SH Spotlight 45 RPM mastering "Art Pepper Meets The Rhythm Section", one of THE greatest albums of all time.

Don't forget the Art Pepper + Eleven these are fav records and of course
Some Like it Hot. I was at Brian's place last listening to the mods that
I do on his 300B amp and the Pre-amp and we put on Art Pepper's
Rhythm Section we are blown away.

 

Hey Steve, after listening to it last night mine is a copy from the master(no echo), how cool, and the way, check this out:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=928898164


Mike

 

Hi Steve,

It's a shame that all studio recordings don't sound that good. What went
wrong with the recording industry?

I get great pleasure listening to your DCC Golds of Intensity and Gettin' Together. They too sound very good. And also Sonny Rollins and the Contemporary Leaders.

2 1/2 hours of sonic bliss.



PS: Mikelakers you're a lucky guy

 

Just a personal recommendation from a big Pepper fan:

Check out Art Pepper Today on Galaxy. This has, in my opinion, the most powerful and emotional playing the man ever put on tape.

On the cover he's not afraid to look like the junkie he was, and on the record he doesn't hold back anything. Amazing recording by Baker Bigsby, too. A good LP of this one sounds like a direct to disc. Don't know about the CD.

This title, Meets... and Plus Eleven are all Must Own records.
TP

 

Tom,

Is "Today" the name of the record? I can't find a listing for that one. The Galaxy recordings listed on allmusic.com include:

• Birds and Ballads
• Artworks
• Landscape
• Straight Life [Galaxy/OJC]
• Art Pepper with Duke Jordan in Copenhagen... [live]
• Art Lives
• Roadgame [live]
• Renascence [live]
• Art Standards

and of course, The Complete Galaxy Recordings.

I'm keen to get more Art Pepper, especially when recommended so enthusiastically.

Regards,
Geoff

 

You can get the CD of it as a Fantasy OJC (OJCCD-474-2) release.
recorded late seventies.
Tracks:
1. Miss Who?
2. Mambo Koyama
3. Lover, Come Back To Me
4. Patricia
5. These Foolish Things (Remind Me Of You)
6. Chris's Blues
7. These Foolish Things (Remind Of You) (Alternate)
Looks like this:

 

Tom, i didn't think much of this record until I upgraded my system. And it does deserve a wow for both perfomance and sonics. Its one of those records that gets better as your equipment does! Much better than the AP revival Pepper titles sound.

 

This is a great thread. The Art Pepper and Sonny Rollins Contemporary
recordings are some of the most dynamic commerically releases I've ever heard. We currently have Meets the Rythym Section, Gettin Together, Intensity and Rollin's and The Contemporary Leaders. Plus Eleven and Smacked Up are also supposed to be very good as well.

My 12 year old son who plays a mean Sax has Art Pepper is his preferred list of listening. Thanks for recommending some additional titles.

 

As for Rollins, sound wise try to find this one: Alternate Takes
on LP only


AMG REVIEW: This LP contains alternate versions of selections from two famous Sonny Rollins albums: Way out West and Sonny Rollins and the Contemporary Leaders. These "new" renditions of "I'm an Old Cowhand," "Come, Gone," "Way out West" "The Song Is You," "You" and "I've Found a New Baby" (released for the first time in the mid-'80s) hold their own against the classic versions. Rollins is heard with bassist Ray Brown and drummer Shelly Manne on the first session and is joined by a four-piece rhythm section (including pianist Hampton Hawes and guitarist Barney Kessel) on the later date. In any case, the music is often hard-swinging and is frequently superb. -- Scott Yanow

The best sound those albums have ever had (at lease until the new 45 versions come out).
TP

 

So how does the Doug Sax SACD stack up in this comparision?

I'm one of the unfortunate with only a digital front end, but would still like to hear a good version of this.

 

Kevin and Steve did an amazing job on the 5 I have so far. I still can't get over Miles Davis "Bags' Groove".

These are only 1,000 pressed each, and worth every penny. I really hope they'll do Coltrane's Lush Life at 45.

 

You can hear the sax echo in the right channel in the Doug Sax SACD.

One more thing. The liner notes, which include a photo of Doug Sax in a mastering pose, state that the SACD is from "the original analogue tapes."

How can anything other that the original master tape be "the original analogue tapes?"

 

"The master tape" can be an elusive phrase.

I can make a 16bit DAT from a Scotch master analog tape. For the CD, the DAT is more or less the master tape. Why someone would want to master from it is anyone's guess, but it happens.

In this position, I'm positive Doug used the absolute master tape for the title. Just like it was for Steve and Kevin.

 

I bought this CD not too long ago and it is great. The sound isnt anything to get worked up over as it is just the regular CD release, but for a couple of bucks in the used bin it was a good buy.

 

What about the Art Pepper gold discs on Analogue Productions? Not the SACD's. They did "Rhythm Section", "+11" and "Smack Up". There a still a few around. How do they stack up against the SACD? I believe Doug Sax did them as well.

 

The first i ever heard AP Meets the Rhythm Section was on Japanese XRCD - I haven't yet heard it on any other versions. Notwithstanding the fact that the XRCD is not the ultimate version to be found on silver disc, I was blown away by the quality of this recording - sounds like it was recorded yesterday. The musicians are right there in the room. Pepper's sax is gorgeous. For a fairly impromtu session, they were really switched on. Couldn't go wrong with Red Garland in there.

 

I have a Japan only JVC CD from 1986 of AP Meets the Rhythm Section. It has echo on the Rhythm track. Still, it sounds pretty darn good to me. I hope to get my hands on Steve's version one day. It's a great album.

 

I have not heard the SACDs, but the Analogue Productions CDs are among the very few CDs I would rate on par with DCC's.

MEETS THE RHYTHM SECTION (and Sonny Rollins's WAY OUT WEST) were simultaneously released by AP in two different remasterings, in a sort of engineering shoot-out, by Doug Sax and Bernie Grundman. I compared the WAY OUT WEST remasterings, and preferred the Grundman edition. And while I have not heard the Sax edition of MEETS THE RHYTHM SECTION, the Grundman edition of that title is among the dozen best-sounding discs I own.

Grundman's work on these two discs is incredibly detailed without being etched or sharp, and the instruments enjoy great dynamics and weight. Steve has commented that Grundman's sound is like (high-end) solid-state, while Sax is like tubes. I guess I like solid-state!