| SoundStage! Music Online Editor's Pick
Archives July/August 1999 Dave Brubeck - The 40th Anniversary Tour of the
U.K. SnapShot! Rating:
The Mahavishnu Orchestra with John McLaughlin - The
Inner Mounting Flame SnapShot! Rating:
Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Pass - Take Love Easy SnapShot! Rating:
Terry Evans - Blues for Thought SnapShot! Rating:
Chris Whitley - Dirt Floor SnapShot! Rating:
Bill Evans Trio - Waltz for Debby SnapShot! Rating:
The Modern Jazz Quartet - Django SnapShot! Rating:
Copyright © 1999 SoundStage! |
Dave Brubeck’s seventh
collection for Telarc is one of his best for the label, perhaps because he’s playing
live and with a sense of history -- a different Brubeck Quartet from the one recorded here
toured England in 1958. Brubeck himself sounds positively nostalgic on "Someday My
Prince Will Come," with its subdued intro that melts into a driving take that would
be at home in 1958. Of special note is the eerily Paul Desmond-like tone that saxophonist
Bobby Militello conjures as well as a pair of Brubeck originals dedicated to two of his
musician friends: "The Salmon Strikes" for pianist John Salmon, and
"Goodbye Old Friend" for the late Gerry Mulligan. The recording is standard for
Telarc -- rich, smooth, and very present. You will probably see this material on SACD --
it was recorded in DSD....Marc Mickelson
A classic of the
early-‘70s jazz/rock fusion movement, The Inner Mounting Flame is given loving
treatment here, sounding less digitally sterile and a bit more supple than the
Columbia/Legacy remaster. But you should buy this disc for its otherworldly spirit. It
probes and prods better than anything you’ll hear today, and dates itself only by the
influence it has wielded since its 1971 release. McLaughlin is ebullient on guitar, and
Jerry Goodman’s violin acts as spinal cord for the group, conveying through his
improvisation much of the joy of making music this animated and inventive. Just try
to play this disc as background noise!...Marc Mickelson
The combination of
voice and guitar is difficult to botch and equally difficult to make work on an exalted
level. The inherent spareness can be a burden to performers, especially when synergy
doesn't happen naturally. Here, Joe Pass tastefully subordinates himself, letting Ella
Fitzgerald have the spotlight, which she treats with subdued respect. Highlights include
delicate takes of the war-horses "Lush Life" and "Gee Baby Ain’t I
Good to You," on which the dialog between Pass and Fitzgerald is especially
supportive and dusky. The sound is spectacular -- this disc pins the meters in all
audiophile categories except the width of its soundstage....Marc Mickelson
Few audiophiles are
unaware of this Ry Cooder-produced collection of butt-bumping music spiced with a healthy
dose of spirituality and love. The CD is a demo disc, and a top-shelf one at that, but the
Classic DVD treads new ground in terms of spatial resolution -- no small feat given the
CD's superior sense of space -- and analog-like ease, which comes not at the cost of
sounding soft or veiled. Evans growls through "Get Your Lies Straight" and
croons "I Want to be Close to You, God," displaying not only his vocal range but
also his emotive power. And who wouldn't want to hear "Shakespeare Didn't Quote
That" turned up to 11? If you can play 24/96 DVDs, this is one to own....Marc
Mickelson
Over the course of his recording career, Chris
Whitley has dabbled in power chords and grunge, but he has never cast off the musical
persona of the dobro-packing country bluesman. On Dirt Floor, he gives in
completely, performing nine originals rife with dense imagery and glints of personal
stories, all captured inside his father's tool shed in Vermont direct to two-track analog
via a single stereo ribbon mic. Whitley's playing on steel-body guitar and banjo is
atmospheric, and the setting, as you would guess, is supremely intimate -- just Whitley,
his instruments, and his tapping foot. The sound of this DVD, which was released
concurrently with the CD, is spacious and detailed. Interestingly, Tim de Paravicini
(E.A.R.), Terry Dorn (Audio Research) and Richard Gerberg (ProAc USA) are listed in the
acknowledgements, underscoring the fact that this next-generation recording is a true
audiophile effort....Marc Mickelson 
Nothing more needs
to be said about this classic live session, Evans’ most famous. This remastered
version, however, deserves nothing but praise for the alternate takes and additional
material included on it -- and, of course, the gorgeous XRCD sound. This is not a domestic
XRCD, so you’ll have to hunt for it and pay a premium price (the list is $40). But if
any CD is worth it with 24/96, SACD and DVD-Audio staring audiophiles in the face, this
one would be it....Marc Mickelson
Django has five John Lewis
originals along with covers of "One Bass Hit," "Autumn in New York,"
and "But Not for Me" -- good stuff from beginning to end. The sound here is not
quite as notable as on the other XRCD Modern Jazz Quartet remaster, Concorde.
Lewis’s piano is more discernible, but Jackson’s vibe work doesn't project or
float nearly as well. Both are in mono, but very good-sounding overall. This is also a
Japanese XRCD; however, unlike Waltz for Debby, there are no other audiophile-CD
remasters of Django, so if you want a superior digital version (the regular-issue
Prestige disc is far less focused and natural), you’ll have to pay $40 for it....Marc
Mickelson