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Rudy Van Gelder Archive

Houston Person & Ron Carter – Chemistry – HighNote

Houston Person & Ron Carter – Chemistry – HighNote

by | Aug 4, 2016 | Jazz CD Reviews

Houston Person & Ron Carter – Chemistry [TrackList follows] – HighNote HCD 7293 49:25 ****: An exuberant release from a definitive bassist and an earthy tenor saxophonist. (Houston Person – tenor saxophone; Ron Carter – bass) The word chemistry springs from the word alchemy which in its very early etymology was often seen as linked to the search to turn common metals such as iron into gold. This release is called Chemistry from Houston Person and Ron Carter, and the intermediate process has been eliminated, resulting in pure gold. In this session of standards, the tunes have been culled from the American Songbook with the intention of providing unabashed look at life, love youth and beauty. So if you want to hear two masters at work, playing off and for each other, this is the place to be. In addition, the dean of recording engineers Rudy Van Gelder brought his artistry to the session giving both instruments a deep full approachable sound that was a hallmark of his style. Miles Davis’ first great quintet recorded “Bye Bye Blackbird” and although Ron Carter was in the second iteration of the group, he was fully aware of the connection to the band. […]

Ron Carter – All Blues – CTI 6037 (1974)/ Pure Pleasure (2016) – vinyl

Ron Carter – All Blues – CTI 6037 (1974)/ Pure Pleasure (2016) – vinyl

by | Jul 15, 2016 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews

Ron Carter – All Blues – CTI 6037 (1974)/Pure Pleasure (2016) stereo vinyl, 36:01, ****1/2: An audiophile vinyl re-mastering of a jazz legend sounds great! Ron Carter – doublebass, piccolo bass; Joe Henderson – tenor saxophone; Roland Hanna – piano; Richard Tee – electric piano on “117 Special”; Billy Cobham – drums, percussion) There aren’t many jazz bassists who are regarded as jazz icons. Ron Carter is certainly at the head of this group. As a sideman, he played with Eric Dolphy, Cannonball Adderly, Herbie Hancock, Thelonious Monk and was part of the second Miles Davis Quintet. Carter has scored many films, and taught jazz composition. His approach to interval jazz composition has drawn comparison to Duke Ellington. More importantly, he has been recording for over fifty years, enhancing his substantial influence in the jazz community. Among the many contributions was All Blues, released on the CTI label in 1974. Recorded over one session in late 1973, this album is widely considered to be among the greatest of all time. Pure Pleasure Records has released a 180-gram vinyl re-mastering of All Blues. With a quartet featuring Carter (double bass), Joe Henderson (tenor saxophone), Roland Hanna (piano) and Billy Cobham (drums/percussion), […]

Blue Note xrcd24 Reissues – a Cause for Celebration

Blue Note xrcd24 Reissues – a Cause for Celebration

by | Oct 13, 2013 | Special Features

For years the XRCD re-issue series from JVC put out among the very best “Red Book” CDs of any jazz label. Their attention to detail was beyond reproach.  Original issues in the 1990s were manufactured in the JVC manufacturing plant in Yokohama, Japan. They involved the use of the 20-bit Sony PCM-9000 magneto-optical disc combined with JVC’s K2 20-bit analog-to-digital converter. Jitter and distortion were largely eliminated. The end product produced the highest quality transfer from the original master tapes to compact disc. At that time JVC issued primarily releases from  Fantasy/OJC, well before those labels were sold to Concord Records. [Although these discs are down-sampled to CD 44.1K/16-bit standards and are playable on any CD player, we are still listing these latest versions individually in our Hi-Res Section because the fidelity has been enhanced to the point that they now truly sound more hi-res than standard CDs…Ed.] In 2006 Elusive Disc took over the JVC XRCD line when JVC USA shut down their operations here. With former JVC employee Kevin Berg as production coordinator, and Robert Bantz as executive producer, under the moniker Audio Wave (marketed by Elusive Disc), they have been re-issuing classic Blue Note issues from the […]