Just as we have different tastes in music, there are also various ways to enjoy audio. Many great performances and recordings are released in a variety of formats. Among them, I have selected three recently re-released albums that have attracted attention for their wonderfully high-quality sound remastering and other exciting features.
#238 Miles’ Masterpiece Back in Original Monaural
Miles In Berlin / Miles Davis
(Sony Music SICJ-30064～65)
This album contains the performance by Miles Davis’ quintet at Berliner Philharmonie hall during their European tour in the fall of 1964. Known as a center for classical music and, of course, home to the Berliner Philharmoniker, the hall had only opened the year before. 1964 was also the year “The Berliner Festspiele- JazzFest Berlin” was started, and Miles appeared on stage at the fest. With tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter joining the band shortly before this, the band became more aggressive, and their close collaboration created unexplored sounds. Their stage performance was recorded and broadcast by a broadcast station in Berlin, but it was recorded in monaural for AM broadcasts as there were no FM stations yet.
CBS in Germany made an album of their performances based on the recorded tapes. Since stereo records became popular then, the recordings were released in a so-called fake stereo form, artificially created to have a stereo effect. At the time, fake stereo technology was still in its infancy. Perhaps because the focus was only on broadening the sound source, the high tones of Tony Williams’ cymbals were echoed in the left channel, while the low tones of Ron Carter’s bass were in the right channel. The essential sounds of Miles and Shorter also move unsteadily around the middle. The fake stereo tapes made in this way became the master tapes, and all “Miles in Berlin” recordings in the LP era were released in this manner.
The 2-CD album, released by Sony Music late last year (2023), uses the original monaural master with a fake stereo disc added as a bonus, restoring the sound of the LPs of yesteryear. The quintet was in top form from the first track, ＜Milestones＞! The rhythm section of Herbie Hancock (piano), Ron Carter (bass), and Tony Williams (drums), who provide the soloist’s backing with flexibly shifting beats, is also magnificent. The up-tempo numbers of ＜So What＞ and ＜Walkin’＞. The back-and-forth performances between Miles and the other four members are most thrilling. The live performance, which marks the beginning of the “golden quintet era” from the mid-1960s, should be enjoyed with the original monaural version.
#239 Listen to Coltrane’s Masterpiece on 45rpm LP
A Love Supreme / John Coltrane
(Analogue Productions UHQR-0007-4)
Among the many albums that modern tenor saxophonist John Coltrane has recorded, “A Love Supreme,” in 1964, is considered his masterpiece. As one of the most outstanding records in jazz history, it has been re-released many times in various formats. Meanwhile, Analogue Productions, which advocates UHQR (Ultra High Quality Record) and has released many ultra-high quality recordings, has released a newly mastered and pressed version of “A Love Supreme” in the form of a 45 rpm 2-LP set. This is a limited edition of 10,000 albums sold worldwide.
The album is divided into four parts, “Acknowledgement ~ Resolution ~ Pursuance ~ Psalm,” with each part on one side of the LP record. The sound of Coltrane’s tenor, McCoy Tyner’s piano, Jimmy Garrison’s heavy bass, and Elvin Jones’ vivid drumming are so vivid as if they were being played right in front of us. Their performance has an overwhelming live atmosphere rather than the balance of each. At the beginning of the first track, there is a momentary concern about the tape transcription, but this might be unavoidable as long as the master tape is used. This is an expensive album, but we should say that listening to “A Love Supreme” with such excellent sound quality is a great joy.
#240 A Compilation Album of Great Performances with Relaxed And Luxurious Atmospheres
Jazz, Bossa and Reflections Vol. 1
(Universal Music UCGU-9072)
To listen again to the remastered audio sources of the great pieces and performances that we have listened to repeatedly and become familiar to our ears. It is a world of pleasure as an audiophile, and listening to them with excellent mastering is a supreme joy. Engineer, producer, and composer Seigen Ono has remastered masterpiece recordings primarily for Verve and Brazil Philips. This compilation album was selected from the pieces remastered by Ono and produced as an SACD hybrid disc.
The Oscar Peterson Trio’s ＜You Look Good to Me＞, which have been known for their excellent recordings, Wes Montgomery’s ＜Sun Down＞, and Stan Getz’s ＜The Girl from Ipanema＞, are all beautifully balanced in sound, and the soloists’ performances jump out in front of you. The backing sounds, which reproduce even the finest nuances, are also superb. The live feeling of the vocalist’s voice is also amazing. The album contains 25 such tracks (of which 17 are on the hybrid layer). The music selection flows naturally and even depicts the landscape of each piece, making it a perfect reference for audio systems. Listening to it, we feel time passes slowly and luxuriously.
About the Author
Masamichi Okazaki
Surrounded by various kinds of music from his childhood, Masamichi Okazaki joined Waseda University Modern Jazz Club. He started contributing articles to music magazines when he was a student. He covers wide range of music not only trad, modern and contemporary jazz, but also from pops to classics. He writes liner notes for CDs and LPs, and is a regular contributor to “JAZZ JAPAN,” “STEREO,” and others. He joined a big band, “Shiny Stockings,” as a saxophone player. He is a director of The Music Pen Club Japan (MPCJ).
