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SACD

Billie Holiday – Lady In Satin (1958) [Reissue 2002] [SACD / Columbia – CS 86697]

adminAugust 3, 2025 274 Views

Title: Billie Holiday – Lady In Satin (1958) [Reissue 2002]
Genre: Jazz
Format: MCH SACD ISO

This is the most controversial of all Billie Holiday records. Lady Day herself said that this session (which finds her accompanied by Ray Ellis’ string orchestra) was her personal favorite, and many listeners have found her emotional versions of such songs as “I’m a Fool to Want You,” “You Don’t Know What Love Is,” “Glad to Be Unhappy,” and particularly “You’ve Changed” to be quite touching. But Holiday’s voice was essentially gone by 1958, and although not yet 43, she could have passed for 73. Ellis’ arrangements do not help, veering close to Muzak; most of this record is very difficult to listen to. Late in life, Holiday expressed the pain of life so effectively that her croaking voice had become almost unbearable to hear. There is certainly a wide range of opinion as to the value of this set.

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1 min read

SACD

Billie Holiday – Lady In Satin (1958) [Reissue 1999] [SACD / Columbia – CS 65144]

adminAugust 3, 2025 240 Views

Title: Billie Holiday – Lady In Satin (1958) [Reissue 1999]
Genre: Jazz
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

This is the most controversial of all Billie Holiday records. Lady Day herself said that this session (which finds her accompanied by Ray Ellis’ string orchestra) was her personal favorite, and many listeners have found her emotional versions of such songs as “I’m a Fool to Want You,” “You Don’t Know What Love Is,” “Glad to Be Unhappy,” and particularly “You’ve Changed” to be quite touching. But Holiday’s voice was essentially gone by 1958, and although not yet 43, she could have passed for 73. Ellis’ arrangements do not help, veering close to Muzak; most of this record is very difficult to listen to. Late in life, Holiday expressed the pain of life so effectively that her croaking voice had become almost unbearable to hear. There is certainly a wide range of opinion as to the value of this set. [Some reissues add two alternate takes of “I’m a Fool to Want You,” part of which were used for the original released rendition, plus the stereo version of “The End of a Love Affair” (only previously released in mono) and examples of Lady Day rehearsing the latter song, including a long unaccompanied stretch.

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2 min read

SACD

Billie Holiday – Body And Soul (1957) [Analogue Productions Remaster 2011] [SACD / Analogue Productions – CVRJ 8197 SA,]

adminAugust 3, 2025 232 Views

Title: Billie Holiday – Body And Soul (1957) [Analogue Productions Remaster 2011]
Genre: Jazz
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

This session comes from close to the end of the line (1959) in the erstwhile swinging company of Barney Kessel on guitar, Ben Webster on tenor, and naysayers will be quick to point out that Lady Day wasn’t in peak form here. But Billie Holiday with some of the platinum chipped off the pipes is still way better than a buncha finger-snappin’ wannabes anyday. Her interpretations of the title cut, “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off,” and “Darn That Dream” hold you in the palm of her hand with their gentle swing and the band support here is never less than stellar.

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1 min read

SACD

Billie Holiday – All Or Nothing At All (1958) [APO Remaster 2012] [SACD / Analogue Productions – CVRJ 8329 SA]

adminAugust 3, 2025 253 Views

Title: Billie Holiday – All Or Nothing At All (1958) [APO Remaster 2012]
Genre: Jazz
Format: SACD ISO + DSF DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

After the publication of her autobiography, Lady Sings The Blues, Billie Holiday was doing good business in clubs in what turned out to be a last burst of stardom. We cannot know why she stopped recording for Norman Granz after January 1957 – but the present collection is a magnificent culmination of her years with the producer.

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1 min read

SACD

Bill Frisell – Richter 858 (2005) [SACD / Songlines Recordings – SGL SA1551-2]

adminAugust 3, 2025 254 Views

Title: Bill Frisell – Richter 858 (2005)
Genre: Jazz
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Review by Sean Westergaard The music from Richter 858 was originally commissioned and recorded to accompany a book of paintings by Gerhard Richter, which was only available in limited quantities back in 2002. Tony Reif of Songlines decided to rescue the recordings from obscurity, and re-released them in early 2005. The band is Frisell on guitar and delay, Eyvind Kang on viola, Jenny Scheinman on violin, and Frisell’s old bandmate Hank Roberts on cello. The pieces were directly inspired by a specific painting, and recorded live to two-track with no editing or overdubs. In the booklet are thoughts and guidelines given to Frisell by producer David Breskin and an interview on the subject with Frisell, and they shed a great deal of light on the process of how this music was created. Since art is, of course, a subjective thing, you may or may not feel that the music directly relates to the paintings, but there’s no denying that this is a fascinating project. The majority of the songs are built on simple repeated figures, and the players all seem free to embellish and improvise on top of that. Frisell’s delays play a major role in this music (Breskin points out that Richter’s technique of applying a squeegee to wet oil paint is analogous to Frisell “smearing” notes by manipulating his delay), and the way he uses the delayed guitar signal to complement, and in some cases mimic, the strings is quite amazing (remember, this was done live with no editing). It’s been years since Frisell has made such extensive use of the delay, but he’s still an absolute master. There is also a minimalist quality to the pieces, but the interplay between guitar, delay and strings keeps them from becoming static. Most of this album is quite serene and beautiful, although there are a couple of hairier moments. The paintings themselves are also reproduced in the booklet, and also as enhanced content on the disc itself, which is encoded for Super Audio playback. This is a very interesting new sound for Bill Frisell, and apparently this band is developing more music together outside the scope of the original project. Recommended. ~allmusicguide

This sumptuously presented hybrid stereo SACD is enthusiatically recommended to listeners of contemporary classical, especially fans of the Kronos quartet. It will appeal to avant garde art aficionados, and with its complex electric guitar and electronics tracks, also to rock music lovers. http://www.billfrisell.com is the website of the lead artist and composer, the jazz guitarist Bill Frisell. He plays electric guitar, which is further manipulated by electronics. The other artists are a string trio of violin, cello and viola. The music comprises eight untitled tracks based on a series of abstract paintings. The music is a live two-track analogue recording, mastered to DSD for the stereo SACD layer, and to HDCD for the PCM layer. The artist behind the paintings, entitled ‘858’, is the contemporary German artist Gerhard Richter. This very important figure is usually classified as a ‘pop painter’. His ongoing 45-year artistic career commenced in the early 60s, but unlike most pop artists his work includes numerous elaborate abstract paintings. These works, painted on the unusual surface of sheet aluminium, are displayed at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. There is a not inconsiderable body of art inspired by music and vice versa. Berg’s string quartets have led to more than one set of abstract paintings, but on this SACD, the influence is art on music. However, there seems to have been no direct creative contact between the painter and these musicians. This is probably the most elaborate SACD I have encountered. The thick booklet, printed on magazine style glossy paper, has full page colour reproductions of all the art works, plus commentaries by and an interview of Bill Frisell. Where the multichannel SACD layer would normally be lies a CD-ROM layer. This incorporates multimedia which is PC and Mac capable. This disc on a computer has two replay options : the PCM layer, or a MP3 layer tied to a ‘real time’ gallery of the eight paintings synchronised to the music. As one hears the MP3 layer, you can choose to see the entire painting on screen, or autoplay through details which presumably are the sections which directly inspired the music currently playing. On a good computer display, the colours of these abstract paintings are breathtaking. This SACD really is a labour of love. Frisell in the booklet notes says, “I expect the music will delve deep into the language of the electric guitar. These are shimmering, electric paintings. They hold, bury, mix, and reveal a lot of visual noise– beautiful, aching, sweet, painful noise….. The music should not be ‘pretty’ in the conventional or sentimental way, because the paintings are simply not…. Given the structures and methods of the paintings… I think there is a rightness to this architecture of electric guitar [ the modern, the postmodern ] with acoustic strings [ the historical, the tradition…].” Unfortunately for the casual browser, the disc starts with dissonant chord clusters which seem intent on outdoing the famously acerbic opening of George Crumb’s 1970 string quartet, ‘Black Angels’. Although this makes an arresting opening with avant-garde street cred, it really isn’t typical of the more gentle pieces which follow. The two most well known string quartets specialising in avant-garde classical, the Kronos and the Arditti, have generally mutually exclusive repertoire. Frisell’s compositions sound far more congenial to the ‘Califunkiness’ of the Kronos quartet rather than the patrician modernist airs of the Arditti’s core repertoire. The third, fourth and fifth pieces would be the best places to start for the listener. Frisell typically composes short melodic and rhythmic cells, tonal and unassuming. These are then repeated, for instance in an ostinato for the cello, while the electric guitar and associated electronics enters to overlay progressively more elaborate soundscapes. Compared to, say, the later Boulez or Xenakis works for electronics and acoustic instruments, Frisell’s melodic fragments can sound a little naive– say, like the Styrian waltz which pops up in Stravinsky’s ‘Petrouchka’. The electronic and guitar elements also fall short of the complexities in Boulez or Xenakis. This actually means that Frisell’s work should appeal to wider sections of the genuinely curious musical public. However, there is a degree of shrewdness in Frisell’s simple thematic germs. One really isn’t sure whether this naivety is deliberate, to be counterpointed by the more sophisticated electronic domain, the way that Stravinsky embeds that little waltz in ‘Petrouchka’. However, these tonal kernels do have the function of acting as anchors in what could otherwise be a too formidable morsel for may listeners. Playing this SACD through several times, I appreciated the compositions’ ability to retain sustained interest, picking up thematic and textural connections not evident on first hearing. The opening of the first movement aside, I was left with the general impression of searching, unpredictable yet searching compositions. A playful element of scattiness in some sections is a refreshing tonic to the more high minded and academic branches of contemporary classical music. Copyright © 2008 Ramesh Nair and ~sa-cd.net

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7 min read

SACD

Bill Evans – You Must Believe In Spring (1980) [Japanese Limited SHM-SACD 2011] [SACD / Warner Bros. Records – WPGR-10008]

adminAugust 3, 2025 260 Views

Title: Bill Evans – You Must Believe In Spring (1980) [Japanese Limited SHM-SACD 2011]
Genre: Jazz
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

This well-rounded set (released posthumously) features the highly influential pianist Bill Evans in a set of typically sensitive trio performances. With his longtime bassist Eddie Gomez and his drummer of the period, Eliot Zigmund, Evans explores such songs as “We Will Meet Again,” Jimmy Rowles’s classic “The Peacocks” and the “Theme from M*A*S*H.” It’s a solid example of the great pianist’s artistry.

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1 min read

SACD

Bill Evans with Jeremy Stieg – What’s New (1963) [Japanese Limited SHM-SACD 2011] [SACD / Verve Records – UCGU-9032]

adminAugust 3, 2025 233 Views

Title: Bill Evans with Jeremy Stieg – What’s New (1963) [Japanese Limited SHM-SACD 2011]
Genre: Jazz
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

This reissue has the debut of drummer Marty Morell with Bill Evans and bassist Eddie Gomez; that particular trio would keep the same personnel for six productive years. Actually this is a quartet set with guest flutist Jeremy Steig, whose playing recalls Herbie Mann’s recording (Nirvana) with Evans back in the early ’60s. Both flutists were always open to the influences of pop and rock although in both of their collaborations with Bill Evans, the music is very much on the pianist’s turf. With the exception of Evans’ “Time Out for Chris” and the “Spartacus Love Theme,” the songs performed on this date would fit securely in the Miles Davis repertoire of the late ’50s. Steig is in particularly fine form on the program which includes tunes such as “Straight No Chaser”, “Autumn Leaves” and “So What”.

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1 min read

SACD

Bill Evans Trio – Waltz for Debby (1961) [Hybrid-SACD ReIssue 2002] [SACD / Analogue Productions – CAPJ 9399 SA]

adminAugust 3, 2025 212 Views

Title: Bill Evans Trio – Waltz for Debby (1961) [Hybrid-SACD ReIssue 2002]
Genre: Jazz
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Years ago, having heard this was one of the best jazz records ever, I bought the CD, finding it indifferently mastered and mildly boring. In view of the high regard for this recording, I have retried it every now and then, reestablishing the same impressions. The SACD reincarnation transformed all this. Listening to the same music has become infinitely more involving, a sensual experience. Yes, the recording has its very apparent shortcomings: the piano, slightly coarse, comes out of the right speaker only; the drums and the somewhat bigger-than-life double-bass come from the left speaker only; there is hardly any middle, except for audience noises. However, what presence and tangibility! In spite of these shortcomings and being “only stereo”, this is still one of the best-sounding SACDs I have had the pleasure of hearing. Actually, audience noises and clicking of glasses only add to the feeling of “being THERE”, much more so than, say, in the audiophile classic Jazz at the Pawnshop, Vol. 1 – Arne Domnerus in its newer (2005) remastering. Recommended! SA-CD.net
review by Thom Jurek Recorded at the Village Vanguard in 1961, shortly before Scott LaFaro’s death, Waltz for Debby is the second album issued from that historic session, and the final one from that legendary trio that also contained drummer Paul Motian. While the Sunday at the Village Vanguard album focused on material where LaFaro soloed prominently, this is far more a portrait of the trio on those dates. Evans chose the material here, and, possibly, in some unconscious way, revealed on these sessions — and the two following LaFaro’s death (Moonbeams and How My Heart Sings!) — a different side of his musical personality that had never been displayed on his earlier solo recordings or during his tenures with Miles Davis and George Russell: Evans was an intensely romantic player, flagrantly emotional, and that is revealed here in spades on tunes such as “My Foolish Heart” and “Detour Ahead.” There is a kind of impressionistic construction to his harmonic architecture that plays off the middle registers and goes deeper into its sonances in order to set into motion numerous melodic fragments simultaneously. The rhythmic intensity that he displayed as a sideman is evident here in “Milestones,” with its muscular shifting time signature and those large, flatted ninths with the right hand. The trio’s most impressive interplay is in “My Romance,” after Evans’ opening moments introducing the changes. Here Motian’s brushwork is delicate, flighty and elegant, and LaFaro controls the dynamic of the tune with his light as a feather pizzicato work and makes Evans’ deeply emotional statements swing effortlessly. Of the many recordings Evans issued, the two Vanguard dates and Explorations are the ultimate expressions of his legendary trio. allmusicguide

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3 min read

SACD

Bill Evans Trio – Waltz For Debby (1962) [Japanese Limited SHM-SACD 2014] [SACD / Riverside Records – UCGO-9038]

adminAugust 3, 2025 246 Views

Title: Bill Evans Trio – Waltz For Debby (1962) [Japanese Limited SHM-SACD 2014]
Genre: Jazz
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Waltz for Debby is a live album by jazz pianist and composer Bill Evans and his Trio consisting of Evans, bassist Scott LaFaro, and drummer Paul Motian. his album is widely considered to be one of the best in the Evans canon, and the type of emotive interplay between the musicians that at some points seemed almost deconstructed has served as a model for piano trio play.

Recorded at the Village Vanguard in 1961, shortly before Scott LaFaro’s death, Waltz for Debby is the second album issued from that historic session, and the final one from that legendary trio that also contained drummer Paul Motian. While the Sunday at the Village Vanguard album focused on material where LaFaro soloed prominently, this is far more a portrait of the trio on those dates. Evans chose the material here, and, possibly, in some unconscious way, revealed on these sessions – and the two following LaFaro’s death (Moonbeams and How My Heart Sings!) – a different side of his musical personality that had never been displayed on his earlier solo recordings or during his tenures with Miles Davis and George Russell: Evans was an intensely romantic player, flagrantly emotional, and that is revealed here in spades on tunes such as “My Foolish Heart” and “Detour Ahead.” There is a kind of impressionistic construction to his harmonic architecture that plays off the middle registers and goes deeper into its sonances in order to set into motion numerous melodic fragments simultaneously. The rhythmic intensity that he displayed as a sideman is evident here in “Milestones,” with its muscular shifting time signature and those large, flatted ninths with the right hand. The trio’s most impressive interplay is in “My Romance,” after Evans’ opening moments introducing the changes. Here Motian’s brushwork is delicate, flighty and elegant, and LaFaro controls the dynamic of the tune with his light as a feather pizzicato work and makes Evans’ deeply emotional statements swing effortlessly. Of the many recordings Evans issued, the two Vanguard dates and Explorations are the ultimate expressions of his legendary trio.

hraudio | allmusic | discogs

(more…)

2 min read

SACD

Bill Evans Trio – Waltz for Debby (1961) [Hybrid-SACD ReIssue 2002] [SACD / Analogue Productions – CAPJ 9399 SA]

adminAugust 3, 2025 245 Views

Title: Bill Evans Trio – Waltz for Debby (1961) [Hybrid-SACD ReIssue 2002]
Genre: Jazz
Format: SACD ISO

Years ago, having heard this was one of the best jazz records ever, I bought the CD, finding it indifferently mastered and mildly boring. In view of the high regard for this recording, I have retried it every now and then, reestablishing the same impressions. The SACD reincarnation transformed all this. Listening to the same music has become infinitely more involving, a sensual experience. Yes, the recording has its very apparent shortcomings: the piano, slightly coarse, comes out of the right speaker only; the drums and the somewhat bigger-than-life double-bass come from the left speaker only; there is hardly any middle, except for audience noises. However, what presence and tangibility! In spite of these shortcomings and being “only stereo”, this is still one of the best-sounding SACDs I have had the pleasure of hearing. Actually, audience noises and clicking of glasses only add to the feeling of “being THERE”, much more so than, say, in the audiophile classic Jazz at the Pawnshop, Vol. 1 – Arne Domnerus in its newer (2005) remastering. Recommended! SA-CD.net
review by Thom Jurek Recorded at the Village Vanguard in 1961, shortly before Scott LaFaro’s death, Waltz for Debby is the second album issued from that historic session, and the final one from that legendary trio that also contained drummer Paul Motian. While the Sunday at the Village Vanguard album focused on material where LaFaro soloed prominently, this is far more a portrait of the trio on those dates. Evans chose the material here, and, possibly, in some unconscious way, revealed on these sessions — and the two following LaFaro’s death (Moonbeams and How My Heart Sings!) — a different side of his musical personality that had never been displayed on his earlier solo recordings or during his tenures with Miles Davis and George Russell: Evans was an intensely romantic player, flagrantly emotional, and that is revealed here in spades on tunes such as “My Foolish Heart” and “Detour Ahead.” There is a kind of impressionistic construction to his harmonic architecture that plays off the middle registers and goes deeper into its sonances in order to set into motion numerous melodic fragments simultaneously. The rhythmic intensity that he displayed as a sideman is evident here in “Milestones,” with its muscular shifting time signature and those large, flatted ninths with the right hand. The trio’s most impressive interplay is in “My Romance,” after Evans’ opening moments introducing the changes. Here Motian’s brushwork is delicate, flighty and elegant, and LaFaro controls the dynamic of the tune with his light as a feather pizzicato work and makes Evans’ deeply emotional statements swing effortlessly. Of the many recordings Evans issued, the two Vanguard dates and Explorations are the ultimate expressions of his legendary trio. allmusicguide

hraudio | allmusic | discogs

(more…)

3 min read