Impulse Coltrane on SHM-CD (Universal Japan)

[Late]

Does anyone here own UCCI 9200/1 — the two-disc SHM-CD version of Coltrane? I'm wondering if it contains the same RVG mastering as the U.S. edition.

 

 

Edited November 10, 2015 by Late

[erwbol]

7 hours ago, Late said:

Does anyone here own UCCI 9200/1 — the two-disc SHM-CD version of Coltrane? I'm wondering if it contains the same RVG mastering as the U.S. edition.

 

 

You could try listening to the samples at CD Japan.

The RVG contained the wrong version of Big Nick (with Duke Ellington).

[Late]

3 hours ago, erwbol said:

You could try listening to the samples at CD Japan.

The RVG contained the wrong version of Big Nick (with Duke Ellington).

I took your advice and listened to the sound samples. The Japanese edition contains the correct version of "Big Nick," but I couldn't tell from the samples if RVG did the remaster for the Japanese edition (or if the remaster is based off RVG's).

I've been listening a lot recently to Coltrane, Living Space, and Transition, and wishing I was alert to the 2011 SHM-CDs back in the day. But, as with most Japanese issues, patience is required — they'll likely be reissued (again) in the next couple of years (maybe Coltrane's 90th?), and hopefully contain either new or the 2011 remasters.

"Untitled 90314" and "Untitled 90320" are both so damn good. I've had Living Space now for 17 (!) years, and I'm finally paying very close attention to the soloing and ensemble. I wonder how these tracks would be regarded had they been titled and issued when Coltrane was alive.

And I wonder what Ravi still has in the vaults ...

[erwbol]

1 hour ago, Late said:

I took your advice and listened to the sound samples. The Japanese edition contains the correct version of "Big Nick," but I couldn't tell from the samples if RVG did the remaster for the Japanese edition (or if the remaster is based off RVG's).
 

In my experience the sound samples on CD Japan are reliable and can give you a rough idea of what the CDs sound like. You could plug a nice pare of Sennheisers into your computer and determine if the original album tracks on disc 1 have extreme stereo separation or are near mono like the RVGs. In this way I was able to determine that the two bonus tracks on the Cool Struttin' SHM were stereo like the album and not mono like the same tracks on Sonny Clark Quintets SHM (or the Cool Struttin' XRCD24).

1 hour ago, Late said:

I've been listening a lot recently to Coltrane, Living Space, and Transition, and wishing I was alert to the 2011 SHM-CDs back in the day. But, as with most Japanese issues, patience is required — they'll likely be reissued (again) in the next couple of years (maybe Coltrane's 90th?), and hopefully contain either new or the 2011 remasters.

"Untitled 90314" and "Untitled 90320" are both so damn good. I've had Living Space now for 17 (!) years, and I'm finally paying very close attention to the soloing and ensemble. I wonder how these tracks would be regarded had they been titled and issued when Coltrane was alive.

And I wonder what Ravi still has in the vaults ...

I hope more late period complete studio sessions like Sun Ship. For example February 2, 1966 and March 7, 1967. Expression always sounded bad on digital (and perhaps also vinyl?) and the Stellar Regions SHM (February 2, 1967) shows how much better it could sound. 

Edited November 10, 2015 by erwbol

[Late]

32 minutes ago, erwbol said:

You could plug a nice pare of Sennheisers into your computer and determine if the original album tracks on disc 1 have extreme stereo separation or are near mono like the RVGs.

Well, I don't have Sennheisers, but I do have a pair of AKGs! Good point about the stereo separation. I'll check again.

My copy of Expression on compact disc is a German edition from 1987 (254 646-2), which sounds flat-transferred. Pretty quiet, but when you turn it up it sounds decent. I listened to the whole program just two days ago. While I can probably ultimately live without "To Be," that album is much better than I've given it credit for over the years. "Offering" is one of my all-time favorite Coltrane tracks. Thankfully, it's on the Stellar Regions SHM-CD! Sounds great there. The title track ("Expression") is also excellent.

Edited November 10, 2015 by Late

[Late]

Browsing the Coltrane discography, there are a number of unissued studio recordings originally made for Impulse!

• April 21, 1966 - four unreleased studio tracks

• April 28, 1966 - two unreleased studio tracks

• February 27, 1967 - two unreleased studio tracks

• March 29, 1967 - six unreleased studio tracks

• May 17, 1967 - two unreleased studio tracks

 

Coltrane's last session in the studio (May 17, 1967) yielded the tracks "None Other" and "Kaleidoscope." I wonder if he titled them himself.
 

[jazzbo]

A huge batch of Coltrane SHM-CD are coming out in August including a number of Impulse titles on August 24.

[RiRiIII]

On 11/7/2016 at 6:00 PM, jazzbo said:

A huge batch of Coltrane SHM-CD are coming out in August including a number of Impulse titles on August 24.

the series can be seen at:

http://www.universal-music.co.jp/jazz/jazz-hyakkaten/cat/201608impulse/

 

Coltrane's are:

1. Ballads
2. A love supreme
3. Hartmann
4. Duke
5. At Village Vanguard
6. Selflessness
7. Quartet
8. Impressions
9. Coltrane
10. At Birdland
11. Transition

 

Edited July 12, 2016 by RiRiIII
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[Deepak]

UCCI-9014 Ascension

Does anyone know how this sounds?

Is this the only other digital version that has both takes?

[soulpope]

Reg the japanese SHM-CD 2016 edition of "Crescent" UCCU-5622 - any board member who bought this release and could share impressions regarding the sound (btw whether this is a "repackaged" version of an earlier release ) ?

[erwbol]

My guess is it's the mastering from the US/EU Originals digipak. That was also used in 2011 on the second Crescent SHM-CD. The first SHM-CD from 2008 or so reproduced Japanese 24bit mastering  from the early 2000s. That was the last time a new mastering of Crescent was released on CD exclusively for the Japanese market as far as I know. Better than the Originals digipak imo.

[soulpope]

11 hours ago, erwbol said:

My guess is it's the mastering from the US/EU Originals digipak. That was also used in 2011 on the second Crescent SHM-CD. The first SHM-CD from 2008 or so reproduced Japanese 24bit mastering  from the early 2000s. That was the last time a new mastering of Crescent was released on CD exclusively for the Japanese market as far as I know. Better than the Originals digipak imo.

Thnx a lot ....

[Late]

Quick question regarding UCCI 9243 (Coltrane's Transition):

For those who have it, is this SHM-CD a new remaster, or from a previous (US/EU) remaster? Does the inner ring, on the flip-side, give a different catalog number?

Thanks!

[erwbol]

On 11/17/2017 at 2:12 PM, Late said:

Quick question regarding UCCI 9243 (Coltrane's Transition):

For those who have it, is this SHM-CD a new remaster, or from a previous (US/EU) remaster? Does the inner ring, on the flip-side, give a different catalog number?

Thanks!

UCCI 9243 is not an SHM-CD. It was a budget reissue: http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/UCCI-9243 Some here reported these had the same remasters as the 2011 SHM-CDs (as far as those contained new remasters, see my original post on page 1).

The Transition SHM-CD was UCCI-9202 from 2011. It did have fabulous sound, definitely new remaster. I listened to it only a couple of days ago. Inner ring has UCCI-9202 as catalog number.

By the way, the HD Tracks Impulse! John Coltrane downloads I have heard also sound fabulous. Probably also based on new transfers and remasters. 

These late Coltrane SHM-CDs sound so fabulous on my current speakers, I can't stop listening when I put one on.

[Late]

On 11/20/2017 at 2:16 AM, erwbol said:

UCCI 9243 is not an SHM-CD.

The Transition SHM-CD was UCCI-9202 from 2011. It did have fabulous sound, definitely new remaster. Inner ring has UCCI-9202 as catalog number.

These late Coltrane SHM-CDs sound so fabulous on my current speakers, I can't stop listening when I put one on.

Thanks for the information, and for straightening out my error. I agree — the late Coltrane SHM-CDs sound really good. (I wish I would have purchased Live In Seattle back when it was still available!)

[Late]

D'oh! I should have checked Discogs earlier. According to their page on Transition, UCCI 9243 = UCCI 9202.

[erwbol]

Hmm. I just found out that the Live at the Village Vanguard Again! budget CD from 2010 (UCCI-9144) is in fact the same as the 24bit 92kHz mini-LP from 2001, UCCI-9010, according to the matrix ring. The booklet reproduced the credits for the earlier 20bitK2 mastering by Shigeo Miyamoto and Tamaki Beck, and so I listed it as such on my initial post on page 1. I would however trust the CD's matrix ring over the error-prone Japanese booklets.

4 hours ago, Late said:

(I wish I would have purchased Live In Seattle back when it was still available!)

That one seems to be quite rare on eBay. Not just ridiculously priced, but simply unavailable. A shame as Universal Japan did reissue the Live in Japan Deluxe Edition 5CD set at a lower price (with different cover art).

Edited November 21, 2017 by erwbol

[jazzbo]

Maybe they'll reissue it one day, could happen. I'll grab it then.

[Late]

On 11/21/2017 at 9:29 AM, jazzbo said:

I'll grab it then.

Same. Hopefully we won't have to wait until Coltrane's 100th!

Wishful thinking on my part: I hope the next batch of remasters includes Dear Old Stockholm. It'd be nice to have all the Roy Haynes material (studio and live) in one package.