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An LP that every vinyl lover must have in their collection!

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Shelby Lynne: Just A Little Lovin’

Shelby Lynne: Just A Little Lovin'
Analog Productions AAPP41 200g LP
Produced by: Phil Ramone
Engineered by: Al Schmitt
Mixed by: Al Schmitt
Mastered by: Doug Sax

If you were an audiophile during the ‘heyday’ of The Absolute Sound and Harry Pearson, then you knew what it was to look for and love Dusty Springfield’s cover of The Look of Love. Well, now we have the 21st century ultimate sounding pop female vocal recording, and can you believe it — it’s a tribute to Dusty Springfield.

The original vinyl release of this album was mastered from a digital file and pressed at United in Nashville. Not one much of an endorsement, but a lot of us bought it for the music not the sound. What we have in the Analog Productions 200g reissue is a whole new ball game. Produced by Phil Ramone and engineered by the great Al Schmitt in all-analogue, and can you believe it — this is said to be done at the insistence of Shelby Lynne. We should all give a big thank you to Analogue Productions’ Chad Kassem for obtaining the rights to reissue the album and insisting on the original tapes. So, this reissue was mastered in all analog by Doug Sax at The Mastering Lab and cut using his lathe driven by tube electronics. Then, it was plated and pressed at Quality Record Pressings in Salina Kansas on 200g vinyl.

Well, it is simply hard to believe how good this LP sounds, the backgrounds are as quiet as any of the famous UHQR pressings. Lynne’s voice simply comes out of a silence and a real space. It is rich, detailed, and most of all, unbelievably alive sounding. This recording is so good that I swear it sound like she sings better than she did on the original. Her voice and the instruments just flow into my room, allowing you to relax and just enjoy this incredible music.

This is an LP that every vinyl lover must have in their collection!

Kenny Burrell – Guitar Forms

Kenny Burrell - Guitar Forms'
Label: Speakers Corner (Verve)
Recorded: December 1964 and April 1965 at Van Gelder Studios, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., by Rudy Van Gelder.
The Players:
Kenny Burrell Guitar
Jimmy Cleveland Trombone Jimmy
Knepper Trombone Steve Lacy Soprano Saxophone
Lee Konitz Alto Saxophone R
oger Kellaway Piano G
rady Tate Drums
Gil Evans, Arranger

Gil Evans produced Guitar Forms with Kenny Burrell as the main soloist, and I would consider it a must-have for guitar fans, especially those who love Latin Jazz. The playing of the studio musicians who took part in this recording blew me away. Steve Lacy, Lee Konitz, Richie Kamuca and Jimmy Knepper, combine with Kenny Burrell to produce this beautiful performance and recording. To me, Guitar Forms is on par with the Gil Evans’s collaborations he did with Miles Davis.

The drums and the deeper horns are recorded in such a way that you can easily hear them each doing their thing in the bass. The music is rich, warm, and just beautiful. It is also recorded and mastered to sound great. Highly Recommended.

Toots Thielmans Yesterday & Today

Toots Thielmans Yesterday & Today

The “Out of the Blue” label brings us this rather incredible collection of Toots Thielemans’ music. Unlike the first two albums reviewed this month, you won’t be buying this one for its audiophile sound, but for the incredible music.

In fact, I should warn all audiophiles not to give up on this album after the first cut. It’s from the 40s and sound like you’re listening to gramophone. As the name implies, this albums starts with cuts from as far back as the 40s and progresses all the way to the present.

Jean-Baptiste Frédéric Isidor, Baron Thielemans, better known as Toots, was 92 in Brussels, Belgium. Even though he started out as a guitarist, he virtually introduced the chromatic harmonica as a jazz instrument. His performances can be heard on some of the best selling pop records and advertisements of all time. He is also well known for his incredible ability to whistle. His whistling and harmonica was featured for years in the background of “Old Spice” commercials.

This two-LP set claims to contain the best Toots Thielemans you’ve never heard, and to be a stunning collection of both rare and great music, starting with his earliest recordings as a soloist and ending with a memorable duet in the new millennium. It was produced by Cees Schrama who hunted down and selected all these treasures, looking for recordings that follow Toots’ long and impressive career. You have to give Mr. Schrama credit for providing us with an incredible history of Jazz told through the performance of Toots and those who played with him over the last seven decades.

According to the promotional, the 1946 recording, initially made as a soundtrack for a cartoon, were never issued anywhere. Then there are the tracks with George Shearing which were issued only on singles.

This is not an album to show off your setup, but it is a two-LP set full of incredible music. Highly recommended for all of you out there who love Jazz.

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