Bix Restored: I'm astonished by these transfers

[Larry Kart]

Today picked Vol. 2 and Vol. 3 (three CDs each) of the Sunbeam/Origin Jazz Library "Complete Recordings and Alternates of Bix Beiderbecke" -- there are five volumes in all, but Vol. 5, a single disc, consists of some newly discovered alternates and other recordings that supposedly show Bix's influence. Anyway, the plan here apparently is to gather every issued recording and surviving alternate take on which Bix appears, not just those on which he solos -- thus we hear such things as Whiteman's recording of Eastwood Lane's "Sea Burial" and Domenico Savino's "A Study in Blue," which are not included on, say, the Masters of Jazz Bix series because Bix's role on these pieces is solely as a member of the ensemble. On the other hand, having just listened to those two tracks, I wouldn't miss them for the world -- they offer fascinating insights into what seems to me to be the genuinely sophisticated and arguably advanced light classical music of the time, the playing of the Whiteman orchestra is superb, and besides Bix admired and supposedly was influenced to some extent by Lane's "moderne" music. Which brings me to my point -- the transfers and remastering here, by John R.T. Davies and Michael Kieffer, seem astonishing to me in their presence and clarity. One can hear, for instance, that the Whiteman orchestra string section was not shrilly sawing away but consisted of symphonic-level players, while the sound of Bix's horn is, a la Hoagy Carmichael's famous response the first time he heard Bix, enough to make you faint dead away. And this is important, I think, because then (depending on personal taste and background) one can hear quite clearly what and how much of this music is dated and what and how much is not. And a good deal that is not dated here is magnificent, while some of what is dated is still very interesting. In any case, on "Bix Restored" it's you and the music itself that are sorting this out; you're not thinking that it's quaint stuff musically because it sounds like a quaint recording job. But as I said above in the header, I'm no transfer/remastering scholar-expert. So does anyone know if this stuff has been transferred and remastered here as beautifully as my ears tell me it has, or are there other better versions out there? BTW, I've certainly heard tell of the quality of the Mosaic Bix-Tram-Teagarden Okeh set that Doug Pomeroy did, but a good-sized, important chunk of this material is not on the Mosaic, in particular the Whiteman and Goldkette RCA recordings (the latter are on "Bix Restored Vol. 1").

[Kalo]

I've heard good things about this series of reissues. I'm inclined to trust Larry's ears, but I am definitely curious to hear other opinions as well.

[Quincy]

From all of the other scattered Bix threads (gotta use Google to search the 3 lettered Bix on the "o") I'm fairly certain that the Bix Restored series is considered the best sounding. I recall that as Jazzbo's opinion (unless it's changed), and he also has the Mosaic and "other stuff" too. Certainly never really heard a bad word about Restored, other than maybe price or that it's "too complete," but never about the sound.

[jazzbo]

I've been enjoying the four volumes of this set for years, and rushed out to get Volume 5 when it was released, and it's a hoot.

Yes, this is my favorite remastering of this material at least so far, and for all the same reasons you cite Larry.

Here is some earlier discussion: http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=3955

[Stereojack]

I've got the entire set, and I agree that the mastering is superb. I've known most of the classic material since the 1960's, when the most famous tracks were available on Columbia & RCA LP's. In the 70's I moved up to the UK Parlophone & French RCA LP's for added material and better sound. This set superceded all of the previous for sound and completeness, but unfortunately if we want to hear Bix's glorious horn, we must sit through a fair amount of non-essential period music on which Bix does not solo, and this can be daunting sometimes. Still, I give the series a big thumbs up!

[EKE BBB]

I heartily agree with jazzbo and Stereojack on this set's sound quality.

[jazzbo]

And Larry, I agree, the sound of Bix on these remasters really makes his impact and individuality more decipherable and moving. And. . .I confess I like the Whiteman stuff far more than I dislike it!

[Larry Kart]

. And. . .I confess I like the Whiteman stuff far more than I dislike it!

Me, too. And having heard Eastwood Lane's melancholic "Sea Burial" (arranged for orchestra for Whiteman by Ferde Grofe; it was a piano piece), I wonder if there is any other Lane on record. An initial search turns up nada.

[AllenLowe]

I've done a lot of this kind of work, but actually haven't heard the Sunbeam - the key in all of this is

1) original sources -how clean? Masters? Stampers? Metal parts? 78's? Old vinyl 78's?

2) quality of transfer - turntable - styli?

3) conversion - from analog to digital - VERY important - good quality converters? 16 bit, 20 bit, 24 bit? Dithering (the process that puts them back down to 16 bits) or noise shaping (another of these processes)?

4) keeping them in the digital domain once transferred (going back to analog and than to digital again can be very destructive)

5) technique of de-clicking and de-crackling - there are software programs, but none that I have heard work as well as CEDAR, except, maybe, for some spot restoration (a stray pop or click) -

6) NEVER USE DE-HISS - it sucks; and I will make an exception with myself because I know how to use it AND i have incredibly good MONITORS - de-hiss CAN be used but I never recommend it because it is usually botched - the usual programs are auto-de-hiss and one has to over-ride this in order to do it well -

I have incredibly good sounding Bix LPs from British EMI, I think it is, and even better transfers on a Franklin Mint, I think it is,LP set (I was thrilled to be able to hear Venuti say, clearly, "Barnacle Bill the Shithead.") ; the original work on these AND the American Columbias is excellent - they may not sound as good initially if you play them on a turntable because the original mastering engineers did some roll off of high end, because that was basically the only noise reduction technique they had to use - so if you put 'em to digital and use good digital equalization along with a good noise reduction module (like CEDAR) you can make them sound nearly as good as anything contemporary that I have heard - problem is that it is work and few people have these tools.

also, did John Rt Davies do the Sunbeams? John was known to have "secret" access to the EMI archives at times; also, he had thousands of MINT shape 78s.

and Doug Pomeroy, by the way, is a great guy and master at all of this -

Edited January 3, 2008 by AllenLowe

[jazzbo]

Yes, J. R. T. Davies did the transfers. . . originally most of the series was released with just his work, then they went forward and backward with Michael Keiffer doing some eq and sweetening, and he finished up the final bits after Davies had passed (I believe). The results are very very good. Knowing Davies the work was probably done from the best 78 rpm and test pressing sources, with his careful selection of styli and rpm, and very careful noise reduction.

Edited January 3, 2008 by jazzbo

[Larry Kart]

as for Whiteman, jah, there's actually more of compositional/tonal interest in the best "sweet" music of the period than, say, sorta run-of-the-mill hot stuff...

That's what I'm thinking, though I'd rather leave it at "very good Whiteman is very good and full of more interesting musical details than most anyone might think until they actually listened." Also, listening to these things tickles me because in my book (i.e. the book I wrote) I said at one point: "Why, then, the Marsalis phenomenon, such as it has been and perhaps still is? One struggles to think of another figure in the history of jazz who was a significant cultural presence but not a significant musical one. Dave Brubeck? Perhaps, but there is no counterpart in Marsalis’s music to the lyrical grace of Paul Desmond or to those moments when Brubeck himself was genuinely inspired. Paul Whiteman? Yes, in terms of the ability to marshal media attention, but if we credit Whiteman with all the music that was produced under his aegis, the comparison probably would be in his favor." Etc.

I'd heard enough Whiteman at that time to mean literally what I said there, but of course I was also being provocative-bitchy. Now I discover that I wasn't giving Whiteman (or the Whiteman orchestra) nearly enough credit.

Allen: The Sunbeam/Origin Jazz Library "Bix Restored" sets were done by John R.T. Davies and Michael Kieffer.

[Harold_Z]

Let's not leave Bill Challis out of this discussion. His charts added a lot to the Paul Whiteman band.

[Larry Kart]

Let's not leave Bill Challis out of this discussion. His charts added a lot to the Paul Whiteman band.

Absolutely.

[AllenLowe]

interesting Whiteman endorsement - Anthony Braxton sang the praises of this band to me when I talked to him last summer -

also, Ferde Grofe did his best work with that band, I think (better than his semi-classical pieces, at least to me)

[martini]

I'm pretty new to Bix, but after getting a taste of his music on an old LP a few weeks ago, I went and picked up the first four volumes of the Bix Restored series. Awesome music. I am also shocked by how good this music sounds. They did a nice job on the transfers. I'm curious about how the quality might differ from the tunes on the Mosaic set, which I have yet to round up. I have the 14 LP Bixology set (Italian Joker label, early 80s, I think) coming my way also, simply because I found it cheap ($35 shipped). I don't expect much from the quality of that set, but who knows. Anyway, I'm still working my way through Restored and it has been a true joy to experience Bix's music while reading the bio about him from Jean Pierre Lion. I highly recommend the book too, although one of the guys who runs a nice website about Bix has a few unflattering things to say about it.

Unlucky for me (and the finances), I'm now collecting 78s of his music. I have two turntables, but neither can play them (just 45 & 33 1/3). I've got it bad, man. I guess there are worse things with which to litter the house than Bix 78s. . .

Edited February 13, 2008 by martini

[AllenLowe]

excellent book - 78s are interesting because if you hear one that is in good condition on a decent turntable, you understand instantly why collectors thrill to the occassional mint disc - there is a clarity and space which is too often lost on bad transfers, both digital and analog -

[AllenLowe]

by the way - Larry - just noticed your reference to Eastwood Lane - there is a very good pianist (from the midwest I think, or maybe Minnesota) who recorded two volumes of Eastwood lane piano music 15 or 20 years ago - if I can find the CDs I'll give you a citation -

[Harold_Z]

I'm pretty new to Bix, but after getting a taste of his music on an old LP a few weeks ago, I went and picked up the first four volumes of the Bix Restored series. Awesome music. I am also shocked by how good this music sounds. They did a nice job on the transfers. I'm curious about how the quality might differ from the tunes on the Mosaic set, which I have yet to round up. I have the 14 LP Bixology set (Italian Joker label, early 80s, I think) coming my way also, simply because I found it cheap ($35 shipped). I don't expect much from the quality of that set, but who knows. Anyway, I'm still working my way through Restored and it has been a true joy to experience Bix's music while reading the bio about him from Jean Pierre Lion. I highly recommend the book too, although one of the guys who runs a nice website about Bix has a few unflattering things to say about it.

Unlucky for me (and the finances), I'm now collecting 78s of his music. I have two turntables, but neither can play them (just 45 & 33 1/3). I've got it bad, man. I guess there are worse things with which to litter the house than Bix 78s. . .

I thought the BIxology set sounded pretty good on a good system eqed right.

[hepcat1950]

I didn't listen to any of the releases mentioned in this thread, hence I'm not able to make any comparisons. But the best remastering I've listened to has been done by Francis Dreyfus and his co-workers. He released a CD titled "Bix Beiderbecke - Jazz Me Blues" as part of his so called "Jazz Reference" edition. The CD presents 20 tracks recorded in 1927 when Bix had been a member of Frank Trumbauer And His Orchestra. Given the fact that those recordings had been done in 1927 the sound quality is outstanding. It really blew me away.

The CD is still available at Amazon.

[EKE BBB]

by the way - Larry - just noticed your reference to Eastwood Lane - there is a very good pianist (from the midwest I think, or maybe Minnesota) who recorded two volumes of Eastwood lane piano music 15 or 20 years ago - if I can find the CDs I'll give you a citation -

Both Bernd Lhotzky and Rossano Sportiello have recorded several Eastwood Lane pieces, solo piano.

In his highly recommendable disc for Arbors, "Piano Portrait", Lhotzky recorded a very tasty version of "Adirondack Sketches" (six pieces).

Sportiello has also played a few Lane pieces. IIRC, in his disc on Jazz Connaisseur Swiss label, "Piano On My Mind", he included "Down Stream" from "Adirondack Sketches". And I tend to remember there are more (I will check my collection later).

[EKE BBB]

And yes, there is a marked Eastwood Lane influence in Bix's piano compositions!

Edited February 15, 2008 by EKE BBB

[mikeweil]

What is the best online way to purchase those Sunbeam CDs?

[jazzbo]

CD Universe would be the route I'd take. (Search under label "Origin Jazz.")

Edited February 15, 2008 by jazzbo