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Various Artists - The Sound Of Jazz


Label:

Analogue Productions

Genre:

Jazz

Product No.:
AAPJ 111-45
UPC: 753088111471
Availability:
In Stock
Category:

45 RPM Vinyl Record


No. of Discs: 2
Note: 180 Gram

45 RPM  
(Not Eligible for Additional Discount)

$60.00

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Also available on:
180 Gram Vinyl Record
Mono

180 Gram Vinyl Record
Stereo

Hybrid 3-Channel Stereo SACD




 

Now cut at 45 RPM 2LP for better tracking, exceptional fidelity!

Mastered by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound, from the original 3-track tape

180-gram LP plated and pressed at Quality Record Pressings!

Gatefold old style tip-on jacket from Stoughton Printing with gorgeous photos!

Featuring "Wild Man Blues" "Dickie's Dream" and more!

Praise for Analogue Productions' 33 1/3 reissue

"The only reason Classic Records failed to reissue this one back in the 1990s and 2000s is because the reel containing one side had gone missing. For this reissue Sony/BMG located the original 3-track recording from which this stereo record was sourced so it's one generation ahead of the mixed 2-track master. This tape probably hadn't been played in almost sixty years and so sounds remarkably fresh. ... Analogue Productions reissued this in a tip-on gatefold sleeve with great black and white photos taken at the recording session of Count Basie, Billie Holiday and Ben Webster. A moment in musical time perfectly captured that's easy to recommend for the music, the sound and the packaging. The reissue sound is somewhat drier than the original, which makes it all the more intimate and less dated. A great lacquer cut by Ryan K. Smith." — Michael Fremer, AnalogPlanet.com. To read Fremer's full review, click here.

This 180-gram 45 RPM Analogue Productions LP reissue is a magnificent-sounding recording of a historic TV event. For a rare and glorious one-hour nationwide broadcast, CBS brought together 32 towering heavyweight jazz musicians of the swing era for the jam session to end all jam sessions. The dead-quiet double-LP, with the music spread over four sides of vinyl, reduces distortion and high frequency loss as the wider-spaced grooves let your stereo cartridge track more accurately.

See the video above for a look at how the program went down.

The one-hour program aired on Sunday, December 8, 1957, live from CBS Studio 58, the Town Theater at 851 Ninth Avenue in New York City. The show was hosted by New York Herald-Tribune media critic John Crosby, directed by Jack Smight, and produced by Robert Herridge. Jazz writers Nat Hentoff and Whitney Balliett were the primary music consultants.

"The Sound of Jazz" brought together 32 leading musicians — a Who's Who of the swing era — including Count Basie, Lester Young, Ben Webster, Billie Holiday, Jo Jones and Coleman Hawkins; the Chicago style players of the same era, like Henry "Red" Allen, Vic Dickenson, and Pee Wee Russell; and younger 'modernist' musicians such as Gerry Mulligan, Thelonious Monk, and Jimmy Giuffre. These players played separately with their compatriots (see the song list below), but also joined to combine various styles in one group, such as Red Allen's group and the group backing Billie Holiday on "Fine and Mellow".

Columbia Records released this LP in 1958 that is actually a rehearsal that preceded the telecast (recorded on December 4 at Columbia's 30th Street studios), and is not its soundtrack. The LP was released in 1958 as Columbia CL 1098, with liner notes by Eric Larrabee, and the cover photo is by Tom Yee. The recording doesn't include all of the performers on the TV show (Mulligan refused to participate because no additional payment was involved) and includes several who were not on the show. Bassist Walter Page rehearsed, and is featured on the LP, but collapsed on the way to the studio for the telecast.

For this Analogue Productions reissue we started with the original tape and the best mastering available — Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound did a steller job, and naturally, plating at Quality Record Pressings was handled by master plating technician Gary Salstrom. Our 180 & 200-gram QRP platters serve up an utterly noiseless background that lets the superior sonics shine through.

The show's performance of "Fine and Mellow" reunited Billie Holiday with her estranged long-time friend Lester Young for the final time. Jazz critic Nat Hentoff, who was involved in the show, recalled that during rehearsals, they kept to opposite sides of the room. Young was very weak, and Hentoff told him to skip the big band section of the show and that he could sit while performing in the group with Holiday.

During the performance of "Fine and Mellow", Webster played the first solo. "Then", Hentoff remembered: "Lester got up, and he played the purest blues I have ever heard, and [he and Holiday] were looking at each other, their eyes were sort of interlocked, and she was sort of nodding and half-smiling. It was as if they were both remembering what had been — whatever that was. And in the control room we were all crying. When the show was over, they went their separate ways."

Within two years, both Young and Holiday had died.

 



Side A
1. Wild Man Blues – L. Armstrong, F.J. Morton
2. Rosetta – W.H. Hoode, E. Hines
3. Fine and Mellow – B. Holiday
4. Blues – Giuffre, Russell

Side B
1. I Left My Baby – Rushing, Basie, A. Gibson
2. The Train And The River – Giuffre
3. Nervous – Waldron
4. Dickie’s Dream – Basie, L. Young

Customer Reviews (5.00 Stars) 4 person(s) rated this product.

45 vs 33 RPM

posted on 01/07/2024
5 Stars
I have both versions. The 33 is excellent, but the 45 is insanely good. The differences are not subtle, its better at EVERYTHING. Better soundfloor, better dynamic range, better stereo effect, better, better, better. Did I say it was better? Vynil afficionados are always arguing whether 45 makes a difference well; nowhere that fact is nowhere better exemplified than here. Again, the 33 is good but pales to the 45 in every dimension I used my adult daughter as "layman" test subject, within 15 seconds she picked the 45rpm version as the obviously superior one. Of course some will still argue abot recording levels and so on, but they shouldn't forget that the reason you can crank the levels on the 45 is the speed!


Amazing

posted on 06/16/2023
5 Stars
This is a reference quality collection. Glad I purchased it. Sound is fantastic.


Didn't see this one coming...

posted on 11/14/2021
5 Stars
Reviewer: DD
This is an amazing record. It does not sound like a late 50's recording. In my collection, this is what I will put on to brag. Not only is this a great-sounding record, there is a great story that goes with it. This was a showcase for CBS back in the days where this kind of music wasn't played in prime time. There is actually a Youtube concert that is stunning to watch, and it gave me a new appreciation for Billie Holiday. Fantastic sound here; it's really not hyperbole. The second side really rocks. Enjoy!


QRP, you have outdone yourselves

posted on 12/05/2020
5 Stars
Reviewer: CJB
Pardon me if I gush. Just received this. Lets get the technical side out of the way. The first disc is dead flat. The second is 98% flat, which is statistically insignificant. The pressing is the epitome of pristine. I have all three pressings of this; the mono and stereo 33, and now the 45. I believe this production will show off what your system can do. The width and depth of the soundstage, especially the depth, is magnificent. The detail, timbre, and dynamics; awesome. The vocals of Allen and Holiday; simply wonderful. Jo Jones drum breaks in Blues; like you are in the same room. As a drummer, my jaw dropped. If you dig this music, get this! I'll leave this where I began. QRP, you have outdone yourselves.


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