Miles Davis: Kinda of Blue
Great Recordings, Sonically Speaking - and Why.
I think many of us would accept that artists such as Pink Floyd, Steely Dan, and Dire Straits have consistently put out music that was at least originally recorded to a high technical standard. [I'm not too sure what the loudness wars may have done to subsequent reissues, but even so, the tone and timbre thankfully tends to remain intact.]
However there must be plenty of lesser known recordings out there that could be said to be of a high sonic standard.
One such recording that I like to put on in the background whilst I'm doing other things is a piano recording that features wonderfully lush timbre and some delightful tunes.
This one is The Disney Piano Collection by Hirohashi Makiko and to me it makes a lot of other piano recordings sound a little washed out.
However there must be plenty of lesser known recordings out there that could be said to be of a high sonic standard.
One such recording that I like to put on in the background whilst I'm doing other things is a piano recording that features wonderfully lush timbre and some delightful tunes.
This one is The Disney Piano Collection by Hirohashi Makiko and to me it makes a lot of other piano recordings sound a little washed out.
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Audio friends, I've got to wonder, reading the posts in this thread, if any listeners have purchased a record since about 1980! (And I'm 70). There are countless fabulous recordings produced in the last few years alone, not to mention the '90s, '2000s. To mention just a few artists/labels I know of with consistent great sound who continue to record: --Malia, --Porcupine Tree --Any recent ECM jazz release --Hiatus Kayote --The Robert Glasper Experiment --The XX --King Krule --Cécile McLorin Salvant --The Internet --Stacey Kent --Vanessa Hernandez --The White Birch --Joan Chamorro --Xavier Davis --Anna Maria Jopek --Any Sono Luminus release It's endless. |
Good question. Joe Jackson- Blaze of Glory, and most of his live releases he captures a great sense of space in most of his releases- too often for it to be a fluke Art Blakey and JM- Ugetsu live date at Birdland you can hear the musicians interact and move around the stage Pharoh Sanders- Thembi title track only for great soundstage and a test of transient response Miles Davis- 4 and More/ My Funny Valentine really well captured live date of a band on fire you are transported back to 1964 if listening through transparent equipment B52s- self titled don't laugh this was recorded live in the studio and is just the basic band without embellishment natural studio ambiance Marshall Crenshaw- Field Day cleanly recorded power pop/rockabilly you will get goosebumps listening to 'what time is it' |
Carmen Gomes Inc. " Up Jumped the Devil" is an outstanding example of how good a recording can be if the engineer takes the time to get everything right; Understanding the music and the musicians and making optimal use of the acoustic space and high quality equipment. The album is available in RedBook CD on https://carmengomes.bandcamp.com/ and in hi-res on https://soundliaison.bandcamp.com/ for ultra hi-res, DXD and DSD there is the https://www.soundliaison.com/ site. There's a superb review of the album on the site that jimf421 mentioned; ....."This is some of the best sounding drum sound I have ever heard on a recording. Very dynamic and not reserved. The sound of the double bass is full, rich and powerful where needed but with no hint of bloat. And the guitar.....It is clear and reverberant. Naturally, not with added reverb. Of course, the vocals are captured beautifully. Carmen is right there in front of you. This recording doesn’t take you to the recording studio. Even better, it brings the recording studio to your listening room. Very few studio recordings do this. The drums to the left, Carmen in the middle in front of the instruments and the bass just to the right of her and the guitar to the right side of the soundstage. The sound is totally three dimensional. You almost feel like you can reach out and touch everyone. The sound is totally open with natural decay and depth. It is stunning. It really is. No hyperbole.".... https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/reviews/sound-liaison-one-mic-recording-r957/ |
@fyn, Good review, it might be worth checking. Seems like a lot of care was taken in the recording to maximize fidelity and not commerciality. Not my favourite genre but I'll give some of the more upbeat numbers a listen later. "One more word about the drums. Far too many recording engineers pan the drums across the soundstage, giving an unnatural size to the drums. Not here. The drums are focused in the sound field and sound like a drum kit does live. I wish this was the case in more jazz recordings." |
sumaato,Ozzy, If you put a foot in the water with any of those artists/labels, it will lead you to other artists/recordings of quality. Have fun! Here's a few more: --Cassandra Wilson --The Future Kings of England --Moses Sumney --Agnes Obel --Reference Recordings label-Classical --Artemis on the Blue Note label |
@sumaato , "Audio friends, I’ve got to wonder, reading the posts in this thread, if any listeners have purchased a record since about 1980!" My record buying (current music) began to seriously tail off by the late 1990s. Afterwards it’s mostly been reissues and material by previous favourites (Dylan, Springsteen, Morrissey etc). The main problem is the sheer richness of the back catalogue stretching back some 70+ years. Even now there’s potentially hundreds of great albums I’ve not heard - mostly US artists little heard in the UK. Therefore recent stuff has a lot to compete with if its going to stick and same goes for cinema, TV etc. In fact the only recent (post 2000) movies I’ve seen that have left much of a lasting impression were both from 2008 - The Hurt Locker and The Dark Knight (Batman). It's a moot point as what's actually happening today but there does seem to be a clear discord between recent world events and musical commentary. Any protest singers still around in 2021? Anyone about to instigate a cultural revolution like the ones witnessed in the 1950s and 1960s or are we done? |
Even now there’s potentially hundreds of great albums I’ve not heard - mostly US artists little heard in the UK.Great music and great recordings have never stopped being made by great musicians. Sure enough, there is a huge amount of material to wade through even from one week of new releases to the next week , but if you know roughly what genres you tend to stick with, then it's not difficult to look into new stuff day-to-day. If one is interested in 1970s rock music for example (as most of us seem to be!), there is a whole contemporary community of rock artists evolving and changing with modern influences from other genres, creating new worthwhile music, with great recording and musicianship. One of my interests is 1950s torch singers, of which i have hundreds of original albums, in mono and early stereo. Though the overall presence of that type of music culture has shrunk dramatically, their high standards of arrangements and singing performance can be found in contemporary recording artists like Stacy Kent, Diana Panton and Celeste. |
"It does not matter how much I spend on a piece of new gear or a tweak, the single biggest contribution to my listening pleasure is the quality of the recording."@chilli42 AMEN! Understanding recording quality to derive from: composition, performance, sonics. In line with that, some worthy titles: Black Light Syndrome - Bozzio, Levin, Stevens Earth + Sky - Andy Summers If You Look Far Enough - Andersen, Towner, Vasconcelos If Summer Had Its Ghosts - Bruford, Towner, Gomez Last Dance of Mr. X - Andy Summers (forget The Police, just listen to these two from Andy) Meltemi - Alboran Trio Never Ending January - Espen Eriksen Trio Searching for Jupiter - Magnus Ostrom St. Germain (self-titled) |
Eric Clapton - Change the World, Alison Krauss & Union Station - Live, Tarrus Riley - Human Nature, Brantley Gilbert - Man That Hung The Moon, yes to much of Dire Straits & Mark Knopfler, Super Tramp, much of the remastered Beatles, many classics and too many more to mention. It's great that these artist care about what their music actually sounds like and spent the money for the best. Unfortunately very few seem to care or notice anymore so we may hear fewer and fewer great recording. |
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As Wolfie says, look for early Audio Fidelity pressings. One features Louis Armstrong and one of his last bands as well as Thelma Middleton, and the sound is spectacular. Audio Fidelity also packaged this disk with one by the amateurish Dukes of Dixieland and, amazingly, actual got Louis to record yet another record with them (what a mismatch). This was only sold as a three record set as a private label offering by EJKorvette, the early discount chain. I own that set, and while I don't know for sure I suspect it is worth a fair amount of change. The individual Dukes-only recording and the Armstrong recordings were also sold as singles. BTW, that discount chain had sound rooms in each of its stores in the late fifties/early sixties. Filled with Japanese receivers. |
I agree with Coltrane 2. Jazz at the Pawnshop is the best live recording I have ever heard. I close my eyes and I'm sitting center at a table 12 feet from the stage, 30 feet from the bar in the back round ( hearing mild talk and clanging glasses). The music is melodic, traditional jazz with a very mellow flair. The acoustics are superb. I have over 3,000 LPs and this one is in the top 2 or 3 for sound quality and presence. You do not have to be a jazz purist to love this album...buy it if you can find it. And thanks to Coltrane 1 for bringing it to everyone's attention. |
The recordings made by the small http://https//www.soundliaison.com/ label are superb. These are a few of my favorites with the reviews from audiophile publications; ....."This is some of the best sounding drum sound I have ever heard on a recording. Very dynamic and not reserved. The sound of the double bass is full, rich and powerful where needed but with no hint of bloat. And the guitar.....It is clear and reverberant. Naturally, not with added reverb. Of course, the vocals are captured beautifully. Carmen is right there in front of you. This recording doesn’t take you to the recording studio. Even better, it brings the recording studio to your listening room. Very few studio recordings do this. The drums to the left, Carmen in the middle in front of the instruments and the bass just to the right of her and the guitar to the right side of the soundstage. The sound is totally three dimensional. You almost feel like you can reach out and touch everyone. The sound is totally open with natural decay and depth. It is stunning. It really is. No hyperbole.".... Review One Mic+ Recording by Joe Whip at Audiophile Style. |
Since you mentioned Pink Floyd in the OP, check out Airbag, some younger (than PF) Norwegians who were greatly influenced by their elders. My favorite of theirs is, “Disconnected”. It has excellent sound very atmospheric with layers of synths and guitar that will remind you of a guy named DG. This is my favorite but they have 5 or 6 out and one of the others might resonate with you. |
My latest cheap oddball chick cover find gets happens to fall speak to this thread. https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pA4k1kMb-lI/Xc0eHheQB6I/AAAAAAABi_k/dZp9NgFhzWkEiEmRwG7Tpy7H02LcytAHwCLcB... Looks like the ol’ chicken sacrifice-put a spell on you thing, going on there! The LP happens to be a 1963 Audio Fidelity press. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_Fidelity_Records Audio Fidelity I see is mentioned here, and in a few threads. This was pressed during their "golden years" and sounds everybit audiophool heaven. Amazing ethnic percussion with EXTRA "in the room" presence than "ordinary" LP’s. Chicken was spared. I have a collection of ultra cool 50’s chick LP’s. Most of the music is not my thing, but many actually quality pressings. Martin Denny anyone? |
