In article ,
Iain Churches wrote:
I've long been a lover of the recorded 'all in one' warts and all -
when it works well it usually has far more of a sense of occasion than
the sanitized multi-track studio stuff. Indeed sometimes a genuine
live performance in front of an audience. Although these are more
rare. And tend to be restricted to some artists that actually enjoy
performing to an audience.

Agreed. The problem is that "warts and all" is fine for concerts, as
wrong notes, or intonation blemishes are over and forgotten in a matter
of seconds, as the visual reference tends to carry the performance
forward. But on a recording they grown and grow with every playing of
the recording, until one finds oneself waiting for them!

Multi-track, whether analogue for digital gives possibililies
which one cannot even consider when using a crossed
or co-incidental pair, or recording in concert.

Consider a track where you require a dry close sound for the
saxes and a 2sec reverb plus a short repeat on trumpets but
not trombones. How ya gonna do that with your crossed
pair Dave??

Didn't realise you only thought in 'crossed pairs' for all in one
recordings. Were your eyes firmly closed when you worked for Mr Crosby?

--
*One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Iain Churches wrote:
There were a number of very interesting new releases on
vinyl last year. One of the most important of these
is the double album "Ray Sings, Basie Swings",which is
especially significant because it sounds like a genuine
collaboration, although it never actually took place.

The vocals were "peeled off" from tapes of some
Ray Charles' recorded concerts given in Germany
and in London during the 1970's. The overall mix and
the sound of the band was not good enough for release,
so the Count Basie Orchestra directed by Bill Hughes,
recorded new backing tracks for the Ray Charles vocals.
The result is quite staggering. It is very hard to believe
that the elements of this homogenous recording were
made thirty years apart!

The double album, which is a numbered limited edition, is
presented in a handsome gate-fold sleeve, with a detailed
booklet about the project, and colour reproductions of the
famous oil-paintings of Ray Charles and Bill Basie by Bruni.
It's a very tactile package!

There are 12 vocal titles, plus an additional instrumental track
(written by Ray Charles) "Them That Got". The titles include:
"Let the Good Times Roll", "Busted", "Crying Time". "I Can't
Stop Loving You", "The Long and Winding Road" and of course
"Georgia".

Ray Charles vocals are fresh and invigorating - even though he
must have sung every one of these titles many thousands of times.
The brass, saxes and rhythm section swing with precision. There
is a fine tenor saxophone solo by Doug Lawrence on track 9
(Side C band 2) "Feel So Bad"

No Ray Charles recording would be complete without the
vocal group The Raelettes. Patti Austin was contracted to write
the vocal arrangements and lead the singers. Magic!
Particularly good on Track 4 (Side B band 1)
"Every Saturday Night"

Don't expect any sparse tinkling single-line Basie-type piano
solos, pianist Tony Suggs plays in his own style, as does Joey
DeFrancesco on Hammond B3 (both play excellent solos on
"I Can't Stop Loving You"

The pressings are on 180 gr vinyl, with a total running time of
52 mins. The disc was mastered half-speed by Stan Ricker. The
surface is excellent, and due to the course groove pitch, the peak
levels are some 3-4dB higher than normal on vinyl, which also
enhances an already good SNR.

My local dealer had twenty copies of this double album.
He sold them all in a day!

Anyone interested in direct mail order, can buy from
Elusive Discs in the USA. They have a most interesting selection
of recent vinyl releases.

http://www.elusivedisc.com/prodinfo....mber=PALP012BK


--
Iain

Mmm, interesting. I have some Ellington, and maybe some Basie too,
from masters made when they toured the Eastern Seaboard colleges, and
issued decades later on CD. The recording quality is less wretched
than you might expect but the authentic quality of the music makes up
for the technical downside; in any event, I'm not an audiophile, I'm
more interested in the music than the pure sound. With those old
recordings the authority of the performers is stamped on the
performance quite beyond even the grimmest of recording circumstances.

Andre Jute
Substance before presentation