What We Are Listening To – Fall 2023

This quarter we have a variety of music to share from vinyl jazz classics, to Cuban Big Band, to multi-channel audio Blu-Rays with ATMOS mixes, and even QUAD!

For me Clapton has always been in his element when performing live. While he certainly has committed brilliant stuff to studio tape over the years, occasionally some of his studio output suffers from being over produced. Experiencing him live though is a whole other matter. He thrives off the energy of the crowd and his band to push him and thats where he delivers his best. If there is any reason that whole “Clapton is God” meme still hangs around it’s because of that. And this set gives us a whole heaping helping of God on guitar.

The 6 CDs and 3 Blu-Rays are divided in 3 distinct concert types, Rock, Blues, and Orchestral. While the setlist on the CDs and BDs are identical, performances are culled from both the 1990 and 91 concerts so some personnel differences exist particularly on the Rock and Blues discs. The Orchestra discs feature Clapton with a full orchestra under the direction of Michael Kamen. The Blues discs feature Clapton with the likes of Buddy Guy, Albert Collins, Robert Cray, Jimmie Vaughn and more.

The remastered audio on the CDs is excellent. A noticeable improvement over the original 24 Nights release. Improved clarity, bass and soundstage overall make the performances more involving. And then there is all the additional content! The Rock discs are full of performance gems, too many to mention really. The Blues disc is my favorite because of the performers and the song selections. On the video concert, Buddy Guy and Albert Collins kind of steal the show for me. The orchestral work is interesting and unique to listen to. Definitely some unexpected takes on familiar songs, but all the same it’s rewarding to listen and watch.

A few words on the BD discs. The content was originally recorded at 480p so it has been upscaled and oftentimes there is side-by-side video from 2 angles to better use the 16:9 aspect ratio. Image quality itself is a little soft and grainy, which is expected with the source material they were working with. And while the BD concert discs have a Dolby ATMOS track, it’s definitely not overly aggressive, more on the subtle side in terms of sense of envelopment. Not near the audio separation and dynamics you’d get from one of Clapton’s recent Crossroads Guitar Festival BDs but its fine for the vintage of the material.

All in all a really superb set if you are an Eric Clapton fan and an excellent time capsule from that point in his career.

Well hats off to Mr. Wilson, the ATMOS mix on this album is stunning. It showcases everything ABC poured into this album creatively in the best possible way. And there is actually bass now! A sense of dimension! What a revelation. “Poison Arrow,” “The Look of Love,” and “All of My Heart” have never sounded better. The 5.1 Mix is also excellent for those that don’t have an ATMOS home theater. Wilson’s stereo remix is also a welcome makeover to the original mix which has also been included on the disc for easy comparison. “Valentines Day” sounds so much better with actual bass to the drums that open that track.

If you are a fan of this album or 80’s music in general, you owe it to yourself to pick this disc up. It’s outstanding. Now if I could ask Steve Wilson to remix Power Station’s first album in Dolby ATMOS, maybe? Please?

The Quad records required a special decoding system built in to your receiver or preamplifier to decode and send the signals to the appropriate four speakers that you would need to experience Quad. Oftentimes a band’s songs on the stereo album versus the Quad release would differ slightly due to different or alternate instrument solos being used, alternate vocal edits and fading too. While the push for Quad was short lived there are vaults of Quad master tapes out there and Rhino Records has seen fit to release four popular albums of the 70s in their new “Quadio” series. Each audio-only Blu-Ray disc has both a four-channel mix taken from the original Quad master tapes and a PCM stereo mix. Both are in 24-bit 192 kHz resolution. Switching between the Red and Yellow function buttons on your Blu-Ray player remote allows on-the fly switching between both versions. Depending on how your AV Receiver is set up, the four-channel mix can be played as-is or expanded into five or more channels.

It’s an interesting experience hearing these four albums (each of which I am very familiar with) in Quad. The most successful in terms of sonics and immersion for me would have to be Black Sabbath’s Paranoid. The things that are done with the panning of Tony Iommi’s guitar and Ozzy’s vocals for example, fit the whole vibe of the album and do create an extra sense of surround that creatively adds to the songs. It’s quite well done.

Next up is Jefferson Starship’s Red Octopus. While not as completely convincing as Paranoid, the album has some more successful sounding surround tracks in “Miracles,” “AI Garimasū,” and “Sandalphon.” Otherwise, it sound like more of a novelty than a serious creative effort in surround sound.

Alice Cooper’s Billion Dollar Babies, is a great album that really doesn’t gain anything by going Quad. Outside of some interesting stuff happening in “I Love the Dead,” I preferred to listen to the album in stereo where it sounded excellent for its age. It does make me wonder how Cooper’s Welcome to My Nightmare would sound in Quad. Now that could be interesting!

And finally we have the J. Geils Band’s Nightmares…and Other Tales From the Vinyl Jungle. One of the best house-rocking bands of the 70s and early 80s and woefully under appreciated in my opinion. This album is start to finish full of fantastic, hard-charging R&B music that gains absolutely nothing in Quad. For me, stereo is the way to go with this album. Turn it up and have a party!

I do hope Rhino continues with this Quadio series. The remastered high-resolution stereo tracks alone are a worthwhile reason to pick these releases up as they all sound excellent. Having the Quad tracks to listen to is a novel and important addition, even if some of them could be a little hit or miss. You have to keep in mind that this was the beginning of the concept of having a “surround sound” experience in the home. There has got to be a treasure trove of Quad content out there that can finally be heard the way it was intended given today’s better quality equipment.

The title track has got to be the most unexpected and unlikely take on the classic “Cry Me a River” that I have ever heard but it really works, interpreted as unique Latin Big Band number. And Durán et all’s take on Dizzy Gillespie’s “Night in Tunisia” has a ultra-suave and sultry Latin groove with hints of Film Noire imagery. The entire album is extremely well recorded. Big Band music can sometimes be too hot on the brass and quickly become irritating to listen to. Not so here. The instrumentation is balanced wonderfully and it is a pleasure to listen to from start to finish!

Oe’s trio is thoughtfully modern in their renditions of these tracks. They are full of groove and are immensely infectious, grabbing you from the word “go.” On the solo pieces Oe’s playing is sensitive, emotive of specific times and places, very easy to get swept away and lost in. The album is also very well recorded and will do justice to any decent listening rig. Very enjoyable music and a keeper!

Watson’s saxophone is smooth and expansive with an appealing clarity of tone. Basically, it sounded “right there!” Carmen Lundy’s deep, breathy vocals were up close and personal. They just sounded full, dimensional and just plain dynamite! And little details like the reverberation of the bass strings after being plucked, were easily discernible through a good pair of speakers. An excellent sounding and really enjoyable album.

Part of Craft Recordings re-releases of the Original Jazz Classics series, this LP is billed as an all-analog remastering from the original tapes by Kevin Gray at Coherent Audio. The final article is pressed on 180 grams vinyl at RTI. The sound quality of my review sample is superb. Warm, full and very appealing. Subtle details like Paul Montian’s brush work come through clearly and with great detail. There was no undue surface noise to speak of or any clicks or pops. This edition of Waltz for Debby would be an excellent addition to anyone’s record collection.

Both these two jazz heavy-hitters sound incredibly dialed into each other, save for the solo Monk track. The tracks “Ruby, My Dear,” “Trinkle, Tinkle”, and “Nutty” have a more intimate and personal vibe while “Off Minor” and “Epistrophy” are bigger, broader sonic excursions.

In all the tracks, you can hear both Monk and Coltrane begin to stretch and push the boundaries of their music, quietly foreshadowing what was to come from them years later. “Functional” feels like a little window into Monk’s mind as he plays and strings things together, almost meandering around but yet firmly in control of where he’s going.

Functional indeed.

The album is billed as an all-analog mastering from the original master tapes by Kevin Gray at Coherent Audio. Pressed on 180-gram vinyl by RTI, the review sample was just about flawless.

The piano has a great ring and decay to its notes that have been captured in the recording. The drums have an excellent snap to the skins and the cymbals sound properly metallic when brushed, instead of just sounding like a mash of hiss. On the track “Centerpiece” the dueling scat that Gambarini performs with guest vocalist James Moody is a treat to listen to. Smooth, breezy, and super appealing. And when she hits and holds the very highest notes, it doesn’t sound piercing or irritating in the least. On “Monk’s Prayer/Looking Back” her intimate vocals with only the standup bass at first were just sublime sounding. The entire album is a textbook modern recording.

Billed as an audiophile pressing and limited to 1999 copies, the album was originally recorded and mixed in 2004 by Al Schmitt at Capitol Records Studio A. This vinyl was mastered and cut at Organic Music Studio in Germany in 2022. Pressed on 180 gram vinyl.

That song has constantly stuck in my mind over the years whenever I’d hear Thelonious Monk music. It was so unusual but exceptional that it just burrowed itself into my cerebral cortex, nevermore to leave. So now we come full circle, and I am listening to the full album of the same name. It’s the album that really got things moving career-wise for Monk and it’s easy to hear why. “Ba-lue Bolivar Ba-lues-are” is a cool, smooth and extended jam/solo session book-ended by a groovy opening and closing jive. “Pannonica” sounds elegant, almost wistful in its composition yet it has some exploratory solo gusto at its heart.

Everything on this album sounds properly rich and alive. The title track jumps out at me with a sense of warmth that my CD compilation set (while good) just doesn’t quite have. No surface noise at all and not a smidgen of a pop or crackle is to be heard. This particular release is part of Craft’s Small Batch series of reissues. The original analog tapes were treated to an all analog mastering process courtesy of Bernie Grundman.

Lacquers were sent to RTI for their “one-step” process, eliminating a couple of traditional steps and their inherent losses but also limiting the number of final albums that can be produced. LPs are pressed on 180 gram vinyl. Craft has gone the extra mile with packaging on this one with a heavyweight black slip cover with drawstring and separate liner notes. It is a most beautiful sounding and finely presented collector’s edition.