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Tag Archives: paul chambers

World News

Craft Recordings Restores Rare Recordings By Joe Bataan and Art Pepper From Golden Age Of Latin Soul & Jazz In All Analog-Mastered 180-gram Vinyl Reissue Series

Posted on by Mark Smotroff


Sometimes it’s exhausting to maintain up with the regular move of nice recordings popping out today. What with all the brand new releases and reissues and tremendous deluxe version boxed units and excessive decision streams and… effectively… its a “lotta lotta” as they are saying…. however, I can’t complain! These are so referred to as “first world” issues, so I’m grateful to have the chance to not solely hear all this music however to share the very best of it with music loving audiences. That mentioned, listed here are some fabulous new Latin Soul and Jazz releases from the nice people at Craft Recordings which you’ll have missed. Click on the titles to leap to Amazon if you’re thinking about selecting up a duplicate on the fly. 

Joe Bataan’s Gypsy Woman (Fania Records/Craft Recordings)

From the official press launch, some background data might assist put this launch into perspective: “In the ’60s and ’70s, East Harlem native Joe Bataan epitomized the melting pot of New York City, each musically and culturally. Born Bataan Nitollano in 1942 to an African American mom and a Filipino father, Bataan started singing as an adolescent, performing doo-wop on avenue corners. While a gang-related jail sentence at 15 may have ended his musical goals, the expertise turned Bataan’s life round as a substitute. Six months after his launch, in 1965, he fashioned his first band, Joe Bataan and the Latin Swingers. Combining Latin beats, R&B, and a mixture of English and Spanish lyrics, the group was instrumental in establishing the “boogaloo” sound that may turn out to be vastly in style over the following few years.”

The debut 1967 launch from Latin Soul pioneer Joe Bataan is a landmark in some ways. Not solely does it include his basic title monitor “Gypsy Woman” and his in style “Ordinary Guy,” however this primary (of eight albums he’d launch for the label!) is a strong spin begin to end. It put Bataan on the map.

And it sounds actual good too! The 180-gram black vinyl disc is quiet and effectively centered. Cohearant Audio’s Kevin Gray as soon as once more did a beautiful job on his all-analog mastering of those classic recordings which sound heat and wealthy. The old fashioned early Stereo combine is panned large — that means you’ll hear congas in a single channel and piano in one other — however someway all of it works effectively for this music. With the unique recording directed by Fania Records’ equally legendary co-founder Johnny Pacheco, having the ability now get our palms and ears on an exquisite reissue of uncommon titles like this can be a deal with. 

Like many soul and jazz releases from the previous, discovering copies of those classic albums will not be a straightforward process. Coupled with the huge variety of DJs and sampling artists who’ve snapped up the relative handful of unique releases which stay within the market, costs for these uncommon “OG” copies have skyrocketed. Case in level: on the time of this writing there have been solely 5 unique copies of Gypsy Woman being supplied on the file collector’s market, Discogs. Prices vary from $65 for a VG situation copy (with no cowl!) to $340 for a VG-plus situation copy!  So there was clearly a necessity for a top quality, reasonably priced reissue. You can discover Gypsy Woman at your favourite retailer (or on-line) for lower than $30. 

Art Pepper Meets The Rhythm Section (Contemporary Records/Craft Recordings)

Art Pepper Meets The Rhythm Section is a basic jazz album. So basic, I’ve already reported on the Mono reissue which got here out for Record Store Day in 2022 (click on right here to leap to that evaluation). For these not thinking about clicking via, the official press launch for the brand new Stereo reissue gives some background data which can assist put this new 180-Gram, Bernie Grundman-mastered launch into fast perspective:

“Meets The Rhythm Section is the altoist’s auspicious 1957 Contemporary debut pairing him with pianist Red Garland, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Philly Joe Jones, three-fifths of Miles Davis’ nonpareil quintet. The album was recorded by legendary engineer Roy DuNann this new version and options remastered audio from the unique tapes.”

This yr’s Stereo version of Art Pepper Meets The Rhythm Section bears a lot of the identical specs because the Mono version (Bernie Grundman all analog mastered, 180-gram vinyl pressed at QRP, and so on.).  So please do learn my earlier evaluation for extra insights into why this recording is vital.  

As to why the Stereo version is warranted, effectively that makes quite a lot of sense too: in 1957 (when this was recorded), Stereo was model new expertise. Initially, starting round 1958 Stereo releases had been largely bought to 2 kinds of clients: the small universe of early adopter audiophiles (ie. individuals who may afford the most recent and highest quality playback gear) after which ultimately everybody else (ie. folks with common to not-so-good high quality playback gear!). Mono was nonetheless the dominant format for fairly a while. 

Thus, a fast have a look at Discogs will clue us in to the shortage of unique Stereo editions: as of this writing there are precisely two copies on this specific collector’s “grail” with costs beginning at $330 and going as much as $420! And that is for a VG-plus situation copy! So, for about $30, this pristine new reissue is a whole steal. And it sounds terrific too! 

If you want Art Pepper and basic Nineteen Fifties jazz, you must seize one (or each!) of those reissues whilst you can.  

World News

Why Is Paul Chambers’ Bass On Top A Must Get Blue Note Tone Poet Vinyl Release?

Posted on by Mark Smotroff

Since I have started reviewing the generally acclaimed reissues from Universal Music’s Blue Note and Verve Records label imprints — the “Tone Poet” and “Acoustic Sounds” curated brands in particular — some questions come up fairly frequently from readers and participants in social media vinyl enthusiast groups.

Is it any good? 

and…  

That isn’t rare, why do I need it?

When reviewing the new Tone Poet edition of Paul Chambers’ 1957 gem Bass On Top, I can assure you that it is a mighty good album and recording. Here we find the soon to be legendary bassist supported by a sympathetic trio of Art Taylor on drums, Kenny Burrell and guitar and Hank Jones on piano. 

Musically, this album feels — bad pun intended — like chamber music, finding the bassist bowing his instrument frequently, a technique and texture that often gets overlooked in live recordings especially. Here on Bass On Top, Chambers’ brilliant work doesn’t get lost in the mix.  Beyond being considered the “Bass On Top” in musical terms — a reference explained in the album’s liner notes to Ellington’s brilliant and groundbreaking 1940s-era bassist Jimmy Blanton, who died tragically young from TB — Chambers’ playing is mixed carefully by Rudy Van Gelder, as it is both a lead and support instrument in the music here. 

What’s interesting about this album is that it appeared just a couple years after he’d made it to New York and settled in with Miles Davis’ band. He quickly became known as one of the best bassists around, winning awards and such. 

And while he was acclaimed from the get go and went on to record on many legendary albums including John Coltrane’s landmark Giant Steps — he is the “P.C.” in Coltrane’s tune “Mr. P.C.” — his own albums were probably not super big sellers or widely distributed at the time. 

Thus we get to the second frequent question: scarcity.

So, sure, there have been many reissues of Chambers’ music over the years. But, pop on to Discogs and look to see what is out there on the market in terms of similar editions of this album: high quality remasters taken off the master tape presented in a premium package that pays tribute to the original and then some.  You will find that Chambers’ original albums are highly collectible rarities commanding hefty dollar values.

At the the time of this writing, there were exactly zero copies of the 1966 Stereo edition of Bass On Top with the same serial number as this reissue, BST-81569, available.  The handful of 1957 Monaural editions begin priced in the $500 range and go up from there! Heck, there is a 1966 Mono repressing asking $400! Head over to Popsike, another collector’s website, and you’ll find that original editions of this album were selling in the $1000 range! 

So there are original copies around but they are mostly in the hands of dealers and collectors seeking premium coin (justifiably, if you are into collecting original pressings).

But now, for a mere $20-30, you can now own a premium quality reissue of this much sought after album in terrific fidelity — mastered from the original analog tapes by Keven Gray at Cohearant Audio and manufactured at RTI on 180-gram vinyl. 

While I don’t own an original pressing of Bass On Top, as we’ve seen from other reissues in this series — and just listening to the sound of the album — it is fair to reason that this sounds close to the original. And, it is likely better because of advances in mastering and tape transfer these days. They don’t have to compress the recording quite as much so you get a better dynamic range in some instances than the originals (as I found with my review of Kenny Burrell’s debut, click here to read that).

The only “difference” I noticed on the back cover is a disclaimer about the original Stereo master tape in which there were several instances of microphone “overload” on on Art Taylor’s crash cymbal. Personally, I didn’t notice it as anything super distracting — perhaps I am just used to that sound of oversaturated magnetic tape when engineers ran the recording levels hot to capture the most music on tape (and mask the inherent tape hiss along the way).  

I think this recording sounds lovely.  Bass On Top is a classic sounding production, again originally recorded by Rudy Van Gelder. 

The packaging is exemplary with a beautiful laminated gatefold cover which includes photos of the musicians on the sessions and what looks like original photo negatives used for creating the cover art. It is in many ways better than the original which I don’t think was a gatefold edition (again, I do not own an original!). 

If you want to hear it streaming in CD quality and have access to Qobuz or Tidal, click on the service names in this sentence and you’ll jump to them. There is one bonus track, “Chamber Mates,” which is on the CD version of the album as well.

You should grab one of these while you can.  I’m glad I did. 

World News

Classic Chet Baker, Kevin Gray Remastered On RTI-Pressed Craft Recordings Vinyl (Part 2)

Posted on by Mark Smotroff

In part one of my exploration of the new Chet Baker vinyl reissues from Craft Recordings, I discussed the need for these still remarkably rare recordings to be offered again in high quality, audiophile-worthy editions. I also explored the album Chet Stereo in some detail, my favorite release of the series. In case you missed that first review, please click here to jump to it as there is some information there you may find interesting. 

Generally, these reissues are consistently quite beautiful — clean and rich, some delivering a nice sense of air around the music. The pressings are dead quiet, so there are no issues with quality controls that I can see/hear. Each of these albums are pressed in 180-gram vinyl at the respected RTI manufacturing plant. 

While I don’t have original pressings to compare these albums to, I suspect these new masters are a bit brighter than the 1958-59 editions (less compression used in in mastering, higher quality vinyl, audiophile grade pressing, etc.). In general these albums sound nice, a couple of them might even become demo discs for some of you.

Chet Baker Plays The Best Of Lerner and Loewe

Listening to Chet Stereo, I realized that one of the things I like most about Chet Baker’s trumpet playing is his buttery lyricism which shines on slower paced tunes. His phrasing is masterful and I enjoy being able to relish every note. That said, Chet Baker Plays The Best Of Lerner and Loewe is my second favorite among these reissues as it — in some ways — continues the cool West Coast vibe. Some of the connective glue to both albums is the presence of piano legend Bill Evans who anchors about half of this collection. While not all of the arrangements of the Lerner and Loewe classics from My Fair Lady are entirely to my liking — I prefer treatments by Oscar Peterson and Shelly Manne from that period — in general Chet’s playing is sublime throughout.  Having support from Zoot Sims and Pepper Adams on saxophones doesn’t hurt either.  

Chet In New York 

This is an interesting affair which at times approaches the fantastic (my third favorite in the series). A sweet set, here Chet is backed by a stellar rhythm sections featuring no less than Philly Joe Jones on drums and Paul Chambers on bass. True to the title and intent of the album, this pairs Baker — ‘the most notable of “cool” West Coast stars’ according to the liner notes — with  some of the best East Coast players of the period. Accordingly, this swinging set at times gets into some harder bop flavors and Baker rises to the occasion, no doubt. But I think he is in his sweet spot on the more laid back arrangements which inject a shot of East Coast energy beneath the chill West Coast vibe. Tracks like “Soft Winds” and “Blue Thoughts” are smokey and rich. Baker likewise finds that comfort zone on Miles Davis’ “Solar.” “Polka Dots & Moonbeams” has some beautiful soloing on it. 

It Could Happen To You – Chet Baker Sings

Don’t hate me folks, but I wanted to like this album more than I did (gasp! blasphemy!). I’m not a huge fan of Chet’s singing but I do love his Trumpet playing. However, on this album I did come to appreciate his very horn like “scat” vocalizing — it is at those points in the album that his voice comes alive and rings true to my ear. Sure his timing and phrasing is quite nice but I find his voice just a  a bit too clean for my tastes.

Its a little like the difference between Ella Fitzgerald or Sarah Vaughan, with Sarah perhaps having a more raw technique but bringing out an — and this is just my opinion folks, not the gospel! — more street-wise jazz feel than Ella’s crisp precision. Or consider two singers which Chet’s voice reminds me of: June Christy and Chris Connor.

I find June has more swing and some of that Sarah-like sassiness in her interpretations as opposed to Chris’ coloring-within-the-lines approach. So Chet — for me at least — feels a bit more like a male Chris Connor. And for many of you that may be a good thing!

For me, I’d rather simply listen to his horn playing. Still, its nice to finally hear this album which is highly revered and does indeed sound great from a listening standpoint.

All four of these new releases are in high demand. In fact, many of the pre-orders seem to be sold out already! Check back at Amazon by clicking the links embedded in the titles here (above) or here.  Also check Craft Recording’s website in case they announce a repressing.  

If you have trouble finding these Craft Recordings reissues online, check with your favorite music stores. You can also find them streaming in 96 kHz, 24-bit MQA (click here) via Tidal and at 192 kHz, 24 Bit High Res via Qobuz (click here). 

World News

Classic Chet Baker, RTI-Pressed Kevin Gray Remastered Craft Recordings Vinyl (Part 1)

Posted on by Mark Smotroff

Before I get to the review portion of this exploration of the new remasters of classic albums by the legendary jazz musician Chet Baker, I thought it would be important to put the need for these reissues in perspective.

You see, my curiosity was peaked as to why these albums might be getting the analog, Kevin Gray Cohearant Audio mastering treatment here and now. There are several reasons, I suspect. The obvious one being that in 2019 these recordings were put into a boxed set with a bonus disc of outtakes and alternates from the period — so this is the first time those new remasters are available individually.

In keeping with similar reissue series from Universal Music and their Blue Note Tone Poet and Analog Productions imprints, these releases from Craft Recordings — the boutique audiophile arm of Concord Music which owns the catalogs of Riverside, Fantasy and Prestige Records among others — are albums which have achieved near legendary status among both jazz aficionados and audiophiles alike. 

And one resultant of that status is the reality that finding original pressings of these albums out in the wilds is next to impossible for all but the most fastidious of crate diggers.  I mean, I’ve been out there (pre Covid, at least) digging regularly and have only found a handful of good Chet Baker gems in the past 10 years (and almost none on the Riverside label). 

There have been many reissues of these albums over the years in varying quality and there are even “gray market” versions of some of these albums made from dubious sources and often using alternate artwork, yet charging full prices. So it is in the label’s and the fan’s best interest to issue a quality product to make sure people aren’t ripped off by unscrupulous marketers taking advantage of expired copyright laws overseas.

Accordingly, original pressings of Chet’s albums in Good to Near Mint condition go for quite a lot of coin on the collector’s marketplace. I spot checked what the titles in the new reissue series are going for at the time of this writing earlier this week, so click on any of the underlined titles in the next paragraph to jump to those pages for reference.

There were only three original Stereo pressings on Discogs  of Chet Baker In New York, selling for upwards of $250! Sellers of three Stereo copies of Chet Baker Plays The Best Of Lerner & Loewe are asking for upwards of $125 each. There is one copy of Chet Stereo going for $136 — even the 1963 repressing of that album is asking upwards of $400!! The Monos are more abundant (six copies) yet very pricey!  Heck, the more recent 45 RPM two LP set of Chet from Analog Productions is going for upwards of $500!  The one Stereo copy of It Could Happen To You, Chet Baker Sings was going for nearly $600 and Mono copies ain’t cheap either!

So, yes there is clearly a need for these reissues for the rest of us who can’t afford to spend hundreds of dollars on a single rare original issue! All the pressings I have received for review are 180-gram, remastered at Cohearant Audio by Kevin Gray. The albums are all pressed at RTI and the packaging is exemplary with high quality, period accurate thick cardboard sleeves with pasted on artwork just like original copies (probably nicer than originals in some ways, actually). The black Stereo labels also seem accurate, only the serial numbers have inevitably changed.

And, how do they sound?  Generally, they are consistently quite beautiful — clean and rich, some delivering a nice sense of air around the music. The pressings are dead quiet, so there are no issues with quality controls that I can see/hear. While I don’t have original pressings to compare these albums to, I suspect they are a bit brighter than the 1958-59 editions (higher quality vinyl, audiophile grade pressing, less compression used in mastering, etc.).

Chet Stereo is my favorite of the batch with its lovely sound design which compliments this expressive music nicely. I like how the then-new Stereo reverb applied to Baker’s trumpet ricochet’s from one channel the other without feeling gimmicky. His horn playing works sympathetically with the band which on many cuts includes legends like Bill Evan on piano, Kenny Burrell on guitar and Paul Chambers on bass. This album has classic oozing from every corner…

I did notice one curious reality, a detail likely of interest to those seeking a pristine presentations of the music. 

I had to listen to “It Never Entered My Mind” very closely many times to confirm whether what I was hearing was some sort of drop-out on the original magnetic tape at points or perhaps such clarity that it might be fluid gathering in Chet’s trumpet. Comparing the new reissue LP to versions on Qobuz and Tidal, I am leaning toward thinking it is physical wrinkle on the source tape used.  

Allow me a moment to be a wee bit obsessive about this while I offer some details…

On Qobuz, listen to this first version (click here) at around the 3:48 mark and you’ll hear the slightly garbled-wrinkled-tape sounding distortion similar to what I’m hearing on the new LP reissue. Yet, if you listen on another version also on Qobuz — click here, from the “Keepnews Collection” series — it does not have that anomaly.  There is a third version which sounds more clearly like a tape edit as it alters the sound stage for a moment (click here). There is a version with it on The Legendary Riverside Albums version (click here) streaming in 192 kHz, 24 bits. I suspect what I’m hearing is a physical tape edit wearing out, which happens over time.

For those of you on Tidal, compare this CD quality version (click here) with another containing the audible (likely) splice (click here). The Legendary Riverside Albums version streaming in 96 kHz  24-bit MQA format also has that anomaly (click here). 

Ok, thanks for indulging my obsessive audiophile-collector moment, but those of you who geek out on original pressings and getting the best audio quality may appreciate this microscopic focus.  

The question of course remains which tape source is the original? I would guess that the tapes with the audible splice — wrinkled or other wise — are probably the closest to the original. Just guessing, but I would suppose that perhaps later editions were digitally repaired. If any of you out there have further insights into this, please let us know in the comments below. 

Anyhow, Chet Stereo is a great album. Stay tuned as next week I’ll explore the other three albums in this fine reissue series, It Could Happen To You – Chet Baker Sings, Chet Baker In New York and Chet Baker Plays The Best Of Lerner & Loewe.

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