Mitchell Kaufman wrote:


Michael Laprarie wrote:

I'll second the recommendation for "Ellington Jazz Party". I have an old
LP of this release, but it is one of the best recordings of the Ellington
orchestra that I have ever heard. It was done live with an audience in
the studio, and I think it really does put you right in front of the
orchestra - you can close your eyes and almost think that you're in the
same room with this great band, circa 1958. And the guest spots from
Dizzy Gillespie and Jimmy Rushing are a bonus, too.

Along those lines, I'd like to put in a good word for Ellington's
Columbia album, Blues In Orbit a great-sounding early stereo recording.
I also find the Schaap reworking of the '56 Newport Jazz Festival
Ellington performance amazingly vivid, especially given the bizarre way
in which it had to be reconstituted. Finally, the Verve Ellington-Hodges
small unit recording, Back to Back, is beautifully-recorded--I
particularly like the way each soloist is accorded his little
ambient-filled ball of space in the stereo stage (Sweets Edison over on
the left, for example).

A nice bonus is that the last two of these come up exceptionally nice in
their CD transfers, a state of affairs that's by no means the rule. As
for Blues In Orbit, I've only heard its Classic Records LP reissue,
which is utterly spectacular.

Generally-speaking, you can't go far wrong with *anything* recorded at
Columbia's 30th Street Studio in New York in the late '50s-early '60s,
including most of Miles Davis' work (though a lot of it comes up very
bright when heard nowadays, particularly on CD in Schaap's transfers,
and particularly the Gil Evans albums), Mingus Ah Um and Mingus Dynasty,
and Brubeck's Time Out--to name only the most popular stuff.

Some of the stuff Teagarden recorded for Capitol in the '50s--I'm
thinking of the stereo material as presented in the Mosaic box set--is
magnificent sonically, though he's already a little decrepit (especially
vocally) for my taste. Then there's Satchmo Plays King Oliver on Audio
Fidelity Records, not to mention some of the mono stuff he did at--where
else?--Columbia's 30th Street Studio, like the Handy and Waller albums
(though only the earliest pressings of the former). Being an old guy
didn't mean your records had to sound old!

Some of the Ella Fitzgerald song books are beautifully-recorded,
particularly the Arlen, the Gershwin, and the Rodgers and Hart. Then
there's the Chet Baker ballad album, "Chet"--that's a beauty. The famous
Bill Evans Village Vanguard live albums never floated my boat; for one,
I'm generally not a fan of piano trios--I miss the sound of some kind of
horn; second, the perspective--from the bandstand looking out towards
the audience--strikes me as strange. That said, if these things don't
bother you (and admittedly they don't matter to most people), these are
otherwise among the best-sounding jazz albums ever made.

MK








Some nice selections listed above. I'd also recommend the Stan Getz/Charlie
Byrd collaboration - "Jazz Samba" on the Verve label. And also the
Getz/Gilberto album, on either Verve or Mobile Fidelity.

And on CD - for something completely different - but pretty well recorded, if
you enjoy live concerts - Bela Fleck and his group - "Live Art". (includes
Flight of the Cosmic Hippo and other goodies). This is especially recommended
to those with planar speakers to make the most of the fast transient responses.
It will give those membranes a workout .




Bruce J. Richman