CTI reissues: box-set, 1971 concert, single titles

[Big Al]

Well, FWIW, I love these new mixes, especially MORNING STAR. It sounds spaciously intimate.

And CALIFORNIA CONCERT, I'm sorry to say, just reinforced my preference for CTI in the studio. I won't go into any details, cuz I know a lotta people here dig the concert; just suffice to say it bored me to no end. "Straight Life" is good, but that's about it for me.

[danasgoodstuff]

So why did CTI go 'tits up' and ECM is still with us?

[felser]

So why did CTI go 'tits up' and ECM is still with us?

Simple math equation: Don Sebesky > Bob James > Dave Matthews. CTI was making incredibly poor albums by the end. Most of the CTI stable of "names" had gone off to major labels by then. The CTI golden era was early on, when guys like Hubbard and Turrentine and Benson were recording for them and Sebesky was doing a lot of the arranging.

[jazzbo]

I haven't bought any of the new reissues. .. I may spring for the live two disc set in the future because the cdr I have from the lps has some distortion. . . . But I'm happy enough, and don't listen enough, with/to the previous issues I have to warrant replacing them.

The CTI reissue I'd love to see (and probably never will) is "Blue Moses" as Weston recorded it and intended it, without the overdubbed orchestration.

[jdw]

I'm listening now to Milt Jackson's Sunflower, the title cut sounds very different on the Legacy CD and the Cool Revolution version. Note these are different versions, The Cool Revolution version is 8:48 whereas the Legacy version is 11:04.

Are you saying these are two different takes? Can anyone confirm the details? Thanks.

[ShowsOn]

I'm listening now to Milt Jackson's Sunflower, the title cut sounds very different on the Legacy CD and the Cool Revolution version. Note these are different versions, The Cool Revolution version is 8:48 whereas the Legacy version is 11:04.

Are you saying these are two different takes? Can anyone confirm the details? Thanks.

No, they are the same take, the Cool Revolution is just faded out very early.

The different mastering makes them sound extremely different. The Legacy edition is very narrow stereo with more bass. The Cool Revolution version is wide stereo. I've played the Legacy version so much that it is how I expect the album to sound!

[JETman]

So why did CTI go 'tits up' and ECM is still with us?

Because Creed Taylor was a HORRIBLE producer, and Manfred Eicher is not!!!! Really, it's the difference between a man who is not afraid to take chances, and one who produced the same old, same old trying to recreate the golden age of jazz with strings, no less!

[jdw]

No, they are the same take, the Cool Revolution is just faded out very early.

Thanks for the confirmation. With all the 1980s remixes and CD bonus tracks, keeping track of alternate versions of the CTI material can be frustrating.

[Big Al]

No, they are the same take, the Cool Revolution is just faded out very early.

Thanks for the confirmation. With all the 1980s remixes and CD bonus tracks, keeping track of alternate versions of the CTI material can be frustrating.

A-FREAKIN-MEN!!!!

[CJ Shearn]

The reason why CTI went under I think is because once all the top guys left, there was nothing there. Plus Dave Matthews arrangements were increasingly more commercial and disco oriented moving CTI albums towards the category of something else. Also Creed made poor choices such as overdubbing session players on top of live recordings, etc.

[ShowsOn]

I picked up this George Benson late CTI 2-fer featuring Good King Bad and Benson & Farrell, as reissued by Beat Goes On (BGO Records):

http://www.amazon.co.uk/GOOD-KING-BAD-BENSON-FARRELL/dp/B003C1SS30/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1291350996&sr=8-2

The sound quality is great, really dynamic without any mastering compression. It also includes a bonus track, a cover of Sam & Dave's "Hold On I'm Coming".

I don't know which version of Flute Song I prefer, the George Benson one, or the Art Farmer version.

[felser]

I picked up this George Benson late CTI 2-fer featuring Good King Bad and Benson & Farrell, as reissued by Beat Goes On (BGO Records):

http://www.amazon.co.uk/GOOD-KING-BAD-BENSON-FARRELL/dp/B003C1SS30/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1291350996&sr=8-2

The sound quality is great, really dynamic without any mastering compression. It also includes a bonus track, a cover of Sam & Dave's "Hold On I'm Coming".

I don't know which version of Flute Song I prefer, the George Benson one, or the Art Farmer version.

BGO tends to do great remastering jobs. Not sure how they do that, since they are leasing from several labels.

[ShowsOn]

BGO tends to do great remastering jobs. Not sure how they do that, since they are leasing from several labels.

The liner notes on the Benson disc say that it was mastered at Sound Performance by Andrew Thompson:

http://www.soundperformance.co.uk/cd-mastering/

The quality is just brilliant, really punchy with really smooth bass. The album is a must for fans of the session bassist Gary King who also arranged a few of the tracks on Good King Bad.

Of course these albums are a lot more influenced by soul and funk than Benson's earlier CTI efforts, so they won't appeal as much to people purely interested in his takes on jazz standards like So What and Take Five.

EDIT:

I just noticed that Good King Bad was reissued by Mosaic with mastering by Mark Wilder. So it is possible the BGO version just reuses the same mastering.

OFF TOPIC:

I also have BGO's 2 CD, 3 album LaBelle set, which also sounds great:

http://www.bgo-records.com/details_divs.asp?CatalogNo=BGOCD887

Chameleon and Phoenix are very hard to find individually on the Epic CD reissues.

Edited December 4, 2010 by ShowsOn

[felser]

OFF TOPIC:

I also have BGO's 2 CD, 3 album LaBelle set, which also sounds great:

http://www.bgo-records.com/details_divs.asp?CatalogNo=BGOCD887

Chameleon and Phoenix are very hard to find individually on the Epic CD reissues.

In fact, Phoenix was never reissued on CD until the BGO set, and it's Labelle's best album by a longshot. The title track is absolutely incredible, an all-time favorite of mine.

[Teasing the Korean]

I got the 4-CD set for Xmas. The packaging was a missed opportunity; why go through the trouble of making an LP-size box and not make it look like a CTI album?

The track selection was good. Lots of the usual suspects. I was delighted that Bob James was left off. Still, there are some important omissions, like Jackie and Roy's "A Wilder Alias," one of my favorite indescribably decadent 70s LPs.

[Teasing the Korean]

Listening to this now. The Brazilian and Groovy discs are perfect for today's young couple cooking dinner. Not sure about the straight ahead disc.

[JSngry]

The Brazilian and Groovy discs are perfect for today's young couple cooking dinner. Not sure about the straight ahead disc.

They're good for today's young couple smoking dope and screwing in front of the subwoofer.

[Teasing the Korean]

The Brazilian and Groovy discs are perfect for today's young couple cooking dinner. Not sure about the straight ahead disc.

They're good for today's young couple smoking dope and screwing in front of the subwoofer.

Damn right. Preferably on a flokati rug. Music on a reel-to-reel so they don't have to break the mood every 18 minutes.

[jazzbo]

The music sounds really pretty good in this set. I like the last disc the least, but overall a good collection, a good sampling of the label.

[Teasing the Korean]

The music sounds really pretty good in this set. I like the last disc the least, but overall a good collection, a good sampling of the label.

It also doesn't reproduce anything from the single-disc Legacy comp, so with that, it's a five-disc set.

The cover art was still a missed opportunity.

[Matthew]

Still no Joe Farrell, hopes dashed again

Looks like Wounded Bird Records is releasing three of Joe Farrell's CTI records: Penny Arcade, Canned Funk, and Upon This Rock. I very happy about this.

Here's the linky -- dinky

[jazzbo]

Hey, THAT'S good news!

[Big Al]

The music sounds really pretty good in this set. I like the last disc the least, but overall a good collection, a good sampling of the label.

It also doesn't reproduce anything from the single-disc Legacy comp, so with that, it's a five-disc set.

What single-disc comp? The sampler?

[Matthew]

Hey, THAT'S good news!

It is, I order all three today.

[Teasing the Korean]

What single-disc comp? The sampler?

http://www.amazon.com/Cti-Records-Birth-Groove-Deodato/dp/B000002AH0/ref=sr_1_11?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1293598760&sr=1-11