Chet Baker - Pacific Jazz - 3 CDs (Blue Note)

[Claude]

Has anyone heard some of the new Chet remasters and can comment on the sound? The late 80's CDs don't sound very good, so there must be room for improvement.

The name of the remastering engineer would already be useful information.

Thanks

[jazzbo]

The Jeri Southern I like a lot is when she accompanies herself on the piano. She's real good at that and the results are special.

[ghost of miles]

Jeri Southern Lives,

Is much of her stuff available on CD?

Not much is easily available but quite a bit is out there. There's a Decca best of that's supposedly OK but what I've been didgging is one of the UK EMI two-on-one cds (ya'll might know from your Peggy Lee or Julie London or Dakota Staton interests)--

"Meets Cole Porter" (w/Billy May) & "At The Crescendo" (small combo, Jeri on piano)

I picked it up at J&R for $15 & it shouldn't be more than $20 anywhere.

There's a Jasmine disc of Decca material that's not too expensive either but I'm sometimes wary of Jasmine stuff, they have that big CEDAR logo on hte back...

I Concentrate on You Clem

Yeah, I ordered a bunch of those a week or so ago, but the only one that's showed up so far is a Jasmine of live broadcasts. It's OK--she goes flat a lot, not something that normally bugs me too much, but it seems to happen a lot on this particular comp. I have that Decca THE VERY THOUGHT OF YOU & ordered the Cole Porter you mention plus a couple other two-on-ones... and a friend is going to loan me his Fresh Sounds version of MEETS JOHNNY SMITH.

Thanks for hepping my memory to her, Clem. I've had that Decca comp ever since it came out & have always meant to get into her records more.

[Michel_M]

About the Blue Notes Chet Baker Ensemble and Chet Baker Sextet ... Is there a real improvement over the Fresh Sound Chet Baker Ensemble & Sextet ? I presume but to what extent ?

Thanks

[Jazzmoose]

Wow...speaking as someone who loves Frankie, Ella, Sarah, Bob Dorough, Blossom Dearie (yeah, I came around), Louie, and a host of others, just because Chet Baker's vocals make me feel like worms are crawling into my casket for dinner doesn't mean I don't like any vocals...

[DMP]

And this new reissue of "Big Band" - is this supposed to be an improvement over the previous issue? That one had more tracks, and in session order. I'm not sure I get this. (Similar situation with the second CD reissue of Johnny Smith's Moonlight in Vermont" - 3 less tracks.)

[Claude]

I received three of the Chet reissues today: "Sextet", "Ensemble" and "Big Band" and compared them to the "Pacific Jazz Years" 4CD box set from 1994, which was remastered by Ron McMaster, Malcolm Addey and Jay Ranellucci (it doesn't say who remastered which sessions).

The sound of the older box set easily beats the new Ron McMaster 24Bit reissues. The former are more dynamic and have a larger treble extension. On some tracks the difference is minimal, on other it is significant, especially on the cymbals.

Again, as with some of the recent Mosaic Selects, Ron McMaster is simply not the right man for the job.

I have none of the late 80's CD reissues of the complete albums to compare to, so I can't tell if it worth upgrading them.

The "Chet Baker Ensemble" inlay spine has an error on the main side, it reads "Chet Baker Big Band".

[BruceH]

I can't take his singing.

Me neither!