kind of blue...

juice21
juice21 Posts: 1,866
edited February 2002 in Music & Movies
i recently picked up the new recording of mile davis' kind of blue. it was off a suggestion in 'the speaker specialist'. all i have to say is WOW. i can't beleive i never picked this album up before. it is an amazing disc - rich, ambient, full. incredible. if you don't have this disc, i highly reccomend picking it up. i can't take it out of my player...:D
Post edited by juice21 on
«1

Comments

  • hoosier21
    hoosier21 Posts: 4,408
    edited January 2002
    I have a regular copy of this CD, I like it also.

    If there is anyone who can recomend more jazz Iam all ears.
    Dodd - Battery Preamp
    Monarchy Audio SE100 Delux - mono power amps
    Sony DVP-NS999ES - SACD player
    ADS 1230 - Polk SDA 2B
    DIY Stereo Subwoofer towers w/(4) 12 drivers each
    Crown K1 - Subwoofer amp
    Outlaw ICBM - crossover
    Beringher BFD - sub eq

    Where is the remote? Where is the $%#$% remote!

    "I've always been mad, I know I've been mad, like the most of us have...very hard to explain why you're mad, even if you're not mad..."
  • juice21
    juice21 Posts: 1,866
    edited January 2002
    same here, it is a genre that i am just really getting into...
  • DarqueKnight
    DarqueKnight Posts: 6,760
    edited January 2002
    In that same issue of Speaker Specialist, Ken Swauger also recommends the remastered reissue of "Saxophone Colossus" by Sonny Rollins. Another awesome recording. It's amazing how stuff recorded back in the 1950's sounds so wonderful and lifelike.
    Maybe true recording technique is a lost art.

    Listening to these well-recorded discs on SDA's is an eargasmic experience.:D
    Proud and loyal citizen of the Digital Domain and Solid State Country!
  • tommyrod74
    tommyrod74 Posts: 19
    edited January 2002
    I just picked up a Sony SACD player on ebay for $220 ($350 list) so I could try this hi-res music thing- one of the first discs I picked up was Kind Of Blue in Multichannel. Damned if it's not unbelievable. The stereo mix is very similar to the remastered CD version you are listening to, there are subtle differences (played thru my rt800 mains) but we're talking about 50 year old source tapes here, a lot of the added resolution just highlights the faults in the recording. That being said, the sound really is warmer, more "analog", and smoother. The multichannel is where it's at, this mix is very subtle, not a lot of crazy use of the surrounds, just a "wider" version of the stereo mix, better seperation of instruments, the center channel used to "firm up" the center image. Highly recommended, and if all the multichannel releases are nearly this good, I'll never regret buying this player. If you get a chance, listen to one of these in your own system, the kiosks at Best Buy and Circuit City just don't do the format justice (although the CC kiosk is a MILLION times better than the one at BB).
  • tommyrod74
    tommyrod74 Posts: 19
    edited January 2002
    More jazz that is hard to pass up-

    Anything by Miles Davis

    John Coltrane (my personal favorite- he's from my hometown, High Point, NC)

    Herbie Hancock (more fusion than "pure" jazz, esp. later material, but great to listen to, creative, and STUNNING in surround SACD

    A lot of these titles have been recently remastered at 20 bit or higher rates (I know, CD is only 16 bit, but these do seem to sound better) and are awesome. :D
  • juice21
    juice21 Posts: 1,866
    edited January 2002
    tommyrod74, i've been tempted to pick up a SACD player, just didn't know if i wanted to start repurchasing my cd collection. i would love to bring one home and check it out set-up properly. i have only seen these in CC/BB, and there is no way to notice the quality over a 16bit cd.

    after purchasing kind of blue, it willbe the first of many miles davis discs i will own. as for coltrane and hancock - is their a 'must own' album from each of them? i would be interested in picking those up.

    raife1 - thanks for the suggestion on "Saxophone Colossus" by Sonny Rollins, i might have to pick that up...
  • TrappedUnder Ice
    TrappedUnder Ice Posts: 975
    edited January 2002
    try Spirogyra (probably killed spelling), and if ya like big band.. Glenn miller ochestra...IN the Digital Mood.. is quite excellent
  • tommyrod74
    tommyrod74 Posts: 19
    edited January 2002
    John Coltrane- try Blue Train (in a similar vein as Kind Of Blue)- also Coltrane (album name) is a cool selection. There is no "bad" Coltrane.

    Hancock- Try Headhunters (different, but grows on you).

    FYI, both these guys played with Miles Davis early in their careers, then went in different directions. Hancock is still at the forefront of blending electronica with jazz and funk.

    Buying an SACD player doesn't mean replacing your CD collection- I still buy CDs all the time as there aren't a lot of titles on SACD yet, especially popular music. But jazz and classical are both very well represented. I would recommend "borrowing" a player from CC or BB (via the liberal 30-day return policy) to try it out. BTW, my SACD player makes a great CD transport as well, via optical output.

    -TR
  • juice21
    juice21 Posts: 1,866
    edited January 2002
    thanks for the recommendations! i probably will end up 'borrowing' an SACD player from CC sometime in the near future, and i won't replace my entire collection, since selection is so limited right now, but as i spoil myself and become conditioned to the quality, i know i will want to replace every cd that i can... that is my only fear of SACD...another thing to dump money into endlessly, but hey, it wouldn't be an addiction if i didn't...:D
  • joe logston
    joe logston Posts: 882
    edited January 2002
    heres two dave grusin cds, migration (grp lable) grd-9592.
    two for the town,(grp lable)grd-9865
    patricia barber; nightclub (blue note lable)7243 5 27290 29got a lot more if you want , tell me, thanks, joe
    . rt-7 mains
    rt-20p surounds
    cs-400i front center
    cs-350 ls rear center
    2 energy take 5, efects
    2- psw-650 , subs
    1- 15" audiosource sub

    lets all go to the next ces.
  • flason
    flason Posts: 278
    edited January 2002
    Cannonball Adderley "Something Else", Wynton Marsalis "Thick In The South". Add these 2 to your collection. You won't be disappointed. Cannonball plays on the Miles "Kind Of Blue" album...oops, cd. This is the real jazz and not that smooth (elevator music) jazz.
  • juice21
    juice21 Posts: 1,866
    edited January 2002
    sweet! thanks to everyone, got a whole list of stuff to go and buy now...:D
  • wodom1
    wodom1 Posts: 1,054
    edited January 2002
    anything by Dave Brubeck. he's one of my fav's. The Ultimate Bill Evans, anything by Miles Davis--i've got Birth of the Cool, Milestones, Blue Miles, Kind of Blue, and Live at Carnegie Hall. Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers-Moanin'. Horace Silver, Stan Getz, Modern Jazz Quartet, Bird (Charlie Parker)--they're all great.
    "I got into the music business thinking it was really radical, that it wasn't really a business at all, that it was a lot of people being artistic and creative. Not true, and it made me very depressed."

    Thom Yorke of Radiohead

    SOPA. Bow down before me, ****. Want a cookie?


    Polk Audio LSi15
    Polk Audio LSiC
    Polk Audio FXi30
    Samsung LN-T4061F 40" 1080P LCD HDTV
    Sony Playstation 3
    Outlaw Model 990 Pre/Pro
    Rotel 985 MK II
    Rotel 1072 CDP
    Soundstage Vacuum II tube pre
  • DarqueKnight
    DarqueKnight Posts: 6,760
    edited January 2002
    If you only get one Dave Brubeck, his "Time Out" CD is a must have. More well-recorded jazz from 1959. I don't know if they've come out with a 20 bit remastered version. The standard Columbia/Legacy version is excellent.
    Proud and loyal citizen of the Digital Domain and Solid State Country!
  • johnnyamerika
    johnnyamerika Posts: 382
    edited January 2002
    If you're looking for something 'different' by newer artists, all paying homage to the classics of course, then try St. Germain or Thievery Corporation. Also, Herbie and the Headhunters are classics!
  • DarqueKnight
    DarqueKnight Posts: 6,760
    edited January 2002
    juice21:

    If you live in or near a major metropolitan area, you might want to check your main branch of the public library. Larger libraries usually have a good selection of Jazz CD's you can check out: classic as well as the modern stuff.

    It's a good way to find out what you like before investing a lot of cash.
    Proud and loyal citizen of the Digital Domain and Solid State Country!
  • juice21
    juice21 Posts: 1,866
    edited February 2002
    raife1 - no metro area around here...:( good suggestion though. i have actually been listening to sound clips on bmgmusicservice.com at work to listen to alot of the recommended material listed throughout this thread. not high quality, but still a sample...
  • juice21
    juice21 Posts: 1,866
    edited February 2002
    Originally posted by johnnyamerika
    If you're looking for something 'different' by newer artists, all paying homage to the classics of course, then try St. Germain or Thievery Corporation. Also, Herbie and the Headhunters are classics!

    i own st. germain's tourist disc, it is awesome!!!! i'll have to check out theivery corp. thanks for the suggestion

    and welcome to the forum...:D
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 7,658
    edited February 2002
    Hello,
    I'm glad "Kind of Blue" is gaining new listeners, it's great when a classic performance lives because people experience it over and over. I can recommend a fairly new book that describes the recording session and gives some very interesting background on the people and the music of the recording. The title of the book is "Kind of Blue, the Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece", by Ashley Kahn, Da Capo Press. The book describes how the recording engineers used another room, in the building, where where they sat a single loudspeaker at one end of the room and a microphone at the other. The sound of the recording would be sent to the speaker where the microphone, a distance away, would pick up the sound from the speaker, slightly delayed because of the distance traveled. This "echo" sound would be mixed with the recording done, upstairs, with the musicians to give a "warmer" quality to the sound. It really adds to the enjoyment of the recording when you know more about the people making it and the situation itself.
    There are two other books I can recommend as guides for building a jazz record collection. One is "The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide" edited by John Swenson a Random House/Rolling Stone Press and the other is "The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, LP and Cassette", by Richard Cook and Brian Morton a Penguin Press publication. The first book is indispensable for beginning collectors, it gives a thumbnail sketch of the artist and then lists and rates the major works they have done. If you want to know which Sonny Rollins' records are regarded as the best and which ones are most important, then this is extremely helpful. There are just so many performers and each person has made so many records, that a guide like this is great. I'm on my second copy, I bring it to used record stores, flea markets and record swap meets. You can compile "want lists" and figure out which ones to look for. The second Penguin guide is much thicker and more comprehensive, with lots of little known European performers. The artist's description is longer and more detailed than the Rolling Stone guide and covers a wider assortment of people. I've found some really great musicians who are lesser known, but do some wonderful recordings, such as Attila Zoller, a great guitarist, and others.
    I hope this is helpful information.
    Ken Swauger
  • DarqueKnight
    DarqueKnight Posts: 6,760
    edited February 2002
    Thank's Ken!!! I'd never heard of the Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. I'm on my way to pick one up.
    Proud and loyal citizen of the Digital Domain and Solid State Country!
  • juice21
    juice21 Posts: 1,866
    edited February 2002
    thank you first ken for the great recommendation of the disc. secondly, thanks for the recommendations on the books. i am going to check out kind of blue, making of... & R.S. jazz guide. thanks again!
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 7,658
    edited February 2002
    You're welcome, glad to be of help.
    Take care, Ken
  • gidrah
    gidrah Posts: 3,049
    edited February 2002
    Tommyrod74: There have been a number of threads in the pas about SACD & DVDA multichannel abilities and how some people were expecting the drums in (say) the rear right, piano in the front left etc. I'm glad to hear this disc lived up to my expectattions of the format. Subtle yet versatile. I got "The Ultimate Blue Train" for X-mas. It's labelled as an enhanced CD. It has CD-Rom abilities that I haven't checked out. I'm too busy listening to it. I don't know if the sound is any better as this is my only Blue Train.

    I've gotta get Kind of Blue. While I own some good Davis (ie. Essential Miles) this isn't yet one of them. It's kinda tuff at the store as I usually pick an artist and do an eeny meeny miny mo kind of thing. My peers (present party excluded) have different musical tastes. Both source and equipment. I can hear them saying about how they really want that Bose set-up to listen to undistorted Bubba Sparx.
    Make it Funky! :)
  • gidrah
    gidrah Posts: 3,049
    edited February 2002
    Man this is good! I've seen the cover before. Glad to see Coltrane didn't overpower it. After this, it's the new T. Monk/Sonny Rollins.

    God I love music.
    Make it Funky! :)
  • Steve@3dai
    Steve@3dai Posts: 983
    edited February 2002
    juice, you might want to check out Hefner, Nightmares on Wax, Blue States, Tosca, Kruder and Dorfmeister, Peace Orchestra

    Those are all "buddies" (literally) of Thievery Corp. and St. Germain

    - Steve
    LSi 9/C/FX
    Arcam AVR-200
  • juice21
    juice21 Posts: 1,866
    edited February 2002
    man, the list is getting TOO long...

    thanks for all the great suggestions...:D
  • George Grand
    George Grand Posts: 12,258
    edited February 2002
    Over the past few months I've limited my participation to Flea Market items only, but this was too good to pass up.

    MAINSTREAM jazz is dead, kaput, finished. The stuff that passes for jazz today is pathetic. SMOOTH jazz? Gimme a break. It's sonic wallpaper and nothing else. Every time someone calls that crap jazz, Miles, Buddy, Oscar, Bird, Cannonball, and a host of others do 360's in their graves.

    The Marsalis Bros., while technically competent, have no soul. The last GREAT mainstream jazz album, in my own twisted opinion, was Herbie Hancock's "Maiden Voyage". This was about ten years (1963) before the fusion album (also a landmark) "Headhunters" was recorded. If anything, "Maiden Voyage" put Hancock on the map, and was probably the reason Miles asked him to join his rhythm section. Incidentally, ANYTHING recorded by Miles with the Ron Carter, Tony Williams, Herbie Hancock rhythm section is worth owning. Anything he did BEFORE that is worth owning (try Sketches of Spain). Anything he did AFTER the mid 60's, is Miles trying out new directions. This would be "**** Brew", "On the Corner", and stuff like that. Good stuff to be sure, but NOT mainstream jazz. By that time he was using two or three drummers, guitarists, and keyboard players on every recording.

    Jean Luc Ponty? Again, fusion stuff. If you want him in a PURE, mainstream jazz setting, in the 60's he sat in a couple nights with The George Duke Trio out in California. THESE are available on disc. Pick of the week? 1969's "King Kong", Jean Luc Ponty plays the music of Frank Zappa. GIDRAH!!! This one's for you! Zappa caught a couple of the live shows with the George Duke Trio, sat in on a couple numbers, and the rest is history.

    Gosh, why do the jazz recordings from the 50's sound so good? Well MAYBE, because a lot of them were recorded on analog equipment, at Rudy Van Gelder's Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey studio. He was "The Man".

    You want mainstream jazz? You need to collect works by:

    Miles Davis
    Dizzy Gillespie
    Art Tatum
    Oscar Petersen
    Gerry Mulligan (the BIG sax, the baritone, disrobes women)
    Art Pepper
    Louis Armstrong
    Sonny Rollins
    Dexter Gordon
    Gene Ammons
    Lionel Hampton
    Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ)
    Django Reinhardt
    Thelonius monk
    Charles Mingus
    Eric Dolphy
    Cecil Taylor
    At this rate, I could be here all day, and most of you don't want THAT, do you?

    Okay last thing. Here's the PERFECT accompaniment to your "Kind of Blue". Try Miles Davis "58 Sessions". Buy THAT, and you will be listening to Miles, Cannonball, Trane, Jimmy Cobb, Paul Chambers, AND Bill Evans.

    Jazz Fusion? Might as well get the trailblazers:

    Hancock and "Headhunters"
    Weather Report "I Sing the Body Electric"
    Chick Corea "Light as a Feather", and "Hymn to the 7th Galaxy"
    Tom Scott and the L.A. Express "Express" and "Tom Cat" (these two albums were responsible for Kenny G's FIRST hard-on)
    The Mahavishnu Orchestra "The Inner Mounting Flame"
    Billy Cobham "Spectrum", "Crosswinds", and "Total Eclipse"
    Larry Coryell "The Eleventh House"
    The Tony Williams Lifetime "Emergency"
    Zappa "Hot Rats", "Waka Jawaka", and "The Grand Wazoo" (those three discs DEFY musical categorization, just wildly fantastic music, with a MINIMUM of lyrics and Frank's social commentary)

    Oh yeah, some of your slips AND your ages are showing.


    WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

    ______________________

    "It wasn't the airplanes.............."

    Carl Denham
  • juice21
    juice21 Posts: 1,866
    edited February 2002
    george, thanks for the very comprehensive 'what to buy' list, like my new listening interest didn't have a long enough list of 'to buy' albums.:D sounds like '58 sessions' may be one of my next purchases, i can't believe what i was missing out on, not hearing 'kind of blue' until now...
  • George Grand
    George Grand Posts: 12,258
    edited February 2002
    You're welcome. Musically, it was a GREAT time to be alive, as opposed to the Black Hole we are in now.
  • Micah Cohen
    Micah Cohen Posts: 2,022
    edited February 2002
    YEH! George, back with a great post! TWO POINTS! And the crowd goes wild!

    Thanks for that list, man! I printed it out.

    MC
    ultramicah@yahoo.com

    "There's nothing funny about a clown in the moonlight." - Lon Chaney