Whats on your turntable tonight?

Very cool, David. It has amazed me over the years how well Deutsche Grammophon recorded vocal recital and small chamber music when compared to the hash they often made of orchestral recordings after the mid-'60s. Great to learn of another good example. Thanks!
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Last night was more jazz and pop. I think tonight will have to be a return to classical music. At any rate, the particularly interesting records from last night were all well recorded vocal:

John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman, Impulse GR-157 on a Speakers Corner reissue.

Mary Stallings, "Fine and Mellow" on Clarity CNB 1001, mastering by Tim de Paravicini, a really great job of capturing her, particularly on side 1.

Eva Cassidy, "Songbird" on a S&P Records reissue (SNP 501). My wife always enjoys hearing the Cassidy's rendition of "Fields of Gold," the first cut on side 1. Tonight she wanted to listen all the way through the side. Another outstanding Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray mastering job.

Anyone know of any Jane Monheit on vinyl?
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Indeed, Rushton, that's a lesson I've learned the hard way. Based on a few great recordings I stumbled across, I made the erroneous assumption that all DG vinyl must be pretty good. I bought a lot of them back when my rig wasn't nearly as revealing and I'm only now realizing I wasted my money on many of them. I should do some study to see which DG engineers did the good stuff and which the bad. There's generally a pattern, as we've all learned.

I also have to put in another plug for the Enoch Light recordings on the Command label. Sirspeedy turned me on to these; I actually had a few in my collection but it had been years since I'd listened to them. It's lounge music/space age bachelor pad/exotica stuff, so it's not to everyone's taste, but the sonics are absolutely stunning. The width and depth of the soundstage is hard to believe. The two series I have are Provocative Percussion and Persuasive Percussion; there may be more. Even if you don't like the music, they make great demo discs!

David

Hi David,

I know the Command label through some of their classical recordings. As I recall, the classical records sound as though the master tape must be pretty well engineered, but they were pressed on poor vinyl and I've never found any that sound very good from my used purchases due to their poor condition surfaces (even after a good cleaning). I now don't try to buy them.

I agree with you about a pattern with the DGG recording engineers. I need to go back and listen with this in mind, too. I have found a few later DGG orchestral recordings that I thought sounded really good, so I'll have to do some comparative listening and find the key. FWIW, the recording I thought was well engineered was recorded by Hans-Peter Scheigmann, Stravinsky's Violin Concerto with Perlman and Ozawa (2531 110). I've also liked some of the work by Werner Wolf and Klaus Scheibe. All three tend to deliver a more natural listening perspective in their recordings.

Right now I'm listening to a recording made by one of my heroes, Kenneth Wilkinson, on Lyrita: Alan Rawsthorne's Symphony No. 1 on Lyrita SRCS 90. Really nice that he could be making recordings such as this at the same time as he was making some excessively over-miked muck for Decca in LA and Chicago. This recording harks back to his premier earlier days with Decca.
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Iron & Wire -The Shepherd's Dog on Sub Pop

Art Pepper -Art Pepper Meets the Rhythm Section on Fantasy 45RPM reissue... what can I say but, the best!

Of Montreal -Satanic Panic in the Attic on Polyvinyl Records

Happy Listening!