Brassplyer wrote:
Doc Severinsen is one of the big trumpet heroes. In the 60's he was
recording on the Command label and his recordings during that period
are considered to be a "Golden Era" of his output where he did a
number of virtuosic renditions of various pop tunes.
Listening to them now, I hear things that weren't obvious to me as a
kid. This recording of "It Ain't Necessarily So" is a good example
because you can hear him doing different parts on both channels. I
don't think they really did that great a job of capturing his sound.
His performance is so incredible it shines through but it sounds kind
of stuffy, buzzy and distorted. I gather they close-mic'd him. I have
no idea what mic was used.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8J3U5AHQxo
I'd say it's performance.
It just sounds overblown to me. That was the style at the time. By the
time you get to Maynard Ferguson, it can't really be taken any farther.
Severinsen's tone wasn't his strong suit. His phrasing and ... wit were.
The technology had long existed to do a stellar job of capturing the
sound of a trumpet. Contrast to this earlier (1962) recording of Al
Hirt on "Memories Of You", how sparkling every aspect of the
recording is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvQ4acZw1a8
That has a lot more room. But listen to the stabs around 1:20 - still
pretty buzzy. And there's some hardcore flangey-thing going on ( prolly
'cuz YooToob )
Do you think the Command recordings were just a particular sound they
were aiming for or less than stellar engineering? He was the most
visible trumpet artist, recording with a prominent label, I would
have thought his recordings would have gotten the Cadillac
treatment.
Not everything can sound like "Kind of Blue".
--
Les Cargill