A Perfect Record
5 Stars
Posted
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
by
A.S.
Yup, it's basically perfect. Drop needle, silence. Horns enter bright and vivid, drums are crisp, bass is round and rich. Solos are nicely balanced with the ensemble. LOTS of detail. An excellent re-mastering. Much care was obviously used in this presentation. Musically, it's Ellington at his big-band hippest, generally speaking. Cool arrangements- "A Train" in particular. "The Mooche" also packs quite a punch. "Skin Deep" features lots of drum solo: Loud, mean drum solo. "A Tone Parallel to Harlem" covers a lot of ground. This is Ellington flexing his compositional muscles. "Perdido" rounds out the set just fine. Get this re-master. The music jumps out at you. Makes the individual of discerning taste remember why they listen to vinyl.