The first Resonance thing I bought, Wes Montgomery In Paris - The Definitive ORTF Recording, says on one of the stickers on the bag: "Remastered in high-resolution audio directly from the original tape reels." "Remastered" doesn't make sense, since it was the first official release of these recordings. It does sound excellent throughout, despite some very long sides. I assume the other label Zev Feldman is involved with, Reel to Real, also operates in a similar way, via original broadcast tapes (from the archives of The Penthouse in Seattle), that are then digitized. I remember seeing a video Resonance posted a couple years ago that stated INA/ORTF in France didn't allow tapes from their archives to be taken off-site and used for an all-analog process. I can't blame anybody for going CD in this instance. $110 is just too much, and that's probably before shipping to the UK. Just now, I see only one copy on Discogs of the Behind The Dikes LPs for sale in the US, at $165!
The 110USD was the initial launch price here in the Uk ....in general for many products we seem to pay the same in GBP as you pay in the US in $ ....... but who said life was fair ? . The real issue for me is threefold .... firstly I have personally found many of the latest issues , particularly the live dates, a bit uninspiring in content in comparison to his early years up to and including Moonbeams and those in the last few years of his life when his realisation of his own mortality seems to have imbued his playing with a lot more passion and purpose , particularly in the last year. Though they are Bill Evans and as such always worthy of listening to , for me the latest reissues are not essential . ....secondly many of these issues then being offered as limited editions with small print runs and their initial high pricing ... these are are then swept up ( at least here in the UK ) by scalpers , who then attempt to flip them on ebay for a further profit . ..... lastly although as said earlier any new Bill Evans is always extremely welcome , they have lately been of shall we say of varied recording quality . I am a vinyl acolyte but when we have a new issue that is then from a digitalised source it is difficult to justify buying their vinyl editions over the CD. I tend to keep my money for tracking down early OJC vinyl copies from the 80@s which are now becoming harder to find and correspondingly expensive but are oh so worth it ! I am however really looking forward to the analogue reissues of Trio 64 and 65 from Verve next month ...... have preordered these .
Polydor 28MJ 3081 - Shelly Manne Trio " Good Bye For Bill Evans" - rec. 1981 - Engineer: Ichiro Masuda
[QUOTE="misteranderson, post: 27372481, I can't blame anybody for going CD in this instance. $110 is just too much, and that's probably before shipping to the UK. Just now, I see only one copy on Discogs of the Behind The Dikes LPs for sale in the US, at $165![/QUOTE] Here are the german offerings by JPC Germany. Looks strange that there are 2 different prices for the double CD and a really expensive Item = the 3 vinyl LPs <img src="https://media1.jpc.de/image/h90/front/0/8435395503164.jpg" alt="Bill Evans (Piano): Behind The Dikes: Live 1969, CD,CD" /> Bill Evans (Piano) (1929-1980) Behind The Dikes: Live 1969 Erste offizielle Veröffentlichung von historischen Konzerten in Holland! Behind The Dikes: The 1969 Netherlands Recordings ist die erste offizielle Veröffentlichung des Pianisten Bill Evans mit Eddie Gom… umgehend lieferbar, Bestand beim Lieferanten vorhanden 2 CDs EUR 22,99* Artikel ist im Warenkorb <img src="https://media1.jpc.de/cover/nopic-90x90.png" alt="Bill Evans (Piano): Behind The Dikes: Live 1969, CD,CD" /> Bill Evans (Piano) (1929-1980) Behind The Dikes: Live 1969 Erste offizielle Veröffentlichung von historischen Konzerten in Holland! Behind The Dikes: The 1969 Netherlands Recordings ist die erste offizielle Veröffentlichung des Pianisten Bill Evans mit Eddie Gom… innerhalb einer Woche 2 CDs EUR 42,99* Artikel ist im Warenkorb <img src="https://media1.jpc.de/image/h90/front/0/4909346025790.jpg" alt="Bill Evans (Piano): Behind The Dikes: Live 1969 (remastered) (180g) (Limited Numbered Deluxe Edition), LP,LP,LP" /> Bill Evans (Piano) (1929-1980) Behind The Dikes: Live 1969 (remastered) (180g) (Limited Numbered Deluxe Edition) Erste offizielle Veröffentlichung von historischen Konzerten in Holland! Behind The Dikes: The 1969 Netherlands Recordings ist die erste offizielle Veröffentlichung des Pianisten Bill Evans mit Eddie Gom… innerhalb 1-2 Wochen 3 LPs EUR 145,99*
Very surprised that the RSD of "Behind The Dikes" is not getting more attention here. Absolutely incredible recording. Easily one of the best RSD Bill Evans yet! Special shoutout to Eddie Gomez, holy smokes! This is as good if not the best of his RSD releases, WOW! On par with the Tone Poets and Acoustic Sound Series releases in regards to overall sound.
Behind the Dikes 3LP is so good to my ears that I ordered the 2CD edition as well. It will arrive today!
It really is incredible sounding, is it not! Let us know how the CD sounds, of course I would not expect to hear Eddie Gomez's bass sound like it is on the vinyl version.
Good question, but maybe not a fair one, since Some Other Time is a studio album. Behind The Dikes sounds great. I have the second vinyl run of Some Other Time and the LPs are cut very quiet.
SOT is no longer available on vinyl I believe. How does Dikes compare sonically with The Halversum Concert which is also live and from Resonance? Just trying to get an idea how this new one compares.
To my ears, it sounds every bit as good if not a tad better than Another Time which (again to MY ears) is the best of the bunch sound-wise. But as ol' pal @MLutthans would say, "Your mileage may vary". BTW, as of this moment, Some Other Time 2LP is available on eBay for as little as $89.00 which is an absolute STEAL!
On a slightly different subject , I was lucky enough to pick up a nice copy of "At Shelly's Manne-Hole" from 1968 today ...... it is a UK pressing from Polydor with the orange and black labels , which have been heavily crticised for poor pressing and thin vinyl , however it must have been an early one as the quality and thickness is fine. What I was most impressed by however was the playing of Chuck Israel's .....the instruments on this particular mastering are spread with Bill centre, drums panned hard left and bass hard right, just right to show off Chuck's bass . I have always considered him unfairly ignored against Le Faro ( no criticism there though) and Gomez ..... the latter I sometimes find playing a bit too frenetic and not always that pleasing to the ear. Chuck Israel uses a lower register than either, and for me integrates better than Gomez with Evans playing ...he is more empathetic to the playing of Evans , whilst still making a full contribution .
Chuck was my college jazz instructor, many moons ago. The last time I saw him was when my wife, her sister Sarah, and I drove to Portland, OR, to see Dick Hyman perform with the Portland Chamber Orchestra (about 8 years ago????), and just prior to downbeat, Sarah (who went to the same college as I did), nudged me to ask, "Hey, is that Chuck Israels over there?" Lo and behold, he was the bassist for the Portland Chamber Orchestra! At intermission, I went down and said hi, and asked about how his wife, Margo, and daughter, Jessica, were doing, and they were both in the audience, so we all had a little ten-minute, impromptu reunion, at the lip of the stage, which was great fun. Last I heard, Chuck was still playing bass, and still leading a jazz group that plays routinely, but that's been a few years ago.
Listening to Behind the Dikes on CD. Although the CD trays don't appear to be broken, the discs will just fall out if you turn the package over or just lay it flat. So, be careful in handling it. The art and notes a very nice, though. The sound is certainly an upgrade over the boots; Zev Feldman says in the notes, "We were able to make one-to-one transfers from the original analogue tapes." If I have a nitpick, I might like to have the drumkit dialed down a bit, but it is a very clear, professional recording, anyway. The notes touch on Bill's history in the Netherlands, and include interviews with Eddie Gomez, Marty Morell, and Vijay Iyer. One Dutch writer mentions that he had the opportunity to interview Bill before a 1978 concert with Marc Johnson and Philly Joe Jones. Hopefully, that was recorded for radio/TV, and Feldman might use his connections in the Netherlands to release that performance before long. Happy to have this set in the meantime. Along with the Pescara Festival, it shows that 1969 was a very good year for Bill and his new trio.
After my first real LISTEN to the 3LP set last night, I can honestly say that all three instruments are perfectly presented. This release is (as @scotti pointed out) every bit as perfect as a Tone Poet release!!!!
I don't know if I can honestly answer "properly" as I don't have a real fancy CD player. That said, I think both formats sound phenomenal. Your Mileage May Vary.... copyright by @MLutthans .
Yeah, now that I look more closely, I see that some spokes in both trays are broken out. So, I've recently broken a disc in a Bill Evans set because it was stuck too tight in the tray, and now these discs are too loose. My chi must be off.
I spent the weekend listening to "Behind The Dikes" quite a bit. Encored last night in my sweet spot with a cold beverage near by and listened to sides one, three, and five. Later today will be two, four, and six and then time for a rest and off to the rest of my Evans collection. Last Thursday when I picked it up, I pre-ordered the Acoustic Sound Series titles of Trio 64 and Trio 65. So a nice Bill Evans kind of day... I just can't get over how good "BTD" sounds. I have most of his RSD releases and I won't say this is the best sounding one (but it just might be), but I will say there is not one that sounds any better that I have heard. @paulmock is it just me, or is Eddie Gomez just as big a part of theses recordings as Bill? His playing is so dominant and just comes across with such bite. Bill's piano no doubt takes center stage throughout. The way the soundstage allows each instrument to shine, including Morell of course just makes this such an enjoyable listen.
I moved into a new apartment a couple weeks ago.. Still setting everything up, including my stereo... But in the meantime, I did hook up by DVD player through my TV so I could listen to something other than my computer. First CD I played? You Must Believe In Spring. It was one of my father's favorite latter day Bill albums (at that time anyway)....
