Ella Fitzgerald: Like Someone In Love. Verve Japan. Sad to admit I have lost interest in much of Ella's catalog because of the chirpy vocals. This was a change of pace for her as even noted by the label. They mentioned the soulful expression and I have always enjoyed it. With Stan Getz.
I only got to see Nat perform once and that was at a salute to Orrin Keepnews a few decades back. He was in a wheelchair and due to COPD he couldn't play much at one time but he picked hs moments and played his heart out the best he could. It was a little sad and heartbreaking to watch him struggle but at the same time I was happy for him to be there even at a reduced level because he obviously wanted to be there. He died not long after that performance. NP Nat Adderley - Talkin' About You I only have the disc on this one, lost the cover in an auto accident. I don't remember the label but I think it moght have been a reissue.
What you are referring to are tonally unbalanced systems that are designed to highlight treble detail. The way that is accomplished is often by a U shaped tonal balance with deep bass and treble emphasized and lower midrange and upper bass recessed. (The technical explanation is that upper bass and lower midrange overtones tend to mask treble detail. This is partly why treble in live music is often not detailed sounding.) Unfortunately many current systems tend in that U shaped direction because it makes an initial impression in the store that you are hearing more deeply into the music. Actually I found many vinyl albums more enjoyable by increasing the transparency of the system without changing the tonal balance. The same thing in digital occured when I replaced Sony and Oppo with Esoteric and Marantz.
This all sounds perfectly reasonable and I wholeheartedly agree, I think that perhaps the only difference is in what we each think of as constituting an audiophile. I would say that gearheadedness and audio-uppityness are perhaps traits that many an audiophile may posses but that are not necessarily defining traits of audiophilia. The way you describe your views/habits sounds similar to my own, yet I would still probably refer to myself as an audiophile in a survey on the matter as administered by the Pew Charitable Trust.
Chick Corea - My Spanish Heart (1976) Extravaganza with Stanley Clarke, Steve Gadd, Jean Luc-Ponty just to name a few.
The system that I heard that was the worst for my tastes had a Marantz 800x SACD player, a monstrous tube headphone amp and Sennheiser HD800 headphones right after they came out. On well mastered albums, it sounded great. Then I put in a Norah Jones album that came out around the same time and the headphones came off as fast as I could get them off. It was painful to listen to. It was listenable with my gear. The funny thing was that it was the the CD brought by the guy with the high end gear. I used to go to head-fi meets and gear shows a lot, but not for the gear. I was always looking for new music. I did listen to other people's gear but mostly to listen to their music. The gear always reinforced that I didn't want to spend more for what to me was a slight improvement if not worse sounding.
Chirpy? Do you mean the dictionary definition of the word? chirp·y adjective informal cheerful and lively. Or do you mean to say something negative?
It was the Sennheiser 800 headphone that was the issue there. Yes it is fabulous with well recorded albums and painful with poor ones even with the SET amp. It is a super detailed headphone. The Marantz 8003 SACD/CD I have is actully a bit too smooth in the treble but it works great in my HT set-up where I mostly play music DVDs. The Esoteric is in the main system and is a bit less wam without being harsh in any way. Neither is remotely in the category you are referring to.
Yes the dictionary that is exactly what I meant. For some reason that begins to sound tiresome to me over time. I wasn't criticizing her singing ability or even her vocal tone per se which is nice.
My main setup is a Beresford DAC, the second most expensive thing I've bought, a Realistic STA-2200 receiver from the early 80s and either vintage orthodynamic headphones or Stax Lambda normal bias headphones. The Realistic receiver makes anything sound good. I got it for $25 plus $60 shipping. I had it shipped to work and it sat on my desk for a couple of months because I take mass transit with a 1.5 mile walk. The thing weighs 60 pounds, mostly from a huge heat sink and transformer.
Well I mentioned above that the tendency in current gear was spotlit detail. I agree that the best vintage gear often has better tonal balance. I have a Mac tube tuner and a JBL UREI amp myself and like old Quad and SAE X amps. But we are talking about the very best gear of the period which was expensive in its day, not the average dreck. And digital players didn't exist then or were subpar from technical immaturity
Ella was a great ballad singer, and in those performances rarely cheerful or lively. But many do not give her credit for those recordings. Just a few examples alternate cover or this classic
I can hardly disagree with you since I posted an album where Ella sings one ballad after another beautifully. I am just curious why she didn't do more albums like that.
I appreciate the derision in your comment! Good point, though, if I want another version of the same album, vinyl might be the way to go. I am surprised you found the AP version to be so much better than the OJC vinyl. I have found very few comparisons on these threads which are head-2-head same-title of OJC vs AP. The OJC vinyl I have is all excellent (Workin, Soultrane, Soul Junction, Tony Bennett/Bill Evans to name a few) and the APs I have are excellent as well (Steamin, Blues in Orbit, Overseas) so its not clear to me which versions to buy to going forward.
I have placed a few orders from cdjapan. Everything has always arrived well packaged, in pristine condition. Because of the shipping charges I usually wait until I want at least 8 discs before I order. For Miles Davis titles on Blu-Spec 2 I have Miles in Berlin, and Get Up With It, they are perfect, clear masterings. If you are ordering from cdjapan I recommend dipping your toe in the SHM waters. I have a dozen of those, all are very good. I don't really know what SHM even is - supposedly its just a laser technology, but that's obviously a marketing ploy - are they all from the same mastering house? Lonson probably knows, he might be the SH forum resident expert on SHM.
I had the same issue with the HD800, that lower treble peak killed any more than moderate volume listening for most music other than classical so I sold it before the HD800s came out.
Ella generally recorded (a) what her record company demanded (most of the Decca days) or (b) what her producer (Norman Granz) suggested (the Verve/Pablo days). Granz had good taste, but the record buying public mostly wanted a "big sound" (whether band or orchestra). Very few singers in the 30's to 60's could make records with very simple accompaniment - the market would not allow it. That is too bad.
I love this thread -- I feel like I learn so much here, especially Lonson's postings. I'm listening to the Mofi Sacd of Nefertiti now and thinking back to last night. I was at Blues Alley in DC last night. The Embassy of Japan has sponsored at Japanese Jazz week this week (as part of the cherry blossom festival). A solo pianist -- Senri Oe -- played. In the 1980's and 1990's he was a big Japanese pop star, playing stadium size venues, but his heart wasn't in it apparently. His dream was to be a Jazz pianist. So he dropped out of J-pop, moved to NY and started learning jazz. We spoke to him afterwards - a big thrill for my wife who is Japanese and grew up listening to his J-pop songs. As much as I love all my AP and MOfi sacds let's keep supporting new live performances, so Jazz keeps going.
Listening to Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane tonight. Maybe my favorite ever reading of "Ruby My Dear" (probably my favorite Monk song), and the stunning "Trinkle, Tinkle" solo by Coltrane, kind of like the moment when Coltrane became Coltrane, at least the "sheets of sound" and tumbling chord runs Coltrane....but am I the only one who loves the stereo stuff from the Monk's Music sessions? I gotta find a stereo copy of that album.
AFAIK every digital version and the one LP I had (45 rpm by Analogue Productions) were mixed mono and stereo tracks. I love that album as well.
Oh yeah, all this stuff is mixed mono and stereo, but the stereo stuff on it is from the stereo version of Monk's Music. I only have the mono version of Monk's Music, but based on the stereo tracks here, I'd love to heard the stereo Monk's Music.
Woops, completely missed that you were talking about Monk's Music That album has an excellent stereo mix, though it is pretty bass light given the mic'ing. One where I also like the mono mix just as much.
