobile Fidelity's efforts in issuing remastered CDs that are not only faithful to the originals but often improve upon them overall. While a bit of the upper midrange/high frequency detail resolution of the analog originals is sacrificed, the improvement in dynamic range, presence and overall clarity usually more than makes up for it.

However, here we have two cases where the Mobile Fidelity Ultradisc re-issues absolutely stomp on the originals. Especially Songs From the Big Chair, the breakthrough 1985 release from Tears for Fears featuring their titanic hits, "Shout" and "Everybody Wants to Rule the World." The re-issue is vastly superior in terms of bass extension and definition, instrumental clarity and vocal presence. Although flawed—you can hear the digits and the sound is overly flat and electronic—it's now got much more power and impact.

Jeff Beck's Blow by Blow is deservedly a landmark album—this 1975 release was a breakthrough in a dozen ways. Produced by George Martin, Beck and his group transcended the fusion-fuzak clichés of the day to create a disc of instrumental virtuosity and incalculable influence-"Freeway Jam" has a revered place in the pantheon of high energy rock jamming, and "Cause We've Ended as Lovers" is simply one of the most magnificent pieces of music ever recorded—Beck's guitar playing is beyond astonishing, overwhelming in its emotional impact. However, the original Columbia LP [PE33409], was all too typical of the Columbia pop LPs of the day—dynamically squashed, opaque, poor vinyl—though it does have that wonderful analog upper-midrange "continuousness." The Mo Fi re-issue strips away veil upon veil and is so much more dynamic and present—even the vibrato of Max Middleton's Fender Rhodes Suitcase Piano now has a tactile body and dimensionality virtually absent on the original. Highly recommended.

Hot news—at the 1998 AES convention (over by the time you read this), Mobile Fidelity is introducing its next-generation mastering system, and based on what I've been told, it has the potential to be a major sonic advance. You know what they say in Missouri....

The Velvet Underground: White Light/White Heat
Mobile Fidelity UDCD 724

Really, this disc doesn't belong in Finesounds—the recording quality is crude, primitive, even terrible on some tracks, with drums barely audible and the entire proceedings immersed in layers and layers of distortion. Still, I couldn't not mention this, as it is simply one of the most outrageous musical statements ever foisted on an unsuspecting listening public. Sure, everybody pays lip service to how much the Velvet Underground (Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison and Maureen Tucker), the original noise-rock, art-rock, "experimental" band—influenced them, but, hearing this again after almost 20 years, I never really realized just how great an influence the Underground actually had, particularly this seminal 1967 album. Their hyper-distorted guitars, flat-affect vocals, rambling instrumental interludes, lyrics about drugs, kinky sex and bizarre relationships and dangerous, decadent attitude are mirrored in dozens of today's alterna-rock outfits—could bands like Sonic Youth and Smashing Pumpkins exist today if White Light/White Heat were never released? And Lou Reed's guitar plating is utterly amazing, shocking in its brutal intensity and recklessness—drenched in screaming fuzz tone and feedback, with flurries of "wrong" notes played with such conviction that they sound utterly "right." Dark, disturbing and extremely difficult to listen to at times—but thrilling.