SH Spotlight Distortion free trumpets in the 20s-40s. But BLUE NOTE? WHAT HAPPENED? RVG Evil Neumann mics?

If you want to get deeper in jazz, there are plenty of classic recordings that while not "audiophile" are still indispensable. This is one of them.
There's way to much emphasis put on the technical aspect of recordings -especially here- and not enough on the musical qualities.
Jazz is a music created on the spot, if you avoid live recordings or simply "non-audiophile" recordings, you'll miss plenty of good music.
Between "Jazz at the Pawnshop" and Blakey "Live at Birdland", an audiophile will tell you to take "Pawnshop". Except that, musically, "Pawnshop" is totally insignificant. While "Birdland" is an absolute classic with top notch musicians at the top of their games. Oh, and "Live at Birdland", while mono and live, sounds more than acceptable.
My 2 cents.

 

I'd guess that it was your friend's ears that were damaged; that's not pejorative either, as mine are too.

 

If you're lucky enough to live in a place where that's an option...

 

Charlie Shavers was no slouch either...

 

Thanks. In the 4 years since I posted that (wow, has it really been that long?) I didn't avoid lo-fi live jazz recordings and actually prefer them over many studio sessions, especially Monk, Trane, Rollins, etc. Still don't have Pawnshop - and likely never will.

 

Aw, I'd guess that "in time," someone will come up with a way separate the tracks and modify them via computer however one wants them to be modified, if that's not already possible.

 

Your ears were already ruined by decades of listening to lo-fi, overdriven, compressed Jamaican recordings, I'm guessing.

 

And thank goodness for that!

 

Speaking of Dizzy and distorted trumpets, you haven't lived until you heard this. The trumpets sound like fingernails on a chalkboard bumped to eleven.
I have Louis Armstrong Decca 10" LP's from the same era and the trumpet is well recorded, this is recorded at the threshold of pain.



And it's a Norman Granz production.

 

I've been doing some listening to old vinyl via a low compliance moving coil cartridge/heavy tonearm recently. Not enough to change my profile- it's not dialed in yet.

The results are interesting with Blue Notes. I'm lucky to have a bunch of early pressings from my flea market hunting days back in the 1990's.

The cartridge and the records are both inherently inaccurate. However, when you combine the two, it gives the music something of a spotlighting effect, with each element emerging in an unfussy and engaging way.

All those square wave over-driven things are still over-driven, but it's more like an electric guitar driven to occasional distortion on a friendly old Fender amplifier. More than anything, the midrange stands out and conveys the musical info. The frequency extremes are more or less superfluous and are represented by distortion (the bass too, sometimes).

The first Blue Note I listened to this way was Grant Green's Sunday Mornin,' in mono. I didn't expect much, but it turned me in to an RVG convert instantly. Play a dull old record with a dull old cartridge and the result is magic.

 

It's all there from the get-go!

 

That's a perfect example.

 

It seems that more and more people want to "fix" some of the greatest albums ever made.
Let them the way they are, we love them WITH their flaws.
Want to listen to well-sounding horns ?
Don't know who engineered these sessions but i find those Ellington horns sounding quite good.
Recording date : december 11, 1951.



Edit : recording date corrected.

 

I always thought the Layla album, sonically sucked hard, music is amazing but the sound was pretty crappy, which surprised me when I learned who Tom Dowd was. Is that just me or is Layla a sonic mess?

 

Tom Dowd has a mixed reputation. Some worship him, some dislike him. A lot of his reputation is based on the albums that he produced rather than the quality of his engineering work.

 

I could believe this, We're an American Band and Hotel California were recorded in the same studio but parts of Rumours, "Jive Talkin'", "You Should Be Dancing" and "Voulez Vous"?

 

Hi Beave, is this the Nippon set for the Keystone records? I don't see this as a Mosaic set. Thanks!

 

This would be Criterion in Miami, correct?

 

Yes it is! Japan only I believe.
Great library of music!
Enjoy....
BeaVe

 

And a bump you Shall!
BeaVe

 

IDK, Mile's ballads on his Prestige recordings sure could serenade a woman with ease...

 

10-4.

 

When playing a recording, it's possible to lower the volume on anything to inaudibility, even a foghorn. What my trumpet playing friend was talking about was the practical impossibility of playing a trumpet live in real time at close quarters with a volume as low as what can easily be achieved with an instrument like an acoustic guitar. I don't think there's a trumpet mute in the world that can drop the volume that far.