What We’re Listening To – Winter 2024

“Hard Time Killing Floor Blues” just hits like an ice-cold shower. Startlingly melodic, yet ominous and chilling to the bone. Skip James delivers the song with a spare and efficient guitar performance but that voice of his is just so emotional and frankly destabilizing. “Cypress Grove” is another one that leaves you with a sense of foreboding and dread. It is all very real, raw, and unrepentant and that’s what makes it extra special. Hearing his rendition of “I’m So Glad” (which was later covered by Cream) was interesting as it bears little resemblance, short of the tempo, to the British power trio’s take that I grew up with. Still, hearing it was rather educational, experiencing the lyrics and the sound that inspired Baker, Bruce, and Clapton, those years later.

The recording itself is superb. It sounds like Skip James and his guitar, or piano, are in the room with me. It’s exceedingly high fidelity for any blues recording of this vintage. Part of that I’m sure has to do with the Vanguard-StereoLab recording as they were well-regarded for the time. The full analog remastering to vinyl here for Craft Recordings is exquisite. Lacquers were cut at The Mastering Lab by Matthew Lutthans and the 180-gram vinyl that I have was pressed at QRP. Surface noise on my copy is pretty much non-existent. It is perfectly flat and super quiet which helps Skip James’ voice and guitar (or piano) just leap off the record. Clear, warm, and dimensional, it’s a superbly remastered and pressed LP and should be on every Blues fan’s shortlist.

She maintains a beautiful, liquid delivery on the more plaintive tracks like “Along the Navajo Trail” and “Silver on the Sage” but also knows how to bop and swing with “Cow, Cow Boogie” and “Jingle Jangle Jingle (I Got Spurs).

Supporting Hilary Gardner is an exceptionally tight and swinging band that brings it all together with arrangements that feel classic but demonstrate a taste and virtuosity that makes them successful modern interpretations of this Authentic Americana versus just simple carbon copies. Special mention goes to Justin Poindexter whose guitar, mandolin, and organ work is more than just a step above, being both skillful and exceedingly tasteful. Check out “Song of the Sierras” for some of his wonderful slide and pedal steel work.

The album’s production courtesy of Eli Wolf makes use of period microphones and equipment to create a lusher and “tubey-warm” sounding atmosphere that suits the music well, particularly on CD. I was a little concerned that it might sound overdone on the LP but thankfully it doesn’t come across that way. The vinyl itself is nicely pressed with no undue pops or clicks anywhere. Nice to know that an LP these days doesn’t always have to be some fancy audiophile pressing to get a decent-sounding copy. A touch of surface noise does mar the beginning of side 2 but it’s nothing that is overly objectionable and disappears halfway through the first track.

Hilary Gardner’s On the Trail with The Lonesome Pines is straight-up beautiful music that sounds completely effortless and is one of the most enjoyable new releases that I have heard this year! It’s worth appreciating regardless of format, but the vinyl is particularly nice!

Beyond the pedigree of the studios and the gear involved, the performers are all off-the-chart good! Peter Erskine is a legendary jazz drummer and the rest of his quartet, Bob Mintzer on Saxophone, Alan Pasqua on Piano, and Darek Oles on Bass provide an equally deep bench of talent. The 8 tracks laid down for the first LP are just superb. Wonderful melodies with a great sense of timing and the interplay between the performers is delightful. I particularly dig the tracks “Blues For Old Friends,” “Gumbo Time,” “Into The Dark,” and “The Folks.” All of it though sounds warm, detailed, and unabashedly natural with great extension on both the top and bottom ends. So much modern Jazz today (at least to me) sounds like it’s trying too hard and lacks any sense of enjoyment. These guys actually sound like they are having fun playing together! And it comes through loud and clear in the recording.

This is a 2LP set and while the first LP contains the entire album at 33.3 RPM, the second LP is a bonus disc that contains 4 tracks of the album at 45 RPM. It’s an interesting concept and invites comparisons between the two. I don’t know why, if you are going to have 2 platters anyway, you wouldn’t just have the whole album on two 45 RPM LPs and just call it a day. Not quite enough room for all 8 tracks in the same running order? Possibly. Although both 33.3 and 45 sounded surprisingly close, the 45RPM still edged out the standard speed LP for overall bass extension and inner details particularly discernible on Bob Mintzer’s Saxophone playing. Still, I’m perfectly happy to have both versions to sample and enjoy. The music is pressed on 180gm black vinyl and every side played flawlessly, without a hint of surface noise. The gatefold packaging and overall printing quality look and feel first-rate as well.

$150.00 is a bit dear to pay if you are just a casual listener of vinyl. If however, you are one of those more committed (obsessive?) souls who demands the very best and is willing to pony up for it, this is worth the extra scratch. Kudos to the folks at McIntosh for putting the obvious time, effort and care into this one. It shows!

Taking the visuals of the beloved Charles Schultz characters out of the equation for a second, it’s really impressive how good this music is, standing completely on its own. A testament to the composition and arrangement skills of Vince Guaraldi, this is great swinging and deeply grooving Jazz. Special mention goes to the full 5-minute take of “Joe Cool” which I did not realize until now, featured Guaraldi on vocals as well. It’s got a tasty, driving blues beat to it, and hearing the entire uncut song is dynamite!

The music was originally recorded at Wally Heider Recording Studios in San Francisco back in 1972. The LP liner notes say that the original 2” 16 track session tapes were transferred to 24-bit 192 kHz digital for restoration, remixing, and mastering. All the work has certainly paid off as the music coming off the LP sounds clean and dynamic with plenty of low-end extension in the bass lines and kick drum and a nice sheen and sparkle in the drum kit’s cymbals. Guaraldi himself spends a lot of time behind the electric piano which comes across very well and lends an almost jazzy “The Doors” vibe to some of the tracks. Honesty, the quality of the recording and restoration sounds better than some stuff recorded today. Those who are put off by the whole idea of an LP being mastered from a digital source need to seriously lighten up. The quality of the final product here more than speaks for itself.

The album is pressed on heavy-weight “BioVinyl” which claims to be a petroleum-free type of PVC. The LP itself is stone-quiet, with no trace of surface noise or pops to speak of on either side. One of the nicest-sounding Guaraldi/Peanuts albums out there.

Side one and side two were recorded on two separate session dates about a month apart, with Philly Joe Jones and Paul Chambers supporting on one and Louis Hayes and Sam Jones sitting in on two. Personal opinion, side two is the more smokin’ set. This trio just sounds particularly on fire especially on “Oleo” and “Juicy Lucy.”

This release, like all others in this series, is a completely analog transfer done from the original master tapes by Bernie Grundman and pressed on 180-gram vinyl by QRP. The original recordings by Howard Holtzer and Roy DuNann held up extremely well with plenty of dynamics and natural tone to the instruments and a hint of warmth. The vinyl itself is clean sounding without any undue surface noise or clicks and pops.

This release is pressed on heavyweight translucent blue vinyl. I found some minor surface noise and the occasional pop that intruded into the music on sides 2 and 4 but otherwise, it was a blissful listening experience that reminded me how important and enjoyable this music was to this movie. Included are up to 40 minutes of previously unreleased parts of the score. If I’m honest, the only thing I really didn’t care for was the illustration artwork used on the dust jacket and the included poster. It looks amateurish and unbefitting of the overall release. Selfishly, I would have loved to have gotten that commission!

Blakey is a masterful drummer. That goes without saying, but listening to how he keeps time and motivates this 6-piece ensemble is quite something. Every piece on this album is a gem, so cleanly and beautifully crafted and the recording quality feels like it puts you right in the sphere of the performers. Melody, Tempo, and incessant groove are the hallmarks of this album, particularly on tracks “Sweet ‘n’ Sour”, “This is for Albert”, and “Skylark.” This is an album you put on, turn up, sink in a chair with a fine beverage, and soak up the abundance of cool.

The vinyl pressing itself is well up to Craft Recordings’ usual standards, which is to say, about flawless. No surface noise or pops to speak of. Very much a winner on every level!

Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Arthur Taylor on drums are just amazing. For me, their take on “Willow Weep for Me” is worth the price of admission alone. Another great album of tunes you just let wash over you with its tasteful execution.

Again, part of the Original Jazz Classics Series, this original Prestige LP gets the full analog remaster treatment too. Lacquers are cut from the original analog master tapes by Kevin Gray at Coherent Sound. The LP is pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI.

With no undue surface noise or flaws to speak of, the natural tonality of the music (given its age) comes shining through. It’s a keeper!