Jazz for aficionados

O-10:

I found your comments on the Three Sounds to be very interesting.
The first time I played the 8 Classic set I compared it to my only copy of them on Blue Note. I put one of the classic cds in one player and the blue note in another player. Both were playing thru the same amp.

I just toggled between them and decided that the piano on the Classic cd sounded flat, just as you said. I went back and forth until I was sure. Yep, flat.

Then I went to the kitchen for coffee and talked a while with the wife, then came back into the listening room. The two players where still playing. The lights on the amp were defeated, as they always are. I had forgotten which CD player was selected. I sat there looking at two cd players, both on, with the counters counting, but I had no idea which one I was listening to. I had stumbled into a blind test!

So I concentrated as hard as I could. grrr, grrrr, grrr, and decided that the piano was flat, so it must be the classic cd. Wrong! It was the Blue Note Playing thru the SA8001.

What does this prove? Nothing. Just food for thought. I then wrote my 'review'. I stand by it with the following understanding:

My review is for the The Three Sounds only. I would not buy any of the heavyweights, Miles, Coltrane or Rollins etc... But for groups that are not that important to you and ones that you would not normally buy, the classic sets are a good buy. After all, I only had one Cd by the Three Sounds. Much more on LP. As several reviewers have said, their music has a sameness about it. Nice lounge music. I do have a lot of Gene Harris.

Thanks for your comments.

Cheers

I think my brain knew I was listening for FLAT, so it provided FLAT. That happens a lot of this site. I just admit it. When I knew which Cd was playing it was easy. When I didn't know, things got a lot harder.

Rok, I repeated the test. This time I gave the bargain CD all the advantages. The CD was in my listening room and the LP was in the basement. After synchronizing the two, I listened in the basement for awhile before going back to the listening room. This time the results were even worse; it sounded like the bass tone controls (which I don't have) were turned up on the bass, and it was "boomy".

There is a possibility my love, affection and familiarity with this music could give me the ability to detect a deviation that others wouldn't sense.

Enjoy the music.

O-10:

Are you sure we are talking about the same Cd?
' The Three Sound Eight Classic Albums. Real Gone Jazz. RGJCD285'.

I am listening to it as I type. No way I can hear booming bass! And BTW, CD vs LP, upstairs / downstairs is not a valid comparison test, but even so, the CD should sound OK.

I guess we will just have to agree to disagree about this one.

Cheers.

BTW, you just destoryed my rep as a 'reviewer'. Thanks!

Gene Harris is my most under appreciated pianist. Since I don't have a good explanation for this, I wont even try; however, I will explain how and why I discovered this.

My friend Rok, recommended some bargain CD's by The Three Sounds, and that's when I discovered how important a pianist Gene Harris is. It's not what he says, but the way that he says it. Each time he strikes a piano key, the way he does it is saying something.

I didn't discover this until I acquired "The Three Sounds" stripped of "nuance". This is such an important word to an audiophile, that I'm going to give you the definition. Nuance: A subtle or slight degree of difference, as in meaning, feeling, or tone; a gradation. A shade or graduation difference in colour, also as in carefully nuanced words.

The very same word can have a multitude of meanings, depending on how it's spoken. "Nuance", in my opinion, is the most important word in the English language to an audiophile.

Enjoy the music.

Rok, on my original post I stated, " I wont review any record that's not on CD, nor will I review any record if the CD is markedly inferior. Fortunately, I only found 1 case where the CD was markedly inferior to the record."

The reason I didn't mention that CD is because I felt it was lacking in "nuance". This CD contains some of the very best jazz in my collection. Since we disagreed on The Three sounds, there is a good possibility we'll disagree on this one as well, and that's why I'm going to reveal this CD.

Atlantic Jazz 7 81951-2, Ray Charles & Milt Jackson; Soul Brothers/Soul Meeting, is a 2 disc CD that is as good as it gets. Brother Ray even blows a mean sax. While the music is 5 star jazz, the sonics on this CD are inferior to the LP, which is why I didn't review it. Now I realize that for people who never heard the LP, that might not matter. I give you my favorite tune on the album "Blue Funk"



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHold6ylvEM

Enjoy the music.