Alice Coltrane & Carlos Santana's Illuminations - Hybrid Multichannel SACD by Dutton Vocalion

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Simon A, Jul 28, 2017.

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  1. Simon A

    Simon A Arrr! Thread Starter

    Dutton/Vocalion does it again! :righton:

    This underrated classic is now available as a Quad/Stereo hybrid SACD.

    You can order direct from the label.

    I'm looking forward to hearing the Quad mix in pristine sound.


    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Jul 28, 2017
  2. tlake6659

    tlake6659 Senior Member

    Location:
    NJ
    Awesome, I never heard of this label before though. Can anyone vouch for their work?
     
  3. bodhisattva

    bodhisattva Senior Member

    I can, but in the interest of full disclosure I wrote the liner notes for this so I may be biased a little.

    Dutton Vocalion (and their classical sister label Dutton Epoch) have a stellar reputation for classical and easy listening reissues - the Penguin Guide to Classical Music on CD called Michael Dutton "the supreme magician of CD re-mastering". Mike has a long history in the music business, he started at Morgan Studios as a tea boy when Jethro Tull was recording Songs From The Wood.

    In the last couple of years Vocalion have turned their attention to the treasure trove of quad material that's been gathering dust in the major label vaults for the last 40 years and are trying to get as much of it out as possible. Mike himself is a big fan of quad and recounted to me how exciting it was being able to listen to the quad master of Black Sabbath's Paranoid in the quad-equipped mixing studio at Morgan in London when he was a young man.

    I'm a big stickler for dynamic range (as I'm sure lots of people are) and so far all of the stereo/quad hybrid SACDs that Vocalion have released have been the best in that regard to date. Their release last year of Tower of Powers 'Aint Nothin Stoppin Us Now' on SACD had a higher DR rating in stereo than even the old 1993 Columbia CD, so that should give you a good idea of just how dynamic their masterings are - I think the Columbia CD was DR13 and the Vocalion SACD was DR14. The quad mixes are often even more dynamic than their stereo counterparts.

    More information about this release can be found here: Vocalion August SACD Release - duttonvocalion.co.uk
     
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  4. Dillydipper

    Dillydipper Space-Age luddite

    Location:
    Central PA
    Ohhh-KAY, NOW I have something I can order alongside with the Tower of Power, so I don't have to grab some Mancini disc I'd never really listen to anyway...good call, Vocalion!
     
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  5. tlake6659

    tlake6659 Senior Member

    Location:
    NJ
    Thanks for the info. Placed an order. Hope they keep these quad mixes coming.
     
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  6. clgoss77

    clgoss77 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    Oh man, love this album and can't wait to hear it in stereo and surround on SACD.
     
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  7. Trevor_Bartram

    Trevor_Bartram Senior Member

    Location:
    Boylston, MA, USA
    Amazon is really slipping, this is not shown and there are severals incorrect links to other Illuminations CDs. I'll try YouTube to see how this sounds!

    P.S. luved the Alice Coltrane tape reissues premiered at NPR a few weeks ago, what a talent!!
     
  8. carledwards

    carledwards Forum Resident

    Cool. Thx for this link.
     
  9. lwh1

    lwh1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kent, England
    Great. Just ordered mine.
     
  10. pdenny

    pdenny 22-Year SHTV Participation Trophy Recipient

    Location:
    Hawthorne CA
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  11. Trevor_Bartram

    Trevor_Bartram Senior Member

    Location:
    Boylston, MA, USA
    The full album is available on YouTube. Nice album unfortunately my CD player does not play SACDs or CDRs.
     
  12. pdenny

    pdenny 22-Year SHTV Participation Trophy Recipient

    Location:
    Hawthorne CA
    Now here's something interesting--just saw this listing on the Vocalion website. This was recently issued by AF and a some of us groused about how the (wonderful, btw) quad mix wasn't included. Has anyone bought this title and can comment on the sound quality? Crap for $13 I think I'll order it and find out for myself.

    Return to Forever - Musicmagic [SACD Hybrid Multi-channel]
     
    Last edited: Jul 30, 2017
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  13. Metralla

    Metralla Joined Jan 13, 2002

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    Quad will not make this sow's ear into a silk purse. The music is so banal.
     
  14. pdenny

    pdenny 22-Year SHTV Participation Trophy Recipient

    Location:
    Hawthorne CA
    I like it, always have, and anybody else who does would really dig the quad mix.
    Sometimes cheese is on the menu :angel:

    Here are a few more curious titles. I wouldn't touch them with someone else's money but...

    The Jimmy Castor Bunch - Dimension 3 [SACD Hybrid Multi-channel]

    Pure Prairie League - Two Lane Highway & If the Shoe Fits [SACD Hybrid Multi-channel]

    The Main Ingredient - Euphrates River [SACD Hybrid Multi-channel]
     
    Last edited: Jul 30, 2017
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  15. masterbucket

    masterbucket Senior Member

    Location:
    Georgia US
    [​IMG]
    Pure Prairie League - Two Lane Highway & If the Shoe Fits
    [SACD Hybrid Multi-channel]



    Two Lane Highway
    1: TWO LANE HIGHWAY (Goshorn)
    2: KENTUCKY MOONSHINE (Goshorn)
    Chet Atkins (solo guitar)
    3: RUNNER (Powell)
    4: MEMORIES (Goshorn; Palmer)
    5: KANSAS CITY SOUTHERN (Clark)
    6: HARVEST (Goshorn)
    7: SISTER’S KEEPER (Powell)
    8: JUST CAN’T BELIEVE IT (Goshorn; Reilly)
    Emmylou Harris (vocal)
    9: GIVE US A RISE (Powell; Hinds)
    10: I’LL CHANGE YOUR FLAT TIRE, MERLE (Gravenites)
    11: PICKIN’ TO BEAT THE DEVIL (McGrail)

    Personnel:
    Larry Goshorn (lead guitar/background vocals)
    George Ed Powell (guitar/background vocals)
    John David Call (steel guitar/banjo/dobro/background vocals)
    Michael Connor (keyboards)
    William Frank Hinds (drums)
    Mike Reilly (bass guitar/background vocals)
    Guest musicians:
    Johnny Gimble (violin); Don Felder (mandolin)
    John Rotella (clarinet); Vince DeRosa (French horn)


    If the Shoe Fits
    12: THAT’LL BE THE DAY (Allison; Holly; Petty)
    13: I CAN ONLY THINK OF YOU (L Goshorn; Reilly)
    14: SUN SHONE LIGHTLY (T Goshorn)
    15: LONG COLD WINTER (L Goshorn; Powell; Reilly)
    16: LUCILLE CRAWFIELD (Powell)
    17: GIMME ANOTHER CHANCE (L Goshorn)
    18: AREN’T YOU MINE (Powell; Hinds)
    19: YOU ARE SO NEAR TO ME (Powell)
    20: OUT ON THE STREET (L Goshorn)
    21: GOIN’ HOME (L Goshorn)

    Personnel:
    Larry Goshorn (lead guitar); George Ed Powell (guitar)
    John David Call (steel guitar/banjo/dobro)
    Michael Connor (keyboards)
    Mike Reilly (bass guitar); William Frank Hinds (drums)


    Multi-ch Stereo
    All tracks available in stereo and multi-channel
     
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  16. bodhisattva

    bodhisattva Senior Member

    There are individual threads for all the other titles that are part of this release on sh.tv:

    Pure Prairie League 2fer Hybrid Multichannel SACD from Dutton/Vocalion

    The Jimmy Castor Bunch - Dimension 3 Hybrid Multichannel SACD by Dutton Vocalion

    Return to Forever - Musicmagic Hybrid Multichannel SACD by Dutton Vocalion

    In short, Michael Dutton is a fantastic mastering engineer - full dynamic range intact and very tastefully mastered. For the price they charge for their discs I'm not sure how they even turn a profit, but as a consumer I wouldn't argue with it.

    Dutton Vocalion has issued a load of other stereo/quad hybrid SACDs over the last couple of years (there are threads about them, do a search for Vocalion) in a variety genres, in addition to the ones mentioned upthread there's also Tower of Power's 'Aint Nothin Stoppin Us Now', a bunch of Columbia Masterworks/RCA Red Seal classical albums, loads of easy listening (Henry Mancini, Hugo Montenegro, Percy Faith, Floyd Cramer, Ray Conniff, etc.) and probably the biggest hidden gem out of all of them, Michel Legrand's '20 Songs Of The Century'.
     
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  17. Metralla

    Metralla Joined Jan 13, 2002

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    I am just venting a bit. I only listened to my Audio Fidelity version the other day for the first time (listened twice) and was saddened by how weak this album was.
     
  18. pdenny

    pdenny 22-Year SHTV Participation Trophy Recipient

    Location:
    Hawthorne CA
    Thanks for links. I missed those threads and it didn't even occur to do a search. I've had a DVD-A conversion of the MUSICMAGIC Quad 8 for years but this SACD is an instant buy!
     
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  19. bodhisattva

    bodhisattva Senior Member

    No problem. I'm really hoping that Dutton Vocalion's profile continues to rise Stateside, as they really do fantastic work. To my ears, it's like AF/AP-level attention to detail in mastering, at Wounded Bird prices.

    In addition to writing the liner notes for these albums I also wrote a blog post for Vocalion's website that has some background info on these albums as well as touching on the rarity of some of these quad mixes - you can read it here:

    Vocalion August SACD Release - duttonvocalion.co.uk
     
  20. cubbykat

    cubbykat Bringer Of Pain To Your Face

    I'm a huge fan of the Library Music-related releases on this label (KPM, Bruton, et al), so may have to check this out...
     
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  21. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Just got my order in. Too rare and special not to try it out at these prices.
     
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  22. Juggsnelson

    Juggsnelson Senior Member

    Location:
    Long Island
    I just ordered the 4 new releases the other day and took Legrand out of my cart at the last minute.....doh!
     
  23. Dillydipper

    Dillydipper Space-Age luddite

    Location:
    Central PA
    It's funny - Mancini was one of the first artists I collected in the 1970's...and every title D-V has, are the ones I never considered getting. :shrug:

    It's like, "Hey - Tower of Power finally has a multichannel release out there!"
    "Wow!"
    "-only, it;s just a half-hour of warmup exercises during sound check at a jazz club in Muncie."
    "Wait-whaaa...?!"
     
  24. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Are you serious about the Tower album? Or just being a bitch?
     
  25. MikeT

    MikeT Prior Forum Cretin and Current Impatient Creep

    Location:
    New Jersey, USA
    I ordered the Coltrane/Santana and Pure Prairie League issues back on 7/29. I have a receipt that states " We will be in touch as soon as possible about your order,"... yet I haven't heard word one since I placed my order and my card was charged.

    Anyone else in the US that ordered direct from Dutton Vocalion hear anything about their order or receive their discs yet?
     
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