Publisher Profile

Classic Jazz and Bebop

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Bill Evans / Portrait In Jazz
Analogue Productions 180g LP
Recorded in New York, December 28, 1959.
Musicians: Bill Evans, piano
Scott LaFaro, bass
Paul Motian, drums

Selections:

1. Come Rain Or Come Shine
2. Autumn Leaves
3. Witchcraft
4. When I Fall In Love

5. Peri’s Scope
6. What Is This Thing Called Love?
7. Spring Is Here
8. Some Day My Prince Will Come
9. Blue In Green

Bill Evans played piano for two albums in 1959. Kind of Blue with Miles Davis and his debut album Portrait in Jazz with his own trio. Now talk about a banner year: For a musician for most of an album with the impact of either of these two would be a lifetime achievement, not just a beginning.

I also own the excellent SACD of this recording, but the LP betters it in most ways. It is more relaxed, smoother, and has an equally good bottom-end. It has a very natural, coherent soundstage that I really enjoy. As good as the sound is, this recording is all about the music, and what music it is. Just look at the songs on this LP, for me anyway they don’t get much better. If you’re like me, you won’t be able to get enough of Scott LaFaro’s bass playing.

I would never call this an audiophile recording in the least, but it is beautifully smooth with a very nice, unforced quality to the recording. It also comes across as pure and intimate. Like most of Bill Evans music there is fluidity and lyricism that very few other pianists can match.

The only two copies of this recording I have are this one and the SACD so I can’t tell you how it compares to the original, but I can tell you I wouldn’t want to be without it.

Diana Krall / Love Scenes
ORG / Original Recordings Group 180g 2LP

Mastered by: Bernie Grundman

Musicians:
Diana Krall, vocals, piano
Russell Malone, guitar
Christian McBride, bass

Selections:

LP 1

1. All Or Nothing At All
2. Peel Me A Grape
3. I Don’t Know Enough About You
4. I Miss You So
5. They Can’t Take That Away From Me
6. Lost Mind
LP 2

1. I Don’t Stand A Ghost Of A Chance With You
2. You’re Getting To Be A Habit With Me
3. Gentle Rain
4. How Deep Is The Ocean (How High Is The Sky)
5. My Love Is
6. Garden In The Rain

This album Love Scenes and All for You are my two favorite Diana Krall albums by far. Christian McBride’s bass playing on ‘My Love Is’ makes the whole album worth getting for me. I find Love Scenes intimate and simply beautiful. Krall’s sensuality and humor shines all the way through this album. I think it is on this album that Krall establishes her mastery of the romantic ballad in an intimate piano setting. Like All for You this ORG recording is simply superb.

Curtis Fuller / The Opener
2 x 45rpm 180g Mono LPs
Music Matters LTD had Kevin Gray and Steve Hoffman remaster this recording from the Original Rudy Van Gelder Blue Note Master Tapes Blue Note Recordings.

Musicians: Curtis Fuller, trombone
Hank Mobley, tenor saxophone
Bobby Timmons, piano
Paul Chambers, bass
Art Taylor, drums

Tracks:
1. A Lovely Way To Spend An Evening
2. Hugore
3. Oscalypso
4. Here’s To My Lady
5. Lizzy’s Bounce
6. Soon

This album came as quite a surprise for me. I love bebop, I think it’s a big step up from swing. Curtis Fuller emerged in the mid-1950s, developed his style and became an influential force in the bebop era. In 1957, he recorded The Opener and established himself as one of the very best hard bop trombone players. Both the music and the sound are really noteworthy. Gray and Hoffman do a great job of capturing the warmth and bite of the instruments here. They also do a great job of capturing the feeling of real music. This is a mono album you should not miss.

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