Tony Scott: A DAY IN NEW YORK

[ghost of miles]

I just got this yesterday as a gift from a friend--it's a title that I've long wanted to hear. However, this 2003 Fresh Sounds CD version of it sounds distant & muted, so much so that even I, not much of an audiophile, really, found myself having difficulty appreciating the music. Is there a better version floating around somewhere?

[garthsj]

I am not sure that these sessions, originally on Carlton LPs were ever really remastered? I also have the 2-CD set on Fresh Sounds, and I agree that they are not of the highest fidelity. As I remember, the original LPs were not of the greatest sound quality either. I, too, would welcome a remastered version as there is some fine, exciting music to be found here.

Garth.

[JohnS]

Fresh Sound transfers are frequently poor. Mine's on Jazz Door. I don't recall it being too bad. Presumably these come from the same source.

[jim anderson]

Back in the 50's, one of my first LP's was Tony Scott, "South Pacific Jazz".

An ABC-Paramount Stereo with the 1KHz tone at the end of side two!

Tony playing the music from the musical South Pacific.

I played it until I wore it out.

Has that been released on CD?

(without the 1KHz tone, I hope)

JA

[brownie]

That 'South Pacific Jazz' LP by Tony Scott does not seem to have been issued on CD. The album had some of the best sonics found on those jazz releases from ABC-Paramount which had pretty variable engineering.

The liner notes ends with a thorough description of how the album was recorded but fails to name the engineer...

This was an early (1958) stereo release. My copy has a stereo sticker glued to the front cover.

Played that test tone at the end of side B to make sure my speakers were properly balanced. They were

[Claude]

However, this 2003 Fresh Sounds CD version of it sounds distant & muted, so much so that even I, not much of an audiophile, really, found myself having difficulty appreciating the music.  Is there a better version floating around somewhere?

I heard the Jazz Door CD today and it sounds exactly like your description.

My guess is that the Jazz Door is a direct copy of the Fresh Sounds CD. Fresh Sounds usually digs out tapes (often not the original masters) or dubs from vinyl copies, but Jazz Door is not known for doing tape research and sophisticated remastering. Some tracks on the second CD come from LPs, because some vinyl noise can be heard (barely noticable though).

I also think that the quality of the recording itself may not be that great. It is a very early stereo recording (stereo was introduced in jazz in late 1957, these sessions are from november 1957), and it could be that the distant sound is due to the microphone setup. The best sounding tracks are the few mono recordings on the second half of CD1.

Edited December 30, 2004 by Claude