PristineAudio Posted February 15, 2008 Report Share Posted February 15, 2008 Miles In Paris - Miles Davis & Tadd Dameron Quintet Miles Davis, trumpet James moody, saxophone Tadd Dameron, piano Barney Spieler, bass Kenny Clarke, drums Recorded from radio broadcasts, Paris, 8-15 May, 1949 Restoration and XR remastering by Andrew Rose, January-February 2008 These live recordings, taken from French radio broadcasts, have always suffered from pretty dreadful sound quality. In their original Columbia issue the quality is akin to a particularly poor and crackly telephone line. As such, any remastering work presents huge challenges, and outcomes are limited by the frequency and dynamic ranges of the original AM broadcasts, as well as poor microphone placement and acoustics. The listener to this remastered recording may feel that my priority was Miles Davis' trumpet. Well, yes and no. Of all the musicians here it is of course Miles who we wish to hear as clearly as possible. But we are fortunate that it is his soloing, and that of saxophonist James Moody, which was best picked up by the microphone, and which best cuts through the murk of the original recording. Dameron's piano is much further back, and whilst I've been able to round out the deep double bass notes, the drums remain thudding rather than bright. Yet these are perhaps secondary concerns. With a recording such as this we want to hear the young Miles cutting loose and free, in front of an adoring audience and effectively leading his own small group for the first time - and just before he succumbed to a drug addiction that would keep him out of the public eye for several years. So excuse a little hiss and occasional crackle, live with the fluttery sound on Embraceable You (on which a lot of wayward pitch correction has been possible), and listen at long last to this vital moment in modern jazz history, now sounding hugely better than any other issue since those May nights in 1949. Audio sample and more notes can be found here: http://www.pristineclassical.com/LargeWorks/Jazz/PAJZ004.php Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Beat Steve Posted February 15, 2008 Report Share Posted February 15, 2008 Not wanting to hijack your thread, but having read a lot of period material about that festival, I wonder if the other appearances at that festival have also been released comprehensively (or might be released some day)? So far I am only aware of the Swedish All Star band's live recordings issued on DRAGON, and surely the Bechet tracks will also exist somewhere on disc. But beyond that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosco Posted February 15, 2008 Report Share Posted February 15, 2008 Very interesting indeed! Miles' tone sounds a lot brighter and fuller on that excerpt. Looking forward to hearing these recordings afresh. Pity those long winded radio announcers couldn't be eradicated, but what are you gonna do? -_- Some recordings of Parker from the festival came out on Philology's Birds Eyes series. Sound is variable from track to track, mostly quite listenable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B. Clugston Posted February 16, 2008 Report Share Posted February 16, 2008 Very interesting indeed! Miles' tone sounds a lot brighter and fuller on that excerpt. Looking forward to hearing these recordings afresh. Pity those long winded radio announcers couldn't be eradicated, but what are you gonna do? -_- Some recordings of Parker from the festival came out on Philology's Birds Eyes series. Sound is variable from track to track, mostly quite listenable. That announcer drives me crazy. I've got a Paris concert from 1973, where a couple of announcers pull the same stunt. Plus ca change... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PristineAudio Posted February 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2008 Since moving to France four years ago I've kind of got used to it - at least I can understand now what they're saying! MP3 sample - "Good Bait": http://tinyurl.com/2wo4zb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Beat Steve Posted February 16, 2008 Report Share Posted February 16, 2008 I've had the CBS LP of this since the end of my school days in the late 70s and I must admit I find the announcer's intro quite charming, giving it a period flair (as if you were listening to the actual radio broadcast). Especially if you combine it with the same announcer's intros to the appearance of the Swedish All Stars at this festival (as released on the Dragon CD). But then again I do speak French fluently. I could do without the voiceover during the actual tune but oh well ... Anyway, I have a hunch those who complain about this introduction would be less severe if it had all been in English. There seems to be a ready market for location recordings and broadcasts with all announcements after all. And hey, what would the Jubilee broadcasts be without Ernie "Bubbles" "The Stomach That Walks Like A Man" Whitman's chatter? :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_forumlogo.png.a607ef20a6e0c299ab2aa6443aa1f32e.png)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.