Big fire in Universal studios destroyed jazz recordings?

[monkboughtlunch]

Check this out. AcousticSounds.com has reissued Jamal's Alhambra as a needle drop to achieve a high resolution reissue. About 15 years ago, this was issued on CD in Japan from a tape transfer. I guess that album master tape must have perished in the 2008 fire. I wonder how many of the Argo / Cadet master tapes got torched.

http://store.acousticsounds.com/d/104237/Ahmad_Jamal-Ahmad_Jamals_Alhambra-DSD_Single_Rate_28MHz64fs_Download

Ahmad Jamal's Alhambra - Now Available in Hi-Res!

One of the All-Time-Best Recordings, Captured by Needle Drop Direct to DSD!

"Taken from what were probably bassist Israel Crosby's final recordings with pianist Ahmad Jamal (14 months before the bassist's unexpected death), this (disc) features the classic version of Jamal's Trio (with drummer Vernell Fournier) playing live at the leader's short-lived Chicago club. The interplay between the musicians was often magical, as can be heard on such numbers as 'We Kiss In a Shadow,' 'Love for Sale,' 'Broadway' and 'Isn't It Romantic.'" — AllMusic

There's something magical about a vinyl needle drop transfer. We've always loved capturing our favorite LPs this way so that we can take them on the go. But a mint RTI virgin vinyl pressing, mastered by Bernie Grundman, of one of the greatest live jazz recordings of all time? Captured straight to DSD by the foremost DSD engineer Gus Skinas? Using a VPI Direct turntable, a Koetsu Onyx phono cartridge and a Pass XP-25 phono preamp? Well, we may have on our hands the finest needle drop ever. And you can have it too!

Ahmad Jamal's Alhambra, recorded live in June 1961 by engineer Ron Malo (the same man who recorded the classic Muddy Waters/Folk Singer), might not be as famous or well-known as Bill Evans' Waltz For Debby, but it belongs in the same class. This is such a beautiful performance and perfect recording that it by rights should be an all-time audiophile classic. And as a DSD, hi-res download, it's finally got its chance to get its due. Featuring the incomparable Ahmad Jamal on piano, Israel Crosby on bass and Vernel Fournier on drums, this is as intimate and detailed a live recording as exists. You're in the room!

In lieu of a transfer from the master tapes for this jewel, we figured the next-best option was a needle drop using a perfectly dialed-in rig (set up by our audio expert Chad Stelly) and the transfer touch of Gus Skinas of the Super Audio Center. The mint LP was played for the very first time for the transfer. The results are breathtaking. In fact, we feel this is among the best sounding files on our Super HiRez site. Have a listen!

Edited March 16, 2015 by monkboughtlunch

[ejp626]

There's something magical about a vinyl needle drop transfer.

Ok, this is a new one on me. I guess sellerz gotta sell.

[six string]

Indeed.  It's only magic when you already own the lp and you're making a cdr for the car. 

[JSngry]

And it's most magic when the car drives itself!

[king ubu]

9 hours ago, JSngry said:

And it's most magic when the car drives itself!

If only traffic were as smooth as Jamal/Crosby/Fournier!

[robertoart]

On 16 March 2015 at 2:08 PM, monkboughtlunch said:

I guess that album master tape must have perished in the 2008 fire. I wonder how many of the Argo / Cadet master tapes got torched.

 

 

 

 

They probably don't even know they're missing. They probably didn't even know they had em in the first place.

[mikeweil]

BTW - this was not Israel Crosby's last recording session. He and Fournier did record with George Shearing for Capitol and backed Sam Jones on one of his Riverside LPs. It may have been his last recording with Jamal, though.

[Teasing the Korean]

On March 16, 2015 at 11:08 PM, monkboughtlunch said:

...About 15 years ago, this was issued on CD in Japan from a tape transfer. I guess that album master tape must have perished in the 2008 fire...

So why didn't they just release it from a clone of the Japanese CD?!?  An LP transfer makes no sense in this situation. 

[mikeweil]

Maybe that mint vinyl copy sounds better than that 15 year old transfer?

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

so even though the jamal is a totally common lp and it takes no effort to find a copy, a hi-res needledrop is still commericaly released because their bankin on the fact that some people REALLY arent going to seek out the vinyl...

[monkboughtlunch]

Going on ten years now, has anyone been able to triangulate which specific artists had their original master tapes (and session reel outtakes) torched in the 2008 fire?

First the corporate entity said nothing was lost.  Then they said only obscure artists from the 40s and 50s.  But we are hearing directly from respected producers like Michael Cuscuna that when he went to pull tapes for the Jamal box, some of those tapes from the 1960s were destroyed.   So what the corporate label was saying about 1940s / 50s only was just false damage control.

It stands to reason that the Argo / Cadet material may have been impacted in a significant way.   

One session that has always intrigued me is the 1965 unreleased Baby Face Willette material.  They guy didn't record many albums and hearing this additional material would be fascinating.  So did it burn up in the fire or did it survive?  

Is there a curator at Universal or are they only focused on mass market Diane Krall type stuff?  Will we never have visibility into what material exisits?

[Teasing the Korean]

6 hours ago, monkboughtlunch said:

First the corporate entity said nothing was lost.  Then they said only obscure artists from the 40s and 50s.  But we are hearing directly from respected producers like Michael Cuscuna that when he went to pull tapes for the Jamal box, some of those tapes from the 1960s were destroyed.   So what the corporate label was saying about 1940s / 50s only was just false damage control.

I suppose that if you are working for a huge entertainment conglomerate in the current millennium, Ahmad Jamal might meet the criteria for an "obscure artist from the 50s."

[robertoart]

4 hours ago, Teasing the Korean said:

I suppose that if you are working for a huge entertainment conglomerate in the current millennium, Ahmad Jamal might meet the criteria for an "obscure artist from the 50s."

What does that make Baby Face then 

[Bill Nelson]

That would make Baby Face a collateral damage victim of un-friendly fire.

[Teasing the Korean]

9 hours ago, robertoart said:

What does that make Baby Face then 

Equally irrelevant, I suppose.  I would think that any back catalog artists whose albums aren't flying off the shelves would be considered "obscure" by some of these hacks.  Do you think any of them could even list all of the defunct labels that comprise the current Universal catalog, let alone be able to name any of the key artists who recorded for those labels?  

[gmonahan]

Universal donated the remaining Decca "metal parts" to the Library of Congress. No idea about the various sub-labels in the Universal Empire.

 

gregmo

[Chuck Nessa]

1 hour ago, gmonahan said:

Universal donated the remaining Decca "metal parts" to the Library of Congress. No idea about the various sub-labels in the Universal Empire.

 

gregmo

That "donation" generated a large tax deduction and relieved Universal of large archival expenses. Win / win for those guys,

[medjuck]

5 hours ago, Chuck Nessa said:

That "donation" generated a large tax deduction and relieved Universal of large archival expenses. Win / win for those guys,

And I think (not really sure) that they get to keep the copyright,